Steineded How sad is this?

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

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.

phatdan Visually stunning about a fictional world with good and evil not easily defined within the context of the story. Unique in storytelling, this makes for difficult-to-define protagonists/antagonists. Eventually, the main character transforms into a villain, but when contrasted against the morbid reality of Gormenghast, we can still sympathize with his intentions, pathetic as they may be. A hero eventually arises to save the realm, but is delivered from the claustrophobic and decrepit confines of Gormenghast.Gormenghast probably represents civilization in general. But this civilization runs so smooth and is so old, that it exists for no other reason than existence. There is no reason to improve, no reason to explore, and little reason to question authority. Everything is run by a book of rules. There is government, a monarchy, but like its realm, it exists for a reason long forgotten. No question that Gormenghast is a philosophical offering about the purpose of society and the meaning of existence.A comparison to THX 1138, Brazil, 1984, Quintet, or even Apocalypto could be made, but Gormenghast is different in its portrayal of the individual within a unique, and perhaps even more disturbing reality.

sissoed I first read the Gormenghast trilogy when I was a moody teenager and they carried an impact I still feel years later. It is a shame the video could not capture the languid atmosphere of the books but I suppose it can't be helped given the limitations of video. I was concerned that the presentation would contradict my own visualization of the characters, but to the contrary the presentation was dead-on. Rather than contradict the books, watching the video was more like seeing the same story but from a different perspective, focusing more on the characters and less on the environment.My main criticism is that the screenwriter (or director or producer, whoever controlled the script) didn't really understand one of the main messages of the books. This comes through in the mishandling of the key character of the Master of Ritual, called the Secretary in the video. Changing the title was a mistake. And so was the change in the character. In the books the first Master of Ritual is old, quiet Sourdust, who helps set the elegiac mood before Steerpike starts to interfere. Steerpike then kills him (accidentally) in the library fire (this is why Steerpike in his later delirium says the sisters make 5 -- Sourdust, Nanny Slagg, Cora, Clarice, Barquentine). (Steerpike did not kill and did not know what happened to Sepulchrave or Swelter, only Flay knew). Steerpike's fire brings nasty, cussing Barquentine into the book, and that is what first causes the mood to change. But in the video, it is nasty Barquentine from the start (although because he isn't named until much later, you think at first it is supposed to be Sourdust). Sourdust is simply deleted. The result is that in the video you always have the nasty element, and Steerpike has no responsibility for it. A key point of the books, however, is that Steerpike's ambition is what causes the mood of the castle to change. I should have thought the screenwriter would be more careful about cutting Steerpike's first murder. The author, Peake, knew what he was doing by starting with Sourdust and having Steerpike kill him.The title of Master of Ritual is important for another reason, a reason that should have prevented the director from changing the title to mere Secretary. It is such an important point: in that castle, Ritual is master, so the Master of Ritual is the true master of the castle. Steerpike wanted to be Master of Ritual because he knew that in that role he could control the law; it was where the real power was. As Master of Ritual he could surreptitiously change the rituals, because no one else could understand their intricacies. In this way he could set everyone dancing to his commands. The Groans were puppets of the Master of Ritual. In the books ritual is all-powerful. Recall that in the video Barquentine complained that Sepulchrave's breakfast was not part of the ritual. The meeting in the library came about only because of the breakfast, wherein Sepulchrave defied the control of ritual, to plan an act (the breakfast) intended to show his love for his son. Yet that led to the burning and Sepulchrave's madness and death. Sepulchrave's penalty for defying ritual was terrible. Steerpike wanted to marry Fushia and thus combine in himself both the control of the ritual, and be the central player in the ritual. But the dedication of the loyal servant of ritual, Barquentine (who burned Steerpike and made him mad) and the loyal servant of nobility, Flay (who relentlessly tracked Steerpike) along with the goodhearted, intelligent Prunesquallor and the heir, Titus, defeated Steerpike, preserved the ruling family, and thus preserved the ritual. Then Titus, having preserved the ritual, flees it, because he knows it is too powerful to defeat. I think a more understanding screenwriter would have developed these themes more clearly and still had a compelling drama.Lastly, I was disappointed in the flooding sequence and the hunt for Steerpike, which was very compressed in time and in visual scope; this should have been developed with sweep and steadily-building tension. I would have preferred they cut or compress the Bellgrove/ professor sequences entirely to devote the time to a really powerful climactic flood/hunt sequence.

Jan Kjellin I've read Mervyn Peake's books over and over again. To me, the story of Titus Groan, 77'th earl of Gormenghast, is one that can actually compete with Tolkien's "The Lord Of The Rings".So what do I think about the mini series? Well, obviously no one would dare do what Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema did with the aforementioned movie, so I guess a four part mini series was the next best thing. (Although I would have loved to see this in a cinema!) Good actors and an excitingly stylistic production makes this a worthwhile four hours. Some has been left out, of course, but there's still plenty of material left to build the characters of the story.This is not a fantasy movie. It has no or few classic fantasy elements at all in it. I would rather see it as a fantastic movie, where the laws of the "normal" world aren't broken - just a little bent out of shape...Gormenghast will provide a glimpse into our own world, and even though it's not always pretty, it's always done in beautiful colors.