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Topic:
TV Miniseries: Now Discussing: "The Devil's Whore"
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
4/17 9:13pm
Subject:
RE: TV Miniseries: Now Discussing "I, Claudius"
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And what about George Baker...?
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soitscometothis
Registered:
Jul '03
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Date Posted:
4/18 3:05pm
Subject:
RE: TV Miniseries: Now Discussing "I, Claudius"
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^Yeah, Tiberius...
I think George Baker was pretty brave to take on such an unlikeable character. Weak, unambitious, lecherous... probably the best you could say about him was that he didn't seek power. Oh, and he loved his first wife, I had forgotten that... that was pretty major. You wonder what sort of man he would have become if he was left to his own devices, rather than being caught in the web of his mothers ambition.
Of course, even without his mother he bound himself to another ruthless character...
Sejanus
Played by Patrick Stewart, he of Star Trek fame, Sejanus was head of the Praetorian Guard, but he was not one to rest on his laurels. His ruthless ambition led him to tie himself to to Tiberius' family, as a prelude to succeeding Tiberius as head of the empire. Stewart is good, showing a certain amount of charm mixed with his ruthlessness... and he has a good voice, always a plus for an actor.
These are great actors, and if they are overshadowed by some of the other major players, it's not because their performances were lacking.
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I am not an eel popsicle. Art: http://boards.theforce.net/Fan_Art/b10020/17816752/?21 Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
4/18 6:25pm
Subject:
RE: TV Miniseries: Now Discussing "I, Claudius"
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In the book, Tiberius is described as the type of Claudian that is 'easily tempted to evil'. He's not a nice man, but his brother, Drusus, his first wife, Vipsania, and one of his friends (whose name I forget) keep him from going off the rails. They die, one by one, and slowly he sinks into tyranny and corruption. Baker does a great job, as does Stewart, as the ambitious arriviste, Sejanus. He makes a great light heavy, as opposed to John Rhys-Davies as the real heavy, Macro. And he has hair!
I don't agree that Tiberius isn't ambitious. He is, he's just not sure he should be.
The women in the cast--other than Livia--are equally good, though less famous.
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soitscometothis
Registered:
Jul '03
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Date Posted:
4/19 11:59am
Subject:
RE: TV Miniseries: Now Discussing "I, Claudius"
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I don't think Tiberius was ambitious. He didn't really want to be emperor, he would have been much happier playing soldier - something he was much better suited to. Certainly he would have preferred to remain married to his first wife. His lack of interest in politics, and Rome in general, led to him ceding a great deal of his power to Sejanus, something a truly ambitious man, or at least politically amibitious man, wouldn't do, imo.
However, he was weak, and he was definitely not a good man. Blood soaked mud indeed.
The women in the cast were good, but then I think everyone was good. The series did offer a lot of good roles for women, something that many dramas don't. Martina the poisoner was played by Patsy Byrne, who was wonderful in Blackadder as Nursie.
Caligula
John Hurt's Caligula remains one of the series' high-points for me. Barking mad doesn't even begin to cover Caligula, but it's a place to start. Unpredictable, mercurial, totally psychotic, at times funny, always watchable... John Hurt really steps up to the plate for this role. For a character who's eccenticities, shall we say, were so extreme, Hurt still manages to put in a performance with touches of subtlety. Part of this is of course in the writing, where original writer Robert Graves and series adapter Jack Pullman are obviously at the top of their respective games, but you've got to give Hurt credit for embodying the character so memorably. He's a monster, but a believable one.
Caligula's dance - horribly funny, with Derek Jacobi getting the best lines. Hurt and Jacobi make for a wonderful double-act - to steal a line from Yes, Minister, they're like a kidnaper and his hostage.
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I am not an eel popsicle. Art: http://boards.theforce.net/Fan_Art/b10020/17816752/?21 Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
4/19 3:48pm
Subject:
RE: TV Miniseries: Now Discussing "I, Claudius"
- Date Edited:
4/19 3:50pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Zaz
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A lot of historians think Graves was unfair to Tiberius...including Alan Massie.
Caligula, too, was supposedly sane until he had an illness just after he became Emperor which (allegedly) turned his brain. But: Graves makes a very valid point when he has Claudius say that Augustus made Tiberius his heir when he couldn't stand being succeeded by someone who would be more popular. And Tiberius was governed by the same notion. So Caligula was probably not virtuous prior to the illness; he wouldn't have survived in the sinkhole of the Roman Imperial Court if he had been. Of course, if the illness was manic depression or schizophrenia, the sudden onset in the early 20's is typical.
