An unforgettable journey in the era of passion and intrigue
The series Pillars of the Earth, released in 2010, is a real gem for lovers of historical dramas. I am happy to emphasize a good acting, exciting plot and interesting questions asked in the series.
It's best to start with acting, which is very good. Each character comes to life thanks to the talent of the actors chosen for this project. They recreate the diverse nuances of emotions and strengths of their characters, making them unique and compelling. Such depth and skill of acting add to the series’ realism and a sense of presence in the Middle Ages.
The plot of the series “Pillars of the Earth” is incredibly fascinating and full of intrigue. Telling the story of the construction of the cathedral in the midst of the civil war, the series immerses the viewer in the exciting world of political intrigue, moral dilemmas and romance. The variety of characters and their complex relationships create additional depth and immersion in the story. Each episode becomes an exciting adventure that makes the viewer look forward to the next.
One of the series’ key strengths is its ability to evoke conflicting feelings about church and religion. "Pillars of the Earth" shows not only the pious and spiritual side, but also the problems associated with corruption and abuse of power of the Church. It raises questions about faith, morality and morality, and shows what forces and interests can overshadow the true message of religion. Such open and honest discussions of complex topics make the series not only entertaining, but also relevant.
The amount of work put into creating the Pillars of the Earth is impressive. From sets and costumes to script and music, all the details of the series help to delve into the atmosphere of the Middle Ages and feel its authenticity. Elegant scenes, dramatic footage and excellent work of the team of writers combine to create an unforgettable experience for the viewer.
In general, the series “Pillars of the Earth” is a great series that will easily captivate the viewer in a story full of intrigue, passion and soulful reflections. It will impress you with deep acting, exciting plot and contradictory nuances related to church and religion. If you are looking for a series with quality work from all sides, Pillars of the Earth will surely meet your expectations.
To be clear, the title doesn’t imply that the book is bad, but that the series has little to do with it. Let’s get back to that, but for now let’s go through the main aspects of this movie.
Chapter 1. What came first, a book or a movie?
For me, the story 'Pillars of the Earth' began with this series. I've heard of Follett, but I didn't intend to read it - it's just not my historical period. But the series interested and, as a result, encouraged me to read his opus. And, anticipating all subsequent provisions, I will say: under no circumstances Do not read the book before viewing! And we are not even talking about the thrown scenes (not so much time was in reserve to film the entire Talmud), the curse of which invariably accompany any film adaptation, but about very much reshaped events, biographies of heroes, simplification of characters and so on. Only for the prologue (8 pages of the book and 1 minute of screen time), I counted from the heels of critical discrepancies (from the type of execution to the presence of a child in the scene, who watched and read will understand what I am talking about)! What about the rest of it? The creators clearly tried to make the most epic and dynamic story with the characters from the book. Did they succeed?
Chapter 2. Could this be interesting?
The answer is simple: yes, and so on! Despite the fact that the original was cut almost everywhere, the remaining parts are cut into a fleeting (relative to all thrones and Romes) plot, which is full of events of varying degrees of importance and dynamism. There was a place for fights, revenge, intrigue, love (it is necessary to give credit - almost the best plot part), and the curse... You do not have to miss a second, in each series of events so much happens that some films and did not dream. In contrast, again, the book focuses more on the Civil War and the fate of King Stephen. And here we go to the characters. . .
Chapter 3. Lunar profiles
The characters aren't going well. On the one hand, the book did not stand out for magnificent characters, but they were still living people there. Their characters could be believed, their fates evoked empathy. Even William could be understood there. What do we see in the series? The characters are still bright, but the texture suffered - almost all the characters became obviously bad or good. What Jack, what Aliena, what Richard (to him this applies to a lesser extent), that the antagonists (especially William) turned into half-flat figures, without memorable angles and ' second bottom'. More or less, Philip got out of such radicalization, he retained some depth, and therefore is the most interesting, after Tom, a positive hero. Wahleran, Regan, and Stefan received far more attention, scenes, and qualities that the book lacked. Overall, it brought freshness to the script and made the story more interesting. But the actors did not disappoint: in general, they do not cause questions from the viewer, they act well. Rufus Sewell hit the bull's-eye, it's a pleasure to see him. And of the secondary heroes, I remember the most. Eustace (Douglas Booth), I don't know why. Of the faults – it is very strange that could not take on the role of the children’s variants of Jack and Aleena actors, as a result of which I did not realize that the difference between William and Jack is 7 years, not 2.5 years. And the actors do not look like children in the first series, which creates a temporary paradox.
