'Dark' Season Three by Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar
31 July 2020
I’ve written here before about my enthusiasm for ‘Dark’ – the German language Netflix science-fiction/time-travel thriller written by Jantje Friese and directed by Baran bo Odar (reviewed here in December 2017). This week we finished watching the third and final season and it was brilliant. I should warn you that ‘Dark’ is probably the most complicated TV serial I have ever watched – and some might find it frustratingly impenetrable. Something is badly wrong with the small town of Winden in southern Germany, where residents frequently seem to find themselves slipping back 33 years in time (to 1986 but also to 1953, 1920 etc), usually with no means of return to the present. In the past they then encounter their neighbours, parents, grandparents and earlier versions of themselves and (remarkably frequently) end up having children with people they really shouldn’t, for all sorts of reasons. This leads the viewer to spend most of the time trying to work out whether this character’s mother is also his great great great grandmother etc. Indeed by season three Winden is uncannily like Ambridge in that everyone now seems to belong to the same extended family. Happily Netflix has provided an amazing website (and app) which allows you to explore the various family tree branches – but (by first choosing which episode you are up to) with no spoilers (see:
https://dark.netflix.io/en). Bizarrely season three, which, in addition to the multiple time-frames, introduces the concept of several parallel universe versions of Winden, actually seems to make the plot easier to follow. And while I’m not sure I fully understood everything, the finale manages to tie up most of the loose ends. As well as the ridiculously complicated plot, ‘Dark’ boasts some great acting and incredible casting: the actors playing the same characters at different ages all look eerily believable. ‘Dark’ is definitely not going to be everyone’s cup of tea – but I loved it.
Labels: Drama, TV
'Amadeus' by Peter Shaffer
23 July 2020
We last saw Lucian Msamati on stage as Iago alongside Hugh Quarshie’s Othello in Iqbal Khan’s Royal Shakespeare Company production in Stratford-upon-Avon (reviewed here in June 2015). His Iago was brash, funny, michievous, vicious and scheming – you really couldn’t take your eyes off him. So it was fascinating to see Lucian Msamati playing Salieri in Michael Longhurst’s National Theatre production of ‘Amadeus’ by Peter Shaffer (available this week on YouTube as part of National Theatre At Home:
https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/nt-at-home-amadeus). As Iago is a more substantial part than the title role in ‘Othello’, Salieri too is definitely the star of the show in ‘Amadeus’. While I had seen the 1984 film version directed by Miloš Forman, with Tom Hulce and F. Murray Abraham, I had not previously seen the original play. It’s quite different to the film and makes for a stunning theatrical experience, especially with the National Theatre production featuring a full orchestra on stage. The Southbank Sinfonia, who we previously saw integrated into the action in the National Theatre production of 'Every Good Boy Deserves Favour' by Tom Stoppard and André Previn (reviewed here in February 2009), play, act and dance their way through ‘Amadeus’, becoming a vital character in the story. Adam Gillan’s Mozart is an entertaining but obnoxious young genius – cheeky and scatological. But this is Lucian Msamati’s show and he is magnificent as the older, established court composer Antonio Salieri, all too aware of how he is being upstaged by his new rival. Msamati commands the vast Olivier stage and is incredibly funny. The first time we saw him on stage was alongside Lenny Henry in Dominic Cooke’s National Theatre production of ‘The Comedy of Errors’ (reviewed here in February 2012) in which I noted that Lenny Henry more often played the straight man in their comedy double act. But Lucian Msamati is more than just a comic actor: his physical acting (shifting seamlessly from the dying Salieri looking back on his life to his younger self) and his ability to twist his mood on a sixpence are equally impressive. This production of ‘Amadeus’ feels a little too long (at nearly three hours) but it’s a wonderful spectacle and Lucian Msamati is a star.
Labels: Drama, Film, Theatre
'25 Trips' by Sierra Hull
17 July 2020
I’ve been enjoying the new album by American country singer Sierra Hull from Tennessee. A child prodigy mandolin player, she made her Grand Ole Opry debut at the age of 10 and played Carnegie Hall at aged just 12. Now 28 years old, her new album ‘25 Trips’ takes her further away from her bluegrass roots to an eclectic mix of gentle acoustic pop. There’s still some fine picking but ‘25 Trips’ feels more like folk/pop than country, at times reminding me of the wonderful Canadian band The Bills (reviewed here in May 2006). There are also clear echoes of the female folk/Americana trio supergroup I'm With Her (Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan). Listen to the title track of ‘25 Trips’ at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmgej01Vm8g Labels: Albums, Music
'Sneaky Pete' created by David Shore and Bryan Cranston
9 July 2020
If you’re looking for a binge-worthy TV series I would recommend ‘Sneaky Pete’ on Amazon Prime. We’ve just finished watching all three series and it’s been the best thing we’ve watched for a while. Sneaky Pete is an American crime drama series created by David Shore and Bryan Cranston (who has a cameo role in the first series). Giovanni Ribisi plays con-man Marius Josipovic who, on release from prison, hides from the criminal gang he still owes money to by adopting the identity of his cell mate, Pete Murphy, and going to live with the family Pete left at the age of 10 in a small town in upstate New York. This comic-thriller tale of an essentially disreputable figure who you find yourself inexplicably sympathising with has a lot in common with the equally excellent ‘Ozark’ (on Netflix). Both series centre on a family of well-drawn characters who grow and develop through the story, and both boast a plot that gets increasingly complicated and unpredictable. You spend a lot of time trying to remember exactly who knows what about whom. Each of the three series of ‘Sneaky Pete’ builds to a set-piece heist finale with twists you really don’t see coming. It is incredibly violent and scary at times but there is a warm heart to the story and lots of character-based humour. And the cleverest thing is how the family that unwittingly harbours a criminal cuckoo in its nest gradually reveals itself to have plenty of dodgy secrets of its own. ‘Sneaky Pete’ is a thrilling and surprising treat.
Labels: Drama, TV
‘Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics’
2 July 2020
One of the small pleasures of lockdown has been working through the back catalogue of episodes of BBC Radio 4’s ‘Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics’. Comedian, and classicist, Natalie Haynes has been taking a fresh look at the ancient world, through 30-minute programmes focussing on particular figures from ancient Greece and Rome, since 2014. All 6 series are available to listen to on BBC Sounds:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b077x8pc Her natural enthusiasm, detailed knowledge, straightforward approach and hilarious incredulity at the peculiarities of the ancient world are infectious, and we’ve gradually worked (backwards) through all 24 episodes. The most recent programmes (recorded during lockdown) look at mythical characters including Penelope, Eurydice and Helen of Troy. Having exhausted the archive of radio programmes we have now had to feed our addiction by watching ‘Troy Story’ – the event Natalie Haynes recorded for this year’s online Hay Festival Digital. This was a bravura summary of the whole of the Trojan War in just over an hour, in which Natalie Haynes was accompanied by live drawing by the illustrator and cartoonist Chris Riddell. It’s rather brilliant and can be watched on Hay Player, which contains thousands of audio and film recordings from several years of the Hay Festival and costs £10 for an annual subscription:
https://www.hayfestival.com/p-16774-natalie-haynes-chris-riddell.aspx Labels: Comedy, Festivals, Radio
