Title: The Pillars
of the Earth
Director: Sergio
Mimica-Gezzan
Year Released: 2010
Running Time: ~60
minutes per episode
Episodes: 8
Status:
Complete; followed by World
Without End
Classification: MA
Genre: Historical
drama
Based
on Ken Follett's book of the same name, The
Pillars of the Earth is
a historical saga set in the 12th century, with the action kicking off upon the death of Henry I's son
and the ensuing succession crisis between the king's daughter and
nephew. The series is a veritable soup of players and plots. After
the first episode, I rubbed my hands together in glee at the promise
of meatiness and soapiness to come.
The drama centres on
the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Knightsbridge.
It is a project started by Tom Builder (Rufus Sewell), continued by
his sons Jack (Eddie Redmayne) and Alfred (Liam Garrigan), and
supported throughout by Prior Philip (Matthew Macfadyen, who you may
remember as 2005's Mr Darcy). Making life hard, however, are the
evil, power-hungry bishop Waleran Bigod (Ian McShane) and the evil
power-hungry Hamleigh clan, who want the priory's resources for
themselves. These villains must also contend with plucky noblewoman
Aliena (Hayley Atwell) and her brother Richard (Sam Claflin) in their
power struggle over the lands of Shiring.
It's hard to
describe the plot in any more detail without spoiling it all, so I'll
leave it at that. I think, however, that you get the idea that this
drama is a knotty plotty thing. I really enjoyed that – it was fun
seeing what would happen, where things would go next, how one event
would affect another and so on. It's the kind of show where half the
fun lies in guessing the twists and turns.
Another
pleasure is the cast, but for me it was mostly because I was able to
cry “hey, it's that guy!” at almost everyone who walked
on-screen. Some characters were distracting, but I'll admit this is
probably entirely my own fault. For example, shallow old me had my
attention diverted by stupid thoughts half the time Jack appeared –
I couldn't decide if he was too pretty and whether he was creepy or
mysterious. Also somewhat cringe-inducing was his method of
seduction, which involved talking about architecture and then
suddenly swooping in for a kiss. Though he was a “good”
character, I wasn't sure if I liked him. By far the most distracting
though was David Oakes as the vile William Hamleigh. The actor bears
an uncanny resemblance to weedy shy guy Bret of Flight
of the Conchords
fame and there were many times I'd see William's horrible rape-y
actions and clutch at my proverbial pearls, thinking “Brett would
never!”
 |
| Left: David Oakes; Right: Bret McKenzie I just had to show you the two of them, brought together by the magic of MS Paint. The resemblance is uncanny, I tell you. Uncanny! |
That
aside, there are some (legitimate) problems with the drama, and these
mostly involve characterisation. The good characters are clearly good
and the evil ones are clearly evil; a few greyer characters are
thrown in the mix, but they're only side characters. This isn't
necessarily a bad thing – after all, sometimes you want to watch
something where you can just cheer for the good guys and boo at the
baddies. In this case, however, it detracts from the quality of the
show overall. The villains are so determinedly villainous that some
of the conflicts seem contrived and repetitive: while watching, I
struggled with trying to remember exactly why
certain
(good) characters were so hated and why the villains would go to such
lengths to make them suffer. Also, Willaim Hamleigh attacks
Knightsbridge so many times that you come to dread the scenes where
this happens. The battles also seem to blend in with one another. By
the second last episode, everything becomes pretty predictable and
(spoiler alert) the baddies get their comeuppance (hurrah!).
Another
nitpick involves historical accuracy and general sense-making, which
this drama sort of lacks. Most prominent is the character of Aliena,
who, though likeable, embodies the modern “action girl” beloved
of our times. 12th century class and gender norms don't really seem to matter for some
reason. Further, the means by which Aliena comes into money really
beggars belief. Still, this is a nitpick, so it's not a major issue
but I'm sure it'd put some people off.
Oh,
another thing that might annoy people is the supernatural element (in
terms of visions, etc), but this aspect remains sort of ambiguous in
terms of whether they're “real” or not and they're very minor.
There are also some sex scenes and nudity, though they aren't nearly
as gratuitous as in other shows (lookin' at you, Game
of Thrones).
I enjoyed this
miniseries. It looked good and it was fun and it was full of plotting
and drama. Worth a go if you're feeling in the mood for something
rich and historical and a wee bit trashy.
Alex's Rating: 3.5/5
(On another note, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!)
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