The Miniaturist - Die Magie der kleinen Dinge

In The Miniaturist, a young woman marries a stranger and finds herself living in a mansion full of mysteries. After her new husband gives her a doll house, a creator of miniatures begins supplying her with prescient gifts for the house.

Looking like a Vermeer painting, full of mystery and portent, gorgeously filmed, with a beautiful sense of period, I loved the first half of this two-parter.

As the series moved into a second half in which the lack of character development became more noticeable, with main characters unexplored and some at-first intriguing characters fading from view, I became less enamored, although the story and style were still compelling.

The greatest disappointment was in the title character. My issue was less the explanation, which was underwhelming yet was a satisfactory reversal of direction, but in the complete lack of explanatory motive that made the core of the series seem like a cheap narrative device.

With no narrative or emotional core, The Miniaturist is a beautiful but hollow experience.

The cast is good and I enjoyed this for the most part, but when it was all over I just had a "that's it?" feeling.

I can't really recommend or not recommend it. It should have been better but overall it's still generally pretty good.

There seems to be some confusion among British and American viewers writing here, yes? The 156-minute production seems to have been shown in two episodes on British TV while PBS is showing the production on Masterpiece in three episodes of 52 minutes each. No surprise there- think back to the showing of "Bleak House" and how it was presented quite differently to the two audiences in terms of episodes. BTW, it seems a fine production to me, not at all thin and poorly-conceived. Quite the opposite!

This is an interesting and well acted drama. The directing and writing are also very good. The production values are quite striking because of the fidelity in representing the environment of the time in history that the drama takes place in. Further