The BBC's lavish, glowingly designed adapation of Mervyn Peake's eccentrically brilliant novels Titus Groan and Gormenghast is a triumph of casting. Ian Richardson's Lear-like depiction of the mad earl of a remote, vast, ritual-obsessed building is matched by the brutal pragmatism of Celia Imrie as his wife, the synchronised madness of Zoe Wanamaker and Lynsey Baxter as his twin sisters and the duplicitous charm of Jonathan Rhys-Meyer as Steerpike, the kitchen-boy determined to take over no matter how many deaths it costs. John Sessions is surprisingly touching as... Prunesquallor, the family doctor who realises almost too late what Steerpike intends. It is always tricky to film a book dear to the hearts of its admirers: Wilson and his design team achieve a look rather more pre-Raphaelite than Peake's own illustrations, shabby velvets, garish sunlight and dank stone passages. The score by Richard Rodney Bennett is full of attractive surprises--fanfares and waltzes and apotheoses--and John Tavener's choral additions are plausibly parts of the immemorial ritual of Gormenghast. On the DVD: The double DVD comes with scene selection, an informative half-hour documentary on the making of the serial and a slide gallery of costume designs, characters and their dooms. --Roz Kaveney [show more]
This lavishly beautiful adaptation from the BBC is based on the first two books of the highly acclaimed Gormenghast trilogy by Mervyn Peake (Titus Groan and Gormenghast). This is the story of a gloriously gothic, musty castle city called Gormenghast, ruled by the ancient family of Groan, it"s population held captive in the relentless, pointless rituals that have governed every aspect and moment of their lives for a thousand years, aristocrat and peasant alike. Lord Sepulchrave, 76th Earl of Gormenghast, is a man dredged down by the weight of never ending rituals, his wife, Lady Gertrude, is an uncaring woman who spends most of her time locked away with her many birds and cats, and their teenage daughter Fuchsia is spoilt, immature and living in a world of her own, wishing for adventure and romance. The story begins when Gertrude gives birth to a son, Titus, now heir to the house of Groan. And on this same day a kitchen boy called Steerpike escapes from his disgusting residence amongst Swelter the head chef"s vile kitchens and, ruthlessly ambitious despite his most humble start, begins his ascent to power by any means necessary.
The cast list contains more critically acclaimed actors than you could shake an award at, including Christopher Lee as Flay, the decrepit and somewhat dusty servant of the Earl, Zoë Wanamaker as one of Gertrude"s creepy, somewhat insane twin sisters and John Sessions as the gloriously eccentric Doctor Prunesquallor. Jonathan Rhys Meyers, a relatively unknown actor at the time, shines as the charming but ruthless Steerpike, perfectly capturing the inner bile along with the outward charm and the ambiguity of some of his actions. He is rather handsome unlike in the books where he is described as quite ugly, but this has very little effect on the portrayal of the character, though he is somewhat less sinister than in the books.
The sets are exquisitely gothic, the dark and dusty old castle has many lonely decrepit corners, neglected things are covered with a hundred years of grime and walls are quite literally falling down. The backdrop of the castle seems to go on forever, disappearing into the foggy distance as mangy birds swoop overhead. You really get the feeling of the size of the castle that the book portrayed and just how far it has fallen into disrepair and dirt. The costumes are equally beautiful in their unique and somewhat bizarre, often flamboyant designs, full of colour and yet somewhat dulled, very appropriate for the dank world their wearers inhabit.
Fans of the books might have reason to complain, quite a few things are changed or left out but this is to be expected when you condense two huge novels into four hours. The books are much darker, Steerpike much more sinister, far less likable and obviously the antagonist. While these differences are very real it does not make this adaptation bad, just a bit different. I still personally adored this production in all it"s surrealist eccentricity. The most important thing was that it captured the essence of the books even if it didn"t follow them word for word. If you like your book to movie translations to be completely one hundred percent faithful then you will probably be a bit disappointed but anyone else who is a fan of the genre should enjoy it.
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Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play. The glorious castle of Gormenghast is home to the ancient family of Groan, where nothing has changed for thousands of years. The dynasty is threatened by the charming and evil kitchen-boy Steerpike. With the birth of a new heir, Titus Groan, Steerpike begins his ruthless ascent to power. As he charms, outwits and terrorises the castle's inhabitants, only Titus, the young and timid Earl of Groan, stands in Steerpike's way. Who will triumph? And can Gormenghast survive? Actors Lynsey Baxter, Stephen Fry, Richard Griffiths, Celia Imrie, Christopher Lee, Neve McIntosh, Warren Mitchell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Ian Richardson, John Sessions, Fiona Shaw, Zoe Wanamaker, Martin Clunes, Phil Cornwell & Windsor Davies Director Andy Wilson Certificate 12 years and over Screen Widescreen 1.78:1 Anamorphic Languages English - Dolby (2.0) Stereo Duration 4 hours (approx)
The kingdom of Gormenghast rejoices when its ruler, Lord Sepulchrave (Ian Richardson), produces a son and heir: Titus, 77th Earl of Groan. However, scheming kitchen boy Steerpike (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) himself dreams of taking power, and sets about driving Sepulchrave insane. He also seduces Titus' sister, Lady Fuchsia, planning to seize the kingdom through her. It seems that Steerpike cannot fail in his plans - only the timid Titus himself, young and inexperienced, stands in his way...
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