Chapter 4. ': Our King Charles, the great Emperor. . . '
The atmosphere in cinema is a very important thing. It is difficult to maintain and very easy to destroy, especially when making historical films. Unlike most reviewers, I do not have a professorship in medieval England before the Hundred Years War, and therefore I will speak as an ordinary viewer - the entourage in the series is worked out for a solid five. Costumes, decorations, battles, sieges of castles, mud - all made to the highest rank and does not raise questions in style ' Did the King of England wear a Rolex?' In general, the visual range is very pleasant, the installation is good, color correction does not eat out the eyes ... So it is very pleasant to see the film, my eye never caught on the hack.
Instead of an epilogue
This series is recommended for viewing by absolutely everyone, even those who do not care about the history of this kind from the high cathedral. Especially for those who haven’t read the book. Chances are you will get a lot of positive emotions, especially comparing this film with other historical series. But prevent Adolphus from watching it immediately after reading it, for it is a very weak film adaptation, and comparing it with the original, you will stumble over every second scene and ask: ' Why did all this change?!'
Historical divorce and petty mischief... or chained together
I watched this series, I'm sorry I didn't. I thought that the rating would justify itself, but it is excessively high. A few comments:
1. The failure in terms of historical authenticity is complete, well, maybe only costumers ... not sure, but suddenly.
2. There is no whole story, plot moves are meaningless, logic falls apart. Stress is escalated without permission. Everything is too straightforward, there is no intrigue, there is no adventure - since you can watch a costumed historical action, if you understand.
3. No heroes. They're flat, dull. There are too few of them: 5 families, 3 clergymen and little-wordless creatures. Not epic. And, alas, the very situation when the good are nauseously good, and the bad are disgustingly bad. And the closer to the end, the stronger their cardboard. There’s no complaints about the actors, they’re more less flat, just they play an episode, a clip... and then bam!!! ..and a new episode with a different story. The whole story is a chain of unrelated episodes.
4. It's not a good picture. Not technically, rather, it does not complement the story, does not create a mood.
5. There are no complaints about the cast, but there is no one to single out. It's bad to play in a bad play.
6. The denouement from the series is dumber, even dumber.
The series describes with incredible accuracy the events of those times: fear, helplessness and people’s dependence on the power, or rather, on the Power of God, because everything that happened, good or bad, happened exactly according to the decision from above & #39; Poverty, unemployment, despair, cruelty in the struggle for the throne, the pursuit of wealth and imaginary ideals, but at the same time faith in a better future, faith in the bright, inviolable, but tangible - all this accompanied people in their lives and the film conveyed all the colors from the book incredibly clearly. The cast is great, the game (especially Eddie Redmayne) is just fascinating. Such devotion to his role, the hero's FEELING on top. The production is great. Music, and especially the drawing of the credits, fill the heart of the whole palette of feelings of excitement, interest, thoughtfulness, impatience. From the very first seconds of the credits, I knew it was my series.
Continuation is inappropriate here.
After reading the book, Ken Folleta was shocked by the history of the country, people. This amazing work made a deep impression on me. This is one of the best novels I have read. And so I got to the series... I will not say anything about the historical component, unfortunately, I do not know it very well, and in principle I was satisfied with what was filmed, about the struggle for the throne, power, as well as in the book.
To start with the positive, I liked that still some actors were selected successfully under the images of heroes such as Tom the builder (Rufus Sewell), Prior Philip (Matthew McFadian), Jack (Eddie Redmayne) and Waleran Bigod (Ian McShane), the images coincided. Great game, everything reads in their eyes. Good scenery, costumes, it feels like the Middle Ages. And that’s all! the rest of it disappointed me.
