MamaGravity
good back-story, and good acting
Plustown
A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.
Calum Hutton
It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...
Larry ` (hikergimp)
I'm an avid reader and found the Gormenghast novels in a friend's book collection and was planning on reading them when I got the chance.He suggested I could also watch the miniseries, which I did not know existed either. So I cannot yet compare the two to each other. I did however like the miniseries. It was well written and very well acted.Christopher Lee was at his usual best. A surprise (probably just to me and maybe not to others) was Rhys Meyers. I was never really impressed by the authenticity he brings to his roles. However in this movie I HATED him, and I mean that in a good way. I really hated his character, he did a fantastic job; I guess now I'll have to watch some more of his work.The sets were incredible.This is one instance where I'm hoping the books will be as good as the movie.
steven-222
I read Mervyn Peake's novels as a boy, and just reread them this summer (the centenary year of the author's birth). They're truly unique, and at its best Peake's writing is close to miraculous, able to capture sensations and states of mind I would never have imagined another human being had experienced, much less found ways to set down in words.So yes, I'm a fan of the books.And while I didn't expect a great deal from this TV version, I was surprised at just how awful it is. If the filmmakers had deliberately set out to create a total travesty, they could hardly have done a more thorough job. Production design, dialogue, acting, casting, costumes—everything is a horrible mishmash. This is like a cruel parody of Mervyn Peake's vision.At the heart of the books is Steerpike, whose villainous plots drive the story; and at the heart of this misbegotten movie is a truly terrible performance by Jonathan Rhys Meyers. He's badly miscast as Steerpike to start, and even for the watered-down, prettied-up Steerpike given us by this movie, his meager talents are far too inadequate. He seems to think he's playing a naughty Peter Pan, not one of the most complex and compelling villains since Macbeth.Nothing in this movie captures the mesmerizing language, byzantine plotting, grotesque characters, or haunting Gothic atmosphere of the Gormenghast books. Even the look and lay-out of the castle, so unforgettably described by Peake, is missing, and instead we see some second-rate designer's colorful world of whimsy. Gormenghast has been recycled as a generic children's fantasy flick, and that's a shame.
Mandemus
I read some Mervyn Peake years ago, so I know a little of his penchant for the bizarre and his love of language. I was ready to like Gormenghast, which I had not read before. This didn't work for me at all, and now I have no desire to go back an read the original.Positive: good production values, typical of British period film-making. Good actors, many familiar faces again from other UK TV films.Review. I found no characters with enough redeeming qualities to relate to in any fashion. The message is negative, ugly, gruesome, grotesque and distasteful. Likely someone involved with the production would argue that that is just the point: this is an allegory of a brutal, hateful and inhumane society. That it is, but I don't want to watch it! For entertainment to work, you have to have something that the typical human viewers can latch on to, usually by being able to empathize with at least one character. I particularly found the incessant squealing, whining, aching, hurting, yelling, and hollering of just about every character in the production very grating after only a few minutes into the film. An unpleasant viewing experience altogether.
C00L_HAND_LUKE
WOW! Outstanding in every respect. Original, bold, fresh, topped off by outstanding acting by all, but most notably, Christopher Lee. One of the BBC's FINEST. Setting and costumes are impressive and unique to say the least. Cinematography once again, worth mentioning. Nothing mundane here, all around impressive. Characters, unlike most of the crud we get from Hollywood have some depth, which was more than welcome with me. It's so rare that characters actually capture you for their uniqueness; my personal favotire is Mr. Steerpike. All you have to do to see what I mean by villian with depth is watch this, and then something like Die Another day. This character relies on his witts rather than his muscles. I wanted so much for him to achieve his goal, but then realized...well, you didn't think I would tell you everything did you?? Watch it, a truly remarkable film.
