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Medieval Shenanigans...

Wednesday, 29 December 2010 04:00

By Roman Nesk

Movie Review - Rarely are movies based on books as enriching and entertaining as the books, themselves. Occasionally, though, they are even better. In my not-to-be-trusted opinion, "Hunt For Red October," "Dolores Claiborne," "Brokeback Mountain," "Wonder Boys" and "The Firm" are examples of movies which outshone their estimable literary counterparts.

And sometimes the movies, or mini-series, and the books on which they were based, seem perfectly aligned, each as good as the other. This sublime experience typically requires that the screenwriter demonstrate an absolute reverence for the original material. To me, "The Cider House Rules," "Lonesome Dove" and "Pillars of the Earth," are perfect examples of great books that were transformed into equally great movies...

When I heard that Ken Follett's sprawling "Pillars of the Earth," was being made into a mini-series, albeit 21 years after its initial publication, I almost wet my pants. As soon as it was available on Netflix, I downloaded the eight-hour series.

I was initially skeptical, of course. It was hard for me to imagine that the min-series could rival the novel. Fueling this suspicion was the fact that I was not familiar with most of the cast, the majority of which had British pedigrees. I would have been more optimistic if, say, Robert Downey, Jr. had been cast as Jack, and Philip Seymour Hoffman signed to portray William Hamleigh.

The story takes place in 12th century England and spans the 30-or-so years it took to erect the Kingsbridge Cathedral. This tumultuous period was fraught with civil war and every kind of social, political and religious treachery one can imagine. Ultimately, good triumphs over evil. The good guys--Tom Builder, Jack Jackson, Aliena, Ellen, Bartholomew and Prior Philip--were really, really good.