The characters are not disclosed, 70% omitted everything that was in the book, it is not allowed to so distort the plot. The first 5 episodes look like a trailer for the series. Everything is crumpled, everything is very brief, what is going on? We missed everything we could, the lives of some people, how they struggled, how they suffered, to come to their goal and happiness. Very important moments in the book, in the series are shamelessly lost. Because of this, there is an opinion that it is so easy to live without money, without food and shelter over your head, and once you are already a knight or a successful wool merchant, and what work was applied to this, apparently the director considered not important. In the book, any incident in the hero’s life affects his future. One of the main villains William Hemley ... well, I can not believe the actor (David Oaks), well, he is not a villain, nice appearance, eyes are not evil at all. And generally unsuccessful choice of actors, except those mentioned above.
I would like to mention Donald Sutherland, a well-deserved and wonderful actor who played a small role, Alina’s father, Lord Shiring. It would seem that there to play, but it was bright, talented, better than everyone who was present in the series, but was present, but did not live.
In conclusion, the last two series were good. I was even a little worried. And better read the book, it is matchless, and the series is a trailer for it.
4 out of 10
I quit historical fiction when I was a teenager (except for Umberto Eco). She did her job and quietly left the stage. I prefer to read something scientific about an interesting topic. But the transfer of historical novels to the screen, oddly enough, I am tolerant and with interest.
Although, this does not change the essence: fiction on the screen is fiction. Well, they sent the knight on a crusade half a century earlier, but watching this series, I am sure, awakened in many people the desire to dig deeper into the era, and this is the main task of such books and films.
There are many white spots in history, especially in the Middle Ages, on which the intrigue is built. The plot lines - real and fictional - are intertwined very competently.
And it's good! Quality, beautiful! A constellation of actors. It's only here that I first noticed how male-attractive, it turns out, is Süel. Hayley Etwell, the glorious frog Redmayne and Sam Claflin have long and firmly felt sympathy as actors. I'm not talking about Sutherland. The female characters in the series attract attention. The abundance of familiar faces from your favorite series is very happy: “Oh, and this is the one who played Lisa Arren in Thrones!” Or: And then from the actor who played Juan Borgia came a noble villain! Man, this is the guy who left poor Edith at the altar! - In a word, what a beauty! It’s as if I’m in my family and close.
Some will say that the black and white character of the characters interferes with perception, but I have an aftertaste almost Dickensian. And for all the blood and tears, I hasten to notice, almost all the main positive characters survived to the end of the story - this is not Martin, who collides his characters left and right.
Overall, the definition I would give this miniseries is nice.
7 out of 10.
So this is one of the best shows I've ever seen! I'm indescribable delight! Perfectly selected cast - each in his place, play from the heart, the perfect appearance for each character. This film seems to transport to those distant times. The quality of the shooting brought incredible pleasure, because everything was thought out and recreated to the details and trifles: costumes, household items, buildings ... only the cathedral is worth it! How skilled were the masters to build such beauty almost bare hands! I really liked that the film is realistic, without any embellishment or omissions, it helps to better imagine and feel their way of life, this atmosphere.
The plot... the plot is matchless! Admittedly, after the first series, I was afraid to continue watching - the beginning was so impressed. The film is full of events, feelings, ideas, unexpected turns. It is worth saying that this is a rather heavy film, for me it is considered so because of the problems of society raised in it, namely, because after 9 centuries... nothing has changed! Among us are the same dreamers, idealists, envious, traitors, self-willed, madmen, creators and destroyers. All the same, other people’s destinies are decided by people with no moral principles, the strong break the weak, heroic impulses destroy old concepts, love is beyond the law, friends betray, and enemies become friends. Because of the urgency of these woes in the series, I was mentally screaming about the happy ending! After all, it is quite difficult also from the monitor, where everything is usually fun and carefree, to see the dirt that you see in ordinary life.
