PBS' "Wolf Hall"--anyone looking forward to this?

I'm curious, I'd like to know more about Cromwell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_Hall_(TV_series)

 

Yes. am currently in a reading/watching Tudors phase. The less said about the Showtime series, the better.

Now if we can only get a series about Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. And maybe an honest one about Henry VIII's two sisters, Margaret and Mary. That dreadful Showtime series combines them into one, no children so apparently Mary Queen of Scots and Lady Jane Grey and has "Margaret" married/killing King of Portugal (it was Mary wearing out the older King of France).

 

Great series. Mark Rylance is unbelievably good.

 

It is a great series. The portrayal of Thomas Cromwell is extremely favourable towards him though.

 

Huge anticipation here. The books were the most stunning novels I've read in years. The writing is so cinematic that it screameds out for film/tv treatment. The first couple seasons of The Tudors covered the same events, but that was just a costume drama, cast with too-contemporary-looking model types

 

I see that the series has already aired on the BBC. I'm really anticipating the chance to see it. The novels are exceptional, but I'm curious how they managed to translate them into a different medium. In the books, we sympathize with (Mantel's version of) Cromwell even when he does horrible things, because we are made to understand his motivations, the inner mechanisms of his decision-making and emotional journey. Sometimes this inner narrative is quite different from how the external unfolding of events could be interpreted without that insight. In fact, this was to me perhaps the most interesting aspect of the books, and also one of the most controversial. With the natural restrictions of a dramatic series, it will be really interesting to see how this dichotomy is handled in the series.

 

The books are excellent.

My two favorite television critics have praised the series to the stars.

I'm on board.

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

Lots of praise here as well. The reviewer is also aware of the Broadway version, but likes the way that the television version gets to really flesh out the characters and (literally) people get to talk slower. He does kind of say it's a bit of a stretch to paint Thomas More negatively.

 

Of course if Henry VIII had listened to Sir Thomas More, then he would not have annulled his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and there would be no Elizabeth I.

 

Rylance delivers on that ambiguity. He is wonderful in this.

 

I noticed they have Joanne Whalley playing Catherine of Aragon. Yup, another brunette playing a woman with reddish-blond hair.

 

Is this supposed to be the Tudor "Downton Abbey"?

 

No.

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

Yes, listened to an interview with the author, Hilary Mantel, on Friday on NPR and sounded interesting.

 

I'm looking forward to it. I liked both books; Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies.

 

Boy, Mark Rylance is giving one of the best performances I've seen on television in quite some time.

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

It kind of sneaks up on you. All of a sudden, about halfway through ep 2, I found myself thinking "Mark Rylance is really good in this role". I also think Damien Lewis is doing a nice channeling of Henry.

 

He certainly is!

 

Looks more like a Tudor "House of Cards" from what I've seen.

 

It's a Tudor "The Tudors."

 

Now we've been introduced to Thomas More. I swear, that dinner scene was like something out of the Coens.
Rylance is indeed wonderful. I hope the low key acting doesn't mean instant ignoring come awards time.

 

Yes, very much enjoying this when I hadn't planned on it at all.

John K.

 

I've been out of the country, so I have some catching up to do. I have read both books.

The Broadway production (6 hours long, and imported from London courtesy of the Royal Shakespeare Company) got good, but not great, reviews. I had planned to see it, but now I'm having second thoughts. Discount tickets in its future perhaps?

I've seen Rylance on stage three times. Each time he won a Tony. And he deserved all three. But all three were bravado/scenery chewing characters. This is something different for him.

 

If you haven't read the books, you simply must. The finest fiction I've read in years. The writing is sublime; the characters are so sharply drawn that I often felt as if I was actually watching a movie. Certainly a more visceral experience than the bloodless, overly glossy The Tudors, which I devoured right after finishing Bring Up the Bodies and jonesing for more.

I cannot wait for volume 3.

Edit. I see I've already posted these sentiments. But it can't be said enough.