War and Peace - episode three
Jan. 24th, 2016 08:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessI’m sure the Beeb was advertising watching War and Peace on iPlayer and selling it as escapism, which is a bit odd, given the (Napoleonic) War(s) bit IN THE TITLE.
Episode 3
This will go down in my memory as the episode where all the actors had to sing in Russian. No, it won’t, it’ll be the big ball scene.
So, we started with the duel, but with no doctor. What’s wrong with (fictional) Russian men? You’ve got two men meeting to shoot each other, what do they think is going to happen? (Haven’t they read any Heyer?)
Also, Tom Burke’s character was the latest to have what looked like a grim injury but then turned out to be all right bar twinges.
Nikolai was a cosseted and immature idiot for most of the episode.
Time passed weirdly – did we cover three or four years in this episode alone? The same problem of chunks of time with some characters occurred.
Andrei smouldered like James Norton was keeping Aidan Turner’s spot in the cultural landscape warm (while Andrei was basically depressed). I started thinking Pierre/Marya would be a good thing until he perked up at being around the French companion. (Honestly, the problem of my lack of engagement with the characters is that I want to give cartoonish slaps to most of the male characters).
Pierre, of course, had got inducted into the early nineteenth century Russian masons who seem slightly more like Good Samaritans with swords than a protectionist group for the rich and powerful. Ken Stott handily appeared to get Pierre to do something good with his money. Pierre thought he’d undergone a great change in his personality – everyone who knew him went, Oh Pierre he’s still being Pierre.
As for what Helene did... (Or whom. Several.)
Meanwhile Natasha’s father is bad with money. I’d be surprised if the Russian word were generally translated as ‘austerity’, but whatever.
We had lots of moments between Natasha and Sonya that were basically Elizabeth and Jane Bennet (if Jane weren’t the elder sister, but was in fact a Fanny Price who had been brought up in a more encouraging family circle). Seeing as Andrew Davies has adapted both.
No offence to Lily James, but it took this episode to make me realise that previously Natasha might have been counted as a young girl who was not out/of marriageable age. The hair should have given it away, but I was still a bit confused when Andrei angsted over whether he was too old (which Densiov was.) That’s down to the casting, I suppose. But they could have said how old Natasha was on her birthday, whichever episode that was, and I don’t think they did.
I also think that from here on in, James should keep away from the balls (what with this, Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet on stage and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, not to mention Downton).
But she can wear pale blue like that coat for rolling about in the snow in every winter scene she does in future, if she likes.
There was a sense of inevitability about Andrei/Natasha, because clearly she’s the heroine (although it would be interesting if she kept her gift for happiness if her father really knew what austerity meant; she seems too much of a heroine because of ‘instinct’ and maybe I have a problem with how Tolstoy writes his women). And he’s the hero with the best cheekbones, with rolled up sleeves and a shirt open at the collar... And the Beeb have been spoilerific in the promo material (yes, the novel has been around for eaons, but we’ve established that most of the viewers haven’t read it).
It was handled beautifully, though – especially the use of flashbacks – every single beat of the ballroom scene was exquisitely measured.
My jaw may have dropped as we approached the palace and went into the ballroom.
But props to Dano for that last scene. He absolutely judged it to perfection - you felt Pierre’s realisation that Natasha was the treasure that he had overlooked, which led to Helene (which was partly his fault) and his current misery (he can’t call Helene’s brother or the Czar out to a duel, even if he was still minded to duel/take a life). Sure, we had the telling cutaways at the ball, but it was in the dialogue that Dano sold it, as poor Norton had to pantomime I’M IN LOVE. (Although the dialogue made me think of the Beatles’ ‘She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah.’)
Ahem. I don’t know why Princess Gillian Andreson was complaining about all the French people at the ball when she and others kept using French words in dialogue – to show their sophistication? Even during the times when France was Russia’s enemy?
Strictly should have the pros do the mazurka next series, please. It could be stupendous.
Episode 3
This will go down in my memory as the episode where all the actors had to sing in Russian. No, it won’t, it’ll be the big ball scene.
So, we started with the duel, but with no doctor. What’s wrong with (fictional) Russian men? You’ve got two men meeting to shoot each other, what do they think is going to happen? (Haven’t they read any Heyer?)
Also, Tom Burke’s character was the latest to have what looked like a grim injury but then turned out to be all right bar twinges.
Nikolai was a cosseted and immature idiot for most of the episode.
Time passed weirdly – did we cover three or four years in this episode alone? The same problem of chunks of time with some characters occurred.
Andrei smouldered like James Norton was keeping Aidan Turner’s spot in the cultural landscape warm (while Andrei was basically depressed). I started thinking Pierre/Marya would be a good thing until he perked up at being around the French companion. (Honestly, the problem of my lack of engagement with the characters is that I want to give cartoonish slaps to most of the male characters).
Pierre, of course, had got inducted into the early nineteenth century Russian masons who seem slightly more like Good Samaritans with swords than a protectionist group for the rich and powerful. Ken Stott handily appeared to get Pierre to do something good with his money. Pierre thought he’d undergone a great change in his personality – everyone who knew him went, Oh Pierre he’s still being Pierre.
As for what Helene did... (Or whom. Several.)
Meanwhile Natasha’s father is bad with money. I’d be surprised if the Russian word were generally translated as ‘austerity’, but whatever.
We had lots of moments between Natasha and Sonya that were basically Elizabeth and Jane Bennet (if Jane weren’t the elder sister, but was in fact a Fanny Price who had been brought up in a more encouraging family circle). Seeing as Andrew Davies has adapted both.
No offence to Lily James, but it took this episode to make me realise that previously Natasha might have been counted as a young girl who was not out/of marriageable age. The hair should have given it away, but I was still a bit confused when Andrei angsted over whether he was too old (which Densiov was.) That’s down to the casting, I suppose. But they could have said how old Natasha was on her birthday, whichever episode that was, and I don’t think they did.
I also think that from here on in, James should keep away from the balls (what with this, Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet on stage and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, not to mention Downton).
But she can wear pale blue like that coat for rolling about in the snow in every winter scene she does in future, if she likes.
There was a sense of inevitability about Andrei/Natasha, because clearly she’s the heroine (although it would be interesting if she kept her gift for happiness if her father really knew what austerity meant; she seems too much of a heroine because of ‘instinct’ and maybe I have a problem with how Tolstoy writes his women). And he’s the hero with the best cheekbones, with rolled up sleeves and a shirt open at the collar... And the Beeb have been spoilerific in the promo material (yes, the novel has been around for eaons, but we’ve established that most of the viewers haven’t read it).
It was handled beautifully, though – especially the use of flashbacks – every single beat of the ballroom scene was exquisitely measured.
My jaw may have dropped as we approached the palace and went into the ballroom.
But props to Dano for that last scene. He absolutely judged it to perfection - you felt Pierre’s realisation that Natasha was the treasure that he had overlooked, which led to Helene (which was partly his fault) and his current misery (he can’t call Helene’s brother or the Czar out to a duel, even if he was still minded to duel/take a life). Sure, we had the telling cutaways at the ball, but it was in the dialogue that Dano sold it, as poor Norton had to pantomime I’M IN LOVE. (Although the dialogue made me think of the Beatles’ ‘She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah.’)
Ahem. I don’t know why Princess Gillian Andreson was complaining about all the French people at the ball when she and others kept using French words in dialogue – to show their sophistication? Even during the times when France was Russia’s enemy?
Strictly should have the pros do the mazurka next series, please. It could be stupendous.
