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« Masterpiece Theatre
October 29, 2006: To the Ends of the Earth, Part 2
How about that almost-pornographic opening crotch scene, hmmm? Masterpiece Theatre meets Tommy Lee at last. I always knew someday it would.
In this installment we see a cheerier side of the usually mankind-hating William Golding: Suddenly, the guy believes in dancing, laughter and love! But not so fast, maybe Talbot’s obsessive love affair is a result of his hallucination-inducing blow to the head. Well, maybe all love is.
This second book in the trilogy is a feverish meditation on nature, war and finally love. In the opening few scenes, we see a primal Talbot, naked and showering in the driving rain. Then we see a little workplace physical abuse between the tyrannical Captain Anderson and the drunken Deverel, and then we get an all-too-brief vision of insane carnality between Miss Brocklebank, Mr. Brocklebank and Mrs. Brocklebank. Good god, what in the flying heck was that? You book-club members know: They aren’t a family at all, merely traveling as one to keep up appearances. Troubling to say the least. Then we have preparations for war (with all of 10 minutes of military training for reserve civilian volunteers, kinda like nowadays), Mr. Pike’s manic and shrieking freakout, some fireworks, and a surreal conversation with a presumed dead man. All this shot under an eerily blue foggy night. Brilliant.
After the fever breaks, Talbot goes aboard the boat of the presumed enemy, to attend a ball celebrating the end of the war. How beautiful and light-filled was the new boat and the joy and sweetness of peace? Fun, dancing, laughter, beautiful clothes, incredible food, and then Marion (Joanna Page), a 19th-century Mia Farrow. First Zenobia and now this girl – clearly Talbot likes the blondes. But I wonder, anyone know if there is any kind of historical accuracy here: Were boats ever tied together like this, for social purposes? It doesn’t seem plausible to me in the slightest, but the love between Talbot and Marion did seem real and true and sweet. His sudden obsessive insanity resulting from it, however, can only be explained away as concussion-related. But I do truly hope they meet again.
My favorite scene was when Talbot hit his head during gun maneuvers. (Talbot as rodeo clown!) I also liked to see Miss Granham’s caring and maternal side (was there sexual tension between her and Talbot for a few moments?), and seeing Talbot cry at the performance nearly made me cry. But my favorite scene, the one that most reminded me of the dark-hearted, morbid writer who’s behind this story, was Brocklebank’s despairing “How does a boat sink? How can a man drown with dignity?” speech. That was so heartwrenchingly horrifying: These people are alone, washed out in the vast sea, and their boat is falling apart around them. It’s a terrifying existential precipice. I love it!
Next episode: that thar boat is one sick puppy, and is growing sicker. Stay tuned, there might be more sex, and there’s sure to be more drugs. No rock and roll, though, sorry.
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Oct 29, 2006 11:37 PM
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Dang, missed the first 20 minutes or so. Crotch shot? Deck showers? "Family" togetherness? This ain't your grandma's PBS.  I was wondering where Zenobia disappeared to in this episode, and if she'd show up during the shipboard ball to trouble Talbot in his courtship of Marion. Guess she was occupied with "Dad."
Can't say I'm familiar with these novels or anything of Golding's other than Lord of the Flies. I expected "dark" once I read who the author was, but the concept of people trapped in each other's company for months is interesting. So far it IS dark and difficult to watch (Colley's willing himself to die, and now this week with Wheeler's suicide), but I'm hooked, and look forward to seeing the next steps in Talbot's education. He definitely won't be the same person who came aboard so many weeks ago.
The added bonus is the shipboard stuff. I'm a sucker for anything with a tall ship in it. (In a perfect world, PBS would take over the Hornblower series now that A&E has gone to the Dogs, Gottis, and Gene Simmons' Family Jewels. Sigh. Hornblower even has Ioan Gruffudd in a nekkid deck shower scene too, so it'd fit right in, wouldn't it?) Favorite moment: the drawn out explanation of why you don't want to stand behind the cannon as it's fired was hilarious - much more effective than "Don't stand there, Stupid." Not sure if two ships would stay moored together for long on the open sea, no matter how calm. Usual practice would probably have been going back and forth in boats, but if they did it with a ship that had been captured, I guess you could do it for social purposes? Definitely easier than hoistng the ladies into and out of boats, though I don't think the gang plank would be any less frightening.
Hopefully the appropriately-named Pandora will hold together long enough to see Talbot and Co safely ashore. Somehow, based on the first two episodes, I'm sure there are more vices to be explored.
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Oct 30, 2006 5:25 AM
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This episode was hysterical to me. Maybe it was because the poor guy was suffering from a concussion because of those two blows to the head. He's not having the best of times on this ship.
There definitly was some sexual tension between Miss Granham and Talbot. His total shock at the announcement of her engament.
I think the most intense part of this episode was when Whealer took his own life rather than go threw the experience of drowing again. His fear was so vivid on his face, I was shocked to see it, even though I knew it was coming.
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Oct 30, 2006 9:45 AM
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Ladyofthelake, I completely flaked about the fact that Wheeler had nearly drowned before, which is why he was so afraid of it a second time. My god, that adds a whole different perspective to his suicide! Poor, poor Wheeler.
And Nunovyer, Pandora is indeed the perfect name for that vessel. But what vices are left to explore -- Bestiality? Wife-beating? Plant neglect?
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Oct 30, 2006 2:32 PM
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Plant neglect?
Either that or Bad Hair - particularly the captain. The rigors of a sea voyage are no excuse for not conditioning.
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Oct 30, 2006 8:11 PM
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For those of you who are Hornblower fans, or perhaps just fans of British male pulchritude, I am happy to report that Ioan Gruffudd and Benedict Cumberbatch play best buds William Wilberforce and William Pitt (the ynounger)in the forthcoming film Amazing Grace.
No nude shower scenes, alas. But we do get to see the pair race coatless and barefoot across Wilberforce's estate. The film has an amazing cast - Albert Finney, Rufus Sewell, Ciaran Hinds and Michael Gambon among others. It will be out in February 2007. If you enjoy this sort of thing (and I do, I DO) it is a must see.
As for this series...I have always liked Golding's trilogy and awaited this presentation with excitement. I confess to being a sucker for tall ship tales - Hornblower and especially Patrick O'Brien's Aubrey/Maturin novels. I have been thrilled with the adaptation so far - one of the BBC's better efforts.
I can only echo the description in the original post (great synopsis BTW). "Feverish" is the word. What a magnificent cast. My hat's off also to the screenwriters and director. Most of the dialog is taken directly from the novels, yet the actors give it such life. The essentials are all there, a masterful job of distilling the dramatic essence from the books. The period look is utterly convincing. The camera perfectly frames this hellish clausterphobic world below decks, yet can open up to enchanting vistas - the dance staged on the Pandora's decks seems magical.
I adore Benedict Cumberbatch. I've seen him in Hawking, Amazing Grace and now this. He is someone to watch...going to be one of the best Brit character actors. With a face too odd to be a just another pretty boy, Mr. Cumberbatch (oh! the Dickensian-ness of the name!) remains terribly interesting and totally watchable, with a wonderful voice. I'm going to see if he has recorded any audio books.
I must buy this on DVD. And now I'm going in search of my copy of Rite Of Passage and the others so I can read it all again!
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Nov 8, 2006 1:38 AM
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