It’s time for the annual review of the silver screen’s portrayal
of the medieval world. This year is a plethora of television and movies for the
history enthusiast. Let’s begin with the big screen.
First up another re-telling of King Arthur: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword: as invisioned
by Guy Ritchie (see link for trailer).
Ritchie blends the Arthurian legend with a ’gangster’ style. The hero
runs around wearing a sheep’s-wool lined leather jacket and pants in the back
streets of Londonium, trying to revenge his parent’s death at the hands of
Mordred with ‘his gang of followers”. What happened to the Knights of the Round
Table? Hmmmm…sound familiar? Sounds like someone watched too any Batman episodes. The now boring use of
slow motion filing is over-used. Critics have blasted this version. It remains
to be seen how movie-goers see this film.
Next up is the latest Pirates movie: pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Johnny Depp has supposedly
said he will continue to play Captain Jack Sparrow as long as Disney allows him
to make the movies because he has so much fun with the role. Well, let’s hope
he stops before he needs a walker or wheelchair. I admit I do enjoy watching
him as a pirate. Sure, it’s fun, if not realistic but then, hey, it’s Disney!
Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley reprise their roles in the
film along with Sir Paul McCartney.
Cable Television is finishing off two shows this year: Black Sails and the most decorated show
in Emmy history, Game of Thrones. Outlander starts up in the fall.
Black Sails is the story of pirates in the 17th
century, roughly set twenty years before Robert Louis Stevenson’s book Treasure Island. The book season, in my
opinion, was rough which caused me to stop watching, but I heard it did get
better. One of my peeves about historical dramas is how Hollywood changes
history to suit itself. One example is the pirate Vane. He didn’t last as long
as the show. Anne Bonny is also depicted different from the real female pirate.
We move on the two series based on books by Phillipa
Gregory: The White Queen and The White Princess. Both series
chronicle the War of the Roses with Gregory’s spin on what might have happened.
As with most authors, the books include fictional as well as historical
characters. In both series, one of the tragic Princes in the Tower, Richard,
was switched with a look-a-like. He gets away and tries to raise an army to
regain his throne while his real-life sister, Elisabeth (married to King Henry
VII) does her best to survive to serpent’s den. A well-written show filmed in
authentic locations.
The History Channel’s Vikings
have become popular – don’t believe me? Just attend a Renaissance Fair. The
show is between seasons but last year we saw the death of Ragnar Lothbrok. Ws
Ragnar a real man or a legend? History is torn on this but there is no doubt
the men who are considered his sons are real. Ivar the Boneless was a feared
warrior. The show gives us a realistic portrayal of Viking lifestyle. They
weren’t men wearing horned helmets (that never happened). Many of the journeys
were in search of new lands for homesteading. Let’s face it: the place they
lived wasn’t the best for farming and raising a family. Another issue with the
show was the mixing of time periods. Rollo wasn’t Ragnar’s brother. In fact,
they lived in different times altogether. But other than that, it is a fun show
to watch.
Next up is Reign,
the convoluted story about Mary Stuart, the Queen of Scotland who was ultimately
beheaded by Queen Elizabeth. Multiple seasons kept Mary in France until she
marries the ill-fated King Francis II. In fact, he died young, leaving Mary
childless. She returned to Scotland where she had two more marriages. The show
is accompanied with an upbeat soundtrack and luxurious costumes &
locations.
Our perennial favorites Game of Thrones and Outlander
are returning this year.
Outlander won’t
be on the screen until the fall for its third season based on Diana Gabaldon’s
book, Voyager. In this book, Claire
has returned back to her time while Jamie is gearing up for the battle at
Culloden. Again Gabaldon’s input, meticulous research, amazing locations,
wonderful costumes, and a great cast makes this a show to put on your watch
list.
The big show coming in July is Game of Thrones. The show finale premise has been a he secret.
George R.R. Martin’s books haven’t kept up, with the next book, Winds of Winter, still in the writing
process. As George keeps reminding us, “It will be done when it’s done.” I guess
it doesn’t matter since the books and show have splintered off in different
directions. No one knows how it will end. Recently the powers That Be announced
the talks had begun to seek a writer for a GOT prequel series. One thing we do
know, the show will NOT be about Dunk & Egg. I’m glad because I’m going to have seizures
when the show is finished. Sure, I have my DVDs and there is always Xena but no one looks as good doing the
broody as Kit Harrington.
Still Star Crossed
takes places after the suicides of Romeo and Juliet in Verona, Italy. It debuts
in May on ABC. From what I’ve seen, the producers are trying to follow the
Hollywood agenda, casting ethnic actors in key roles. Not a fan of this. Instead,
use Italians if you want to stay away from the ‘normal’ A-Listers. This is the
way I stopped watching Once Upon a Time. I
just couldn’t stomach the thought of key characters in Arthurian legend being
cast with ethnic actors (sorry, but NO way was Lancelot an African American –
he was FRENCH – a Norman man true & true).
There have been some fantasy movies released but I’m not
going into those. I did enjoy Warcarft
for the fun of it (never played the game, though).
Until next time. Stay safe out there.
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