I think it's still a good movie. I agree with all the attacks on the Church, but I want to note the great power of faith itself, including religious faith. After all, it was faith that united people against the attackers, it was thanks to his faith that Philip preserved the purity of his heart and withstood all the torments. When the statue cried, how much faith and hope were in the eyes of the parishioners! It is a great consolation for all those in need, a force that unites and gives courage. I think one of the ideas of the film was to teach us to believe. Believe in yourself, in loved ones, in God after all. Find your calling and follow it firmly. Living for the good of others. It may be sentimental, but as now, at the end of the series, I miss the ray of goodness that permeates this story.
10 out of 10
The essence of the Catholic Church, blood vengeance, palace intrigues before us as in the palm of your hand opened when watching “Pillars of the Earth”. And how else can we be there, in the distant England of the twelfth century, and when we will be able to look at the corner of our eyes at the progress of the construction of the Abbey of Saint Denis, and especially Kingsbridge Cathedral, which does not exist at all.
Church
Prior Philip (Matthew McFaden) is essentially the only positive zealot in the church. Therefore, the anticlerical mood of the picture is transparent. Why is it that Ian McShane is not Satan in the flesh? Waleran has at least some explanation - the guy wanted power, he thought by his influence to buy a place in paradise, thought that by self-battle, mortification of the flesh would achieve this, but anyway! I really felt sorry for him, passionate nature. And Cutber (John Pilmeyer), did he really decide to kill a man in order for his sister to be reburied? Is he so devout that he tried to guide her to the truth? You can also remember Remigius with his sad story about his lover, because of the death of which he became angry. I don't believe it.
Peaceful
Darkness... How can you put so much dirt in a movie? Game of Thrones fans have not seen this, of course, but I was hoping for something simpler - the rating is still 12 years old, comrades! And here you have bed scenes, and incest, and scenes of cruelty for every taste! So you think where are my 12? And there is no way to find a positively beautiful hero here!
Especially valuable are the scenes where the church life is shown in parallel with the secular – all the meanness is the same, everything is repeated to the details.
The final scene is monumental - inspires hope that the cathedral will never end, that it will forever be modified, improved, acquire something new from each era and each style, remaining timeless.
-1 for age rating
England of the 12th century, a time of intrigue, palace coups, knights, and finally exclaims "Burn the witch!". With the original work of Ken Follett, I am unfortunately not familiar, therefore, we will start from the television version.
The series claims to be from Ridley Scott from the beginning, and attracts attention with its genre – costumed historical drama. But, unfortunately, he does not claim more, and he barely copes with his main task. Although these claims are probably more against Sir Follett and the writers.
I didn’t like the heroes the most. Both positive and negative characters turned out to be boring and caricatured wherever you look. Priest Philip is a typical representative of his class, a believer looking for answers to his questions, with clearly built moral concepts. Tom-builder is an honest man, a kind of hard worker who for the rest of his life wanted to devote himself to building a temple. The cruel rapist William himself, his mother with incestuous moods, a stupid father, the insidious Bishop Valeran aka a gray cardinal, the vain eternally thirsty king - all antagonists are template and quickly get bored. It seems that in England at this time the court intrigues were committed only by this five.
Oh and yes, why is Alina’s father on the main poster? well, of course, in order to attract viewers with a big name. But personally, I thought I had been deceived. And in general, some of the main characters are missing from the poster, which seems wrong to me.
The pluses are the romantic story of Jack and Alina, which in my opinion seemed interesting and even a little surprised. Directly Jack's mom, Elena. A very modern woman at the time who loves her son and remains a rational little witch. And the picture itself. It is clear that the budget did not allow many things, but the battle scenes look good, the costumes are thought out, and the evolution of the construction of the temple is very clear.
I am afraid to offend the feelings of fans of the book, and I immediately admit that my opinion is formed as an established moody viewer of the 21st century, to whom the passions are in the spirit of George Martin. Although the classic depiction of the characters should be monumental, I was just bored. Not bad overall, but boring.
