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Masterpiece Theater Review
Posted on 2009.01.08 at 19:11
Did any of you catch part one of "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" on Masterpiece Theater Sunday? I was so pleased! I just saw that the Sunday after this, they are doing "Wuthering Heights"--my favorite book! I have yet to see a movie version I can stomach because they usually make it a romance, which in my opinion, it isn't at all. I guess it would be hard to get all the subtleties and complexities that make it great, translate to film, but after seeing how well they have done "Tess" so far, I'm hopeful!
Masterpiece Theater lost their Exxon Mobile funding a year or two ago and since then, in my opinion, it has not just gone down hill, it plummeted and crashed. Until this season, the choice of adaptations have been very poor, the productions themselves look cheaper, and worst of all the writing has been really bad. This season gives me hope!
Last season, they did all of the Jane Austen books, which, although I absolutely adore Jane Austen, almost all the books have been recently adapted to film--and very well. Anything they could have done would just be a poor repeat of what was already out there and still fresh. It seemed like a really bad move--and it was. They did "Cranford" and "My Boy Jack", both of which I thought were better choices, but still, the production values were low and the writing was bad. They even tried to fill the shows with stars, but stars can't make the writing good even if their acting is really good--which it was. Masterpiece Theater is a show about books and it needs to be well written.
Here's the good part: I really like how they are doing "Tess." It is paced well and a lot of the parts in the book that I think are a bit overdone are toned down. I like the book, but there is so much symbolism that is heavy-handed-beat-you-over-the-head stuff that, having it in film form kind of takes the edge off. In the case of this story, we get what's happening, we don't need to be beat over the head with excessive symbolism (says Sarah who is a wearing red scarf, staring at the constellation of Orion, waving an olive branch in my right hand and a serpent in my left, eating locusts and honey and renaming my children Peace, End-of-Vanity and Truth--see what I mean--too much). It is nice to have the focus on the story because the story itself, in this case, is sufficient to make the author's point.
Also, I think it helps that I haven't seen another film version of "Tess." I know there are other version, but I don't know if they are better or worse. All I know is I like this one.
It is still obvious they don't have the budget they did when Exxon Mobile was paying, but it looks nice--nicer than the previous two non-Exxon seasons. It still isn't "Forsyte Saga" or "Great Expectations" good, but it IS good and if they keep going this way, I think they may get back on their feet all the way. I am so happy! I am in love with Masterpiece Theater almost as much as Thomas Hardy is in love with excessive symbolism--maybe even more--no, not more, but close.
I just looked at their schedule and I noticed in March they are showing an older version of "David Copperfield." I LOVE that version. As a matter of fact, Amazon said my copy of the DVD shipped today. I also noticed that the "Cranford" I was just complaining about was nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Maybe my expectations are a bit too great. Maybe I'll have to watch it again and see. Incidentally, my copy of "Great Expectations" shipped today as well.
Here is the link to "Tess." http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/tes
Masterpiece Theater lost their Exxon Mobile funding a year or two ago and since then, in my opinion, it has not just gone down hill, it plummeted and crashed. Until this season, the choice of adaptations have been very poor, the productions themselves look cheaper, and worst of all the writing has been really bad. This season gives me hope!
Last season, they did all of the Jane Austen books, which, although I absolutely adore Jane Austen, almost all the books have been recently adapted to film--and very well. Anything they could have done would just be a poor repeat of what was already out there and still fresh. It seemed like a really bad move--and it was. They did "Cranford" and "My Boy Jack", both of which I thought were better choices, but still, the production values were low and the writing was bad. They even tried to fill the shows with stars, but stars can't make the writing good even if their acting is really good--which it was. Masterpiece Theater is a show about books and it needs to be well written.
Here's the good part: I really like how they are doing "Tess." It is paced well and a lot of the parts in the book that I think are a bit overdone are toned down. I like the book, but there is so much symbolism that is heavy-handed-beat-you-over-the-head stuff that, having it in film form kind of takes the edge off. In the case of this story, we get what's happening, we don't need to be beat over the head with excessive symbolism (says Sarah who is a wearing red scarf, staring at the constellation of Orion, waving an olive branch in my right hand and a serpent in my left, eating locusts and honey and renaming my children Peace, End-of-Vanity and Truth--see what I mean--too much). It is nice to have the focus on the story because the story itself, in this case, is sufficient to make the author's point.
Also, I think it helps that I haven't seen another film version of "Tess." I know there are other version, but I don't know if they are better or worse. All I know is I like this one.
It is still obvious they don't have the budget they did when Exxon Mobile was paying, but it looks nice--nicer than the previous two non-Exxon seasons. It still isn't "Forsyte Saga" or "Great Expectations" good, but it IS good and if they keep going this way, I think they may get back on their feet all the way. I am so happy! I am in love with Masterpiece Theater almost as much as Thomas Hardy is in love with excessive symbolism--maybe even more--no, not more, but close.
I just looked at their schedule and I noticed in March they are showing an older version of "David Copperfield." I LOVE that version. As a matter of fact, Amazon said my copy of the DVD shipped today. I also noticed that the "Cranford" I was just complaining about was nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Maybe my expectations are a bit too great. Maybe I'll have to watch it again and see. Incidentally, my copy of "Great Expectations" shipped today as well.
Here is the link to "Tess." http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/tes