John Hurt is indeed terrific as Caligula. They changed the nature of his last wife, though; she was a low-class harridan in the book.
Julia, who has a very bad reputation in history, is treated gently by Graves. They cast her very well, too.
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soitscometothis
Registered:
Jul '03
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Date Posted:
4/23 4:13pm
Subject:
RE: TV Miniseries: Now Discussing "I, Claudius"
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I'll finish the discussion of this miniseries with a brief word on the title performance: Claudius.
Derek Jacobi takes what must have been a very difficult role, and makes it his own. His portrayal of Claudius is very sympathetic, playing him as intelligent, sensitive, and shy, often having to tolerate a host of indignities and play the fool in order to survive. It's a great performance, and it made Jacobi famous.
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I am not an eel popsicle. Art: http://boards.theforce.net/Fan_Art/b10020/17816752/?21 Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
4/23 4:22pm
Subject:
RE: TV Miniseries: Now Discussing "I, Claudius"
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Oh, yes. Without a moral compass all these characters are sound and fury. And he's great--'a fool pretending to be a fool' in Herod's words. He gets the twitch and the stutter--and the decency.
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
4/24 10:47pm
Subject:
RE: TV Miniseries: Now Discussing "I, Claudius"
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Wanted to add: Messalina is very well played, too.
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soitscometothis
Registered:
Jul '03
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Date Posted:
4/25 6:35am
Subject:
RE: TV Miniseries: Now Discussing "I, Claudius"
- Date Edited:
4/25 6:39am (2 edits total)
Edited By:
soitscometothis
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Yes, she was very good. Quite convincingly sweet and vulnerable in the beginning, but these qualities are later shown to be things she uses to manipulate those around her to her own selfish ends. Her charcter is not evil, but selfish and immature. I fould myself both despising her actions but feeling a little sorry for her at the end; she was a child totally out of her depth.
Edit: Have I said that I,Claudius is supposedly getting the big-screen movie treatment in 2010?
I don't care how big a budget it has, you can't do justice to a sweeping generational saga in under three hours.
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I am not an eel popsicle. Art: http://boards.theforce.net/Fan_Art/b10020/17816752/?21 Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
4/25 6:37am
Subject:
RE: TV Miniseries: Now Discussing "I, Claudius"
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The encounter between her and the queen of the prostitutes is one of my favorite scenes.
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soitscometothis
Registered:
Jul '03
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Date Posted:
4/25 6:43am
Subject:
RE: TV Miniseries: Now Discussing "I, Claudius"
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Yes, there is some great verbal sparring there.
Scylla: The difference between you and me, actor, is you're a snob and I'm not. {Points to Messalina} And the difference between this great lady and myself is that my work is her hobby. My hobby happens to be gardening, for which I don't expect to be paid.
The screenplay has a lot of wit.
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I am not an eel popsicle. Art: http://boards.theforce.net/Fan_Art/b10020/17816752/?21 Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
4/25 6:45am
Subject:
RE: TV Miniseries: Now Discussing "I, Claudius"
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That scene's not in the book--well, just in passing.
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soitscometothis
Registered:
Jul '03
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Date Posted:
4/25 7:08am
Subject:
RE: TV Miniseries: Now Discussing "I, Claudius"
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Yeah, I read the book about fifteen years ago and have never re-read it. I've seen the mini several time though, and I think it capures the best of the book.
Screenplays that actually add good scenes to books are few and far between. I remember my father telling me that the whole cruely funny dinner scene in the TV adaptation of Brideshead Revisited, where Sir John Gielgud, playing Charles (Jeremy Irons) Ryder's father, pretty much torments his son's friend by pretending to misunderstand everything he says, is not actually in Waugh's original novel, but was added by series adapter John Mortimer. It's a great scene.
Very few screenplays do justice to their origins, let alone improve on them.
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I am not an eel popsicle. Art: http://boards.theforce.net/Fan_Art/b10020/17816752/?21 Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
4/25 8:11am
Subject:
RE: TV Miniseries: Now Discussing "I, Claudius"
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I'm pretty sure the "Wait your turn!" scene at the end isn't in the book, either.
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Chancellor_Ewok
Registered:
Nov '04
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Date Posted:
4/25 6:11pm
Subject:
RE: TV Miniseries: Now Discussing "I, Claudius"
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Miniseries News:
The Andromeda Strain
Produyced by the Scott brothers.
Ridley/Tony Scott+Michael Chrichton=nerdgasm
 
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For more information about the crack spider's bitch contact the Canadian Wildlife Service in Ottawa.
I robbed the second largest bank in France using only a ballpoint pen
I killed a man with this thumb.
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