Monday, September 29, 2003
So Byron.
Now, I'm not a great fan of Lord Byron's, nor can I claim to have much knowledge of his works. I've read a little bit here and a little bit there and mainly a bit from Don Juan, which, I must say, I enjoyed, in the same way that one enjoys The Darkness. Briefly, for a laugh.(*ducks, hides*)
Anyway, the miniseries on BBC this weekend was not bad. Jonny Lee Miller is a god and Vanessa Redgrave is always a pleasure to watch and the first part was largely entertaining. Miller captured Byron's crash and burn attitude greatly, although he at times reminded me much of a 19th century Michael Hutchence (but maybe that isn't bad) and the series definitely looked great, golden hues for Greece, cold, blue light for a frosty England. However, the writing left a lot to be desired - there was hardly any mentioning of Byron the poet - his works were never really discussed. Miller tried hard to evoke both sympathy for and displeasure with the man himself, but the script never really dug into the personality of him. Since I am not that familiar with Byron I cannot vouch for the historical accurancy of the details, but it seems that while many question if Byron did or did not have an affair with his half-sister, this series took the relationship for granted and built the entire story on this. Part two seemed to jump from event to event - left by wife, child by Claire Clairmont, death of child, death of Shelley, without any soul and any real reaction from Byron to these events. Perhaps a four-parter would have been more appropriate?
However, the good thing about this series is that I've now gained an interest in Byron that extents beyond his rock-star qualities.
And why do we not see more of Jonny Lee Miller?
Now, I'm not a great fan of Lord Byron's, nor can I claim to have much knowledge of his works. I've read a little bit here and a little bit there and mainly a bit from Don Juan, which, I must say, I enjoyed, in the same way that one enjoys The Darkness. Briefly, for a laugh.(*ducks, hides*)
Anyway, the miniseries on BBC this weekend was not bad. Jonny Lee Miller is a god and Vanessa Redgrave is always a pleasure to watch and the first part was largely entertaining. Miller captured Byron's crash and burn attitude greatly, although he at times reminded me much of a 19th century Michael Hutchence (but maybe that isn't bad) and the series definitely looked great, golden hues for Greece, cold, blue light for a frosty England. However, the writing left a lot to be desired - there was hardly any mentioning of Byron the poet - his works were never really discussed. Miller tried hard to evoke both sympathy for and displeasure with the man himself, but the script never really dug into the personality of him. Since I am not that familiar with Byron I cannot vouch for the historical accurancy of the details, but it seems that while many question if Byron did or did not have an affair with his half-sister, this series took the relationship for granted and built the entire story on this. Part two seemed to jump from event to event - left by wife, child by Claire Clairmont, death of child, death of Shelley, without any soul and any real reaction from Byron to these events. Perhaps a four-parter would have been more appropriate?
However, the good thing about this series is that I've now gained an interest in Byron that extents beyond his rock-star qualities.
And why do we not see more of Jonny Lee Miller?
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