The film didn't disappoint. There's a lot to dig into, though.
For example, the temple, around the construction of which the plot of the whole film revolves, was built in record time for the XII century, namely, during the lifetime of only one generation. But cathedrals like this, and in later centuries, built, sometimes, more than a hundred years. It is also unlikely that the people living at the monastery and engaged in construction, when they had to repel the raid of the gang of Lord William somewhere in the 7th series, for self-defense there was only one (!) bow. And this is in medieval England, famous throughout Europe for its excellent archers from the people. So, they had to fight back, mostly with stones. Well, with the “frozenness” of William himself, the director and the writers clearly overstepped the stick. Not so much with William himself, but with the fact that they got away with all the crimes of this family so easily. Of course, it is clear that civil war and feudal fragmentation contribute to such lawlessness, but there is a limit to everything, and the royal power could not forever turn a blind eye to the open violation of its own laws and guarantees given, in our case, to the monastery.
But the overall impression of the film is favorable. After all, the main thing in the film is eternal values: Faith, Hope and Love. The question of faith is central. Philip said, “Alina believes in you more than you do.” When Jack’s mother asked Alina where to find him, she replied, “If you love him, you will.” I was not indifferent to the story of Jack and Alina, who managed, against all odds, to preserve their feelings for each other and stay together. The film also shows how people's motives affect the results of their actions, what consequences they lead to. Thus, Alfred undertook to complete the cathedral, hoping thereby to persuade Alina to marry, who did not love him, but needed money for her brother to fulfill the vow she had given to her father - to help her brother regain his rightful title and estate. As a result, the vault of the temple, built under the leadership of Alfred, collapsed, killing 79 people. He never got Alina. But the ring of Jack’s father, once stolen from Jack by Tom’s daughter and Alfred’s sister (who did not seek to get Jack, but who just wanted to have something to remember him), was kept safe all this time, thanks to which important evidence was preserved that saved Jack’s life at the end and uncovered a conspiracy to usurp the crown.
In addition, it was interesting to watch how Alina and her brother fought for their future, which seemed to be deprived of due to the evil will of powerful enemies. Moreover, at first in their tandem leading, strong half was Alina, who took care of her young and inexperienced brother, although she was just as young and inexperienced. But then it was her brother's turn to show what he was capable of. Weak and indecisive young man in the course of the series became a formidable warrior and prudent husband. Few will be able to endure so much that fell to the lot of the main characters: they were raped, mutilated, poisoned, deprived of property, and killed their loved ones, but they survived, thanks to faith and pure thoughts. Although to another viewer, this fate may seem completely implausible. But this already depends on the viewer’s own preferences, and how he would act in the place of the heroes: he would submit to circumstances and put an end to his hopes and dreams in his soul, or he would keep the fire of faith in his heart, continuing to move towards his goals, perceiving obstacles encountered on his way as an incentive for further struggle. But at the same time, the series also teaches that sometimes to save something, you need to let it go, and not cling to the last strength. God knows best how to lead a man to what he seeks. The main thing is to believe. This is well illustrated by the example of stonemason Tom and his son, Alina and Jack.
I have not read the works of Ken Follett, on which the Pillars of the Earth are shot, so I cannot judge the correspondence of the film with the literary basis. Because of the weak battle scenes, the rather poor geography of the series, but the excellent acting of the actors (among whom is my beloved Rufus Sewell) and the beautiful story of Love and Faith I give him.
7 out of 10
I really like history, so everything related to it books, movies, TV series I get acquainted with great pleasure. I want to say that I am not familiar with the book, although I think that this is not the case when the film adaptation spoiled a literary masterpiece.
The first is the scenery and costumes, magnificently recreated England of that time, and I also want to note France, which we can see in several episodes. In particular, it was possible to convey the atmosphere of majesty and beauty of Catholic churches, which have survived to this day.
The second is that the actors were all on top, Ian McShane perfectly coped with the role of a priest who both believes in God and commits unforgivable acts.
