Has everybody taken leave of their senses? This is terrible acting - Rylance walking from one building to the next with a smear on his face does not constitute good acting and the plot is so deep it has drowned. Great costumes and lighting but I think it's about time we recognized that the king is in his altogether - yes remember the Emperor's New Clothes.
shareI am trying to decide whether I have just become very stupid and just do not understand this great cerebral historical drama
or
It is simply too boring and slow? I don't understand, I heard the books are wonderful, I love Mark Rylance usually and his quiet understated performances (I am not the biggest fan of Claire Foy but that is by the by) but I am simply not feeling this.
If you love Satan and are 100% proud of it copy this and make your signature!
Perhaps it's neither. have you considered the possibility that, as with most things in life, this just isn't to your taste?
Your being bored by something doesn't make it boring in any absolute sense. I find snooker and golf boring beyond belief, but plainly many people don't and I'd hesitate therefore to say that these are boring, only that I am bored by them.
You say that you are simply not feeling this; art and entertainment are a two way transaction between the artifact and the viewer. You make up half of the deal, so if you're bored it says at least as much about you as it does about the programme. I don't mean that in any pejorative way, only that there are as many experiences of a production as there are viewers.
I'm the clever one; you're the potato one.
I think the lines should be delivered (still sticking to realism) with more variety and pitch. Maybe a little humour here and there and not such a general feeling of smugness and 'we are so good' about the whole thing. The dialogue also needs editing with a blue pencil.
shareThere is humor! Did you miss it?
Beauty is truth, truth beauty.
Well said!
Beauty is truth, truth beauty.
Perhaps it's neither. have you considered the possibility that, as with most things in life, this just isn't to your taste?
Your being bored by something doesn't make it boring in any absolute sense. I find snooker and golf boring beyond belief, but plainly many people don't and I'd hesitate therefore to say that these are boring, only that I am bored by them.
I think you express it very well: Wolf Hall may not be to everyone's taste and it is very subtle at times...there are many nuances but it requires patience to allow it to reach its full impact on the viewer. Like you said, there's a difference between boring and being bored by and I think this show isn't everyone's cup of tea. Personally, I really like it. In the high-blown, often over-the-top writing, acting and directing style of so many American shows, this British gem is very understated in its approach and perhaps more cerebral than some might like. I'm a fan!
Well said, shellieeyre
shareHear! Hear!
shareI don't myself think it's either too boring or slow. I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it was wonderful. Perhaps the most important thing is that it runs over six episodes and we've only seen one. Maybe watch a couple of others before judging it too harshly? :)
shareI've seen two episodes actually.
Anyway, true, it could just be 'boring to me' but to be honest, I rarely find anything historical "boring to me" so it never occurred to me that that would ever be the case.
If you love Satan and are 100% proud of it copy this and make your signature!
I've seen the first two eps also, and I like what I've seen. It won't make my all-time top ten, but it'll likely make my top ten of 2015.
I'm receptive to the slower pacing and the time for reflection, and I'm really appreciating the production allowing me space to take in the subtleties.
"Anyway, true, it could just be 'boring to me' but to be honest, I rarely find anything historical "boring to me" so it never occurred to me that that would ever be the case. "
Lol. That means nothing. Why is everyone so stupid.
I thing the show could've been done in 3 episodes. It dragged beyond belief with so much pointless dialog, and the things that should've been in the script were left out, eg, Anne at the end, sending word that she begged Princess Mary's pardon for all the petty, cruelties she inflicted on her. Interesting how THAT didn't make it to the script.
________________________________________
Get me a bromide - and put some gin in it!
The beauty of being an ignorant American is that I can tune into this and enjoy it with no expectations. I find the aspect of following one character around to be somewhat intriguing. As a device, it draws me into the action in much the same way that shooting on a handheld camera brought viewers of "Homicide, Life on the Streets" into the scene as participants and not just as viewers. And anything with Lewis and Gatiss in it has been historically good. Amazing to watch something from this period and have the only deaths through 2 episodes to be from disease and natural causes, sort of the anti-Game of Thrones approach. And it is only 6 eps so it won't be a huge time suck, so it fits in with Pillars of the Earth in that regard. I see it as just being an extended movie that has been fleshed out a bit more.
As an aside, this little treat has made me re-evaluate everything from this time period anyway.
http://digg.com/video/the-modern-archer-who-can-fire-three-arrows-in-0 -6-seconds
I think my percentage of Chimp DNA is higher than others. Cleaver Greene
[deleted]
Your subject title - in my opinion - sums up your taste.
After all the recent overrated TV programmes on the (done to death) Tudors, this stands out. It is a true classic.
It's a masterful production---good acting, fine scripts and all the flavor of a classic period piece. Not to mention its subject matter, i.e. Henry VIII's chaotic love life and his breaking with the Church of Rome, and how one man, Cromwell, finds a way to cope with all of that. Drama plus melodrama, and yet you're BORED? Really??? Anyone bored with Wolf Hall should try taking Ritalin!
shareI think you're forgetting it is a fiction - look into the actors' eyes and tell me you believe them.
share[deleted]
They need Cromwell to be played like Marlon Brando in Street Car Named Desire. Scratching, belching, raping his sister in law, rutting like a pig.
That would take care of the people who say they are bored and how terrible it is but keep watching. Maybe they should throw in some vampires and zombies while they are at it.
I don't know everything. Neither does anyone else
Have a look to see how Henry VIII should be played by watching A Man For All Seasons and whilst you are there look at how good Cromwell is - in fact the whole cast is brilliant. Glad you reminded me I'll look for it on DVD.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060665/combined
awful, awful awful!!!But yet it has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Why do you figure that is? We could leave it at cinematic tastes are person, but you felt so strongly that you had to put out "awful" thrice, with four exclamation marks to boot. share
No, we have not taken leave of our senses. It's just not your cup of tea. Get over it and participate in a board of one of the shows or movies that you like.
shareI watched and enjoyed two movie versions of A Man For All Seasons. One with Paul Scofield and the other with Charleston Heston.
I don't know everything. Neither does anyone else