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cj2017And so it begins. Game of Thrones, one of the most hyped and anticipated television shows in a very long time (online at least, I’m sure my mum and most of the people I know in RL couldn’t give a stuff!), finally hits the small screen, or the small computer screen in my own case (and probably that of several million others)...
I’ll be honest, I’m not really one for Fantasy as a genre. I did make it through the entire Lord of the Rings movie saga and have vague memories of gorgeous mountains, portentous dialogue, epic battles, ridiculous talking trees and a final instalment that just flat out refused to fucking end, no matter how hard I or my numb buttocks willed it to. So, had GoT not cast Lena Headey in one of the central roles, the chances are that – hype or no hype – I would probably have given it a very wide berth. But it did, so I did the dutiful fan-girl thing and bought the first book. I left it sitting unopened for a couple of months before reading the prologue on an evening of boring telly. Kinda loved it (sorry, haters) and devoured the rest of the novel and then the series so far in pretty short order.
HBO’s adaptation of GoT is based on the first (and very much the strongest) of George R.R. Martin’s series. The premiere last night (Winter is Coming) set its stall out with a very faithful rendering of the prologue that so neatly sucked me into the books: a huge wall of ice, three mysterious men stumbling across the scene of a gruesome slaughter, and the promise of something seriously nasty lurking about in the woods.
Roll credits. And what astonishingly luscious credits they are too. One of the most striking aspects of this first episode is how much of the quite extraordinary amount of money that HBO has chucked at the show makes it onto the screen. The sets and artwork are stunning, the locations beautiful – the North appropriately dour, green and misty, while Malta standing in for Pentos is a stark contrast of sun, sea and sin. Extras teem in their hundreds and – almost as if they have a sneaky suspicion exactly to what extent their work will be scrutinised – painstaking attention has been paid to the little details in costuming, set dressing and set pieces. The only jarring note visually came from Bran’s dash across Winterfell’s walls, where the green screen stood up to take a very apparent bow, but that’s me splitting hairs really…
As ever with fantasy, the world takes a little settling into. In parts of this opener, the dialogue sounds stilted and exposition-heavy, there are more characters than you can remember the names of and past history is alluded to but not dwelt upon. Even so early in the game, this is a series that expects you to commit, to tune in again next week and to pay attention to the details. Doubtless some will turn tail and flee, but for those who stick around, the confidence evident in the sheer scope and ambition of the thing can only be encouraging.
Cast-wise there’s barely a duff note so far. Sean Bean has never really done much for me, but he’s a decent, solid presence as the decent, solid Patriarch of the North. Michelle Fairley as his wife Catelyn is sadly a huge energy-suck but the role was ever a thankless one – she’s basically a dull pain in the arse in the novels – so in this I guess they are also being faithful. Of their offspring, Maisie Williams’ Arya stands out. Despite her relatively minor introduction, she seems to have the perfect amount of devilment, which bodes well for the rest of the series.
Over in House Lannister, Peter Dinklage is obviously having a hell of a lot of fun with Tyrion – as well he might, given the Imp’s exploits. Nikolaj (whoops, watch that accent, mate!) Coster-Waldau didn’t do much till the very end where he seemed to warm to the role of Jaime quite nicely, but yeah yeah what about their sister? Personally, I reckon Headey will be just fine as Cersei. Even with a pretty small role in this first episode, her distinct air of aloof boredom had a pleasingly nasty current running just below the surface, and she displayed a nifty flair for the delivery of thinly veiled barbs. The North/South divide in the show, cutely evinced by the regional accents of the cast, might go right over the head of a US audience, but Cersei’s obvious distaste at being dragged away from her beautiful capital city to visit with the muddy peasants oop North (they even called it grim!) gave this Brit a quiet little chuckle.
This being a HBO show, it really wasn’t one to watch with mother. Beheadings, blow jobs, rampant shagging, nudity, and eviscerations (followed by more shagging) all managed to squeeze their way into this first hour, but there was one place the creators didn’t follow Martin. In the novel, the underage bride Daenerys consents to and seemingly enjoys her deflowering at the hands of the warlord she has been forced to marry. This adaptation takes a different stance, making it quite clear that there was no consent from Dany and certainly no pleasure. It may piss off the faithful but from where I was sitting it seemed a brave and common sense stance to take. If they can tone down some of the more dubious sexual aspects of the novels and instead bring to the fore the surprisingly strong cast of female characters, this show – already very good – really does have the potential to be great.
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Date: 2011-07-13 06:51 am (UTC)Tyrion and Arya are probably my faves which gels with the novels, theirs were always the chapters I looked forward to
Those are my faves too :)
Cersei has had some nice scenes but she's not been in it all that much so it's hard to get a handle on her.
Lena Headey was the whole reason I even gave this show a watch, but I really don't have much opinion about Cersei yet either. With all the talk I heard about the role aead of time, I kept waiting for her to do more. Then I remembered you telling me she's not a major player in the first book. I guess I'll have an opinion about her next season.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-13 01:55 pm (UTC)I wondered that myself. But then I pretty much preferred the novels to the show so I was torn really. It's been interesting to see what they've changed, edited out etc. I think one of the very best things was their handling of Ned's death which was a remarkable bit of television. I knew what was going to happen and I still ended up with sweating palms and butterflies!
I think the inconsistency of quality was what bugged me the most. There were probably three eps in all that I thought were really excellent, some of the rest were instantly forgettable and others had excellent scenes intermingled with shite ones. It was an all but impossible task that they set themselves (a task that's certainly not going to get any easier!) and for the most part I do think that they pulled it off. It's just one of those shows that I admire but don't love if that makes sense. It leaves me cold emotionally (conversely, I found the books much more involving) and I don't find myself thinking about it after the credits have rolled. But I'll be there for S2.
The other thing that's been interesting is the fandom fall-out, particularly over Ned. I can't think of another show that's wrong-footed its viewers so very well about who are the actual stars. The novels were never really about the adults and one thing I have loved about the show is how subtly it managed to shift the balance towards the characters who will become more central throughout the coming seasons.
Lena Headey was the whole reason I even gave this show a watch, but I really don't have much opinion about Cersei yet either.
Me too, obviously *g* They actually gave her more to do than she had in the books (which didn't surprise me with her being one of the bigger names) but she didn't make much of an impact on me really. Be nice if S2 gave her more to do than sit in the background and raise her eyebrow!