The plot is simply saturated with the atmosphere of that time of intrigue, conspiracies, deceptions, bribes, everything is present in this series and from that it becomes even more interesting.
In conclusion, I want to say that the Pillars of the Earth is a great series that is worth watching for everyone who loves TV series and films of this genre or history in general.
The series made me feel twofold. At the same time I liked him very much and did not like him very much. I'll try to explain why. I had the impression that two groups were working on this project: one was engaged in the historical and political plot line, the other was fictional. And if the first worked for five, the second at best satisfactory. So to speak, the background of the whole story, the general political situation, the atmosphere of anarchy are impeccably conveyed, but what is the main storyline is extremely implausible. Let’s look at everything in order:
The historical events in the series are faithful, on the whole. The series turned out very atmospheric, well conveyed the mood in the political circles of the English court. Although the main reason for the betrayal of Matilda by the Anglo-Norman Borons remained undisclosed. The abundance of cliches about the Middle Ages, in the spirit of the “plague, the Inquisition, the Crusades”, was also confused. Of course, as in any historical cinema was not without shoals, I will not list them, because it is a long time, and hardly anyone is interested, I will only say that there are quite a lot of them. But if the concrete-historical events are transmitted, albeit not accurately, but somehow believable, then the fictional ones are ridiculous and ridiculous. Everything here is just terrible, it concerns both family, professional and vassal relations, it is immediately clear that the creators of the series completely lack understanding of the era.
Characters. Specific historical characters or their prototypes, such as Matilda, Stefan, Robert Gloucester, etc., are rendered amazingly. They are exactly what their contemporaries describe them: appearance, character, everything is fine here. With the exception, perhaps, only Eustachius, the rank of Stephen, his image turned over his head: in fact, this young man hated all ordinary people, and when Op died during his next robbery raid in East Anglia, the country sighed with relief. But the heroes, who seem to be the main ones, are shown completely ineptly and this applies to everyone: barons, peasants, artisans and especially clerics.
Costumes and decorations. In general, the scenery was pleased, it turned out very entourageously. But the costumes, as well as with all the above: the nobility worked well over the carriages and there is really nothing to complain about: fabrics, cuts, finishes, hairstyles, jewelry - everything is flawless (especially Matilda), but the costumes of the main characters leave much to be desired (some dresses Alina and did cause me attacks of rabies!).
In short, if you cut out the main plot line and leave only the background, add real events, and not as always, you get a decent movie, and so average.
Not being a fan of the series because of their thrust and duration, after watching the first season of Borgia 2011, as a lover of history, I decided to devote more time to the corresponding genre. The turn was the series “Pillars of the Earth”, which has already heard quite a lot of positive reviews, as a quality historical work.
The plot unfolds in the troubled times of England of the XII century, telling about the fates of several heroes, each of whom fights for their beliefs and goals. Under strange circumstances, the only heir to King Henry I is killed in a shipwreck. While the king himself is still in good health, a fierce struggle is unfolding for the future of the English throne, in which there is neither love nor pity, but only greed and self-interested mutual assistance, and even representatives of the spiritual world of the Church took an active part in the ongoing turmoil. In parallel with this, the viewer is presented with the story of ordinary people, who in former times were not just to live, but with feudal anarchy reigning in the country, in which any unholy lord could attack a small village with impunity and create real chaos in it, the peasants were in constant danger.
I will not single out the play of certain actors, because the cast is large, and they all coped with their roles perfectly, perfectly conveying the emotions and characters of their heroes, as well as revealing the dramaturgy of the fates of each character. The magnificent staging of scenes, and the dynamics available in the frame, will not allow you to get bored, and lose attention to what is happening on the screen, and beautiful landscapes, scenery and costumes will completely immerse the viewer in the era of medieval England, swept by anarchy.
“Pillars of the Earth” is clearly a successful historical work that combines an interesting plot filled with intrigues and dynamic turns, a realistic situation in England of the XII century, and of course a fascinating theme of Christianity, the picture is able to please most viewers interested in history, or just appreciating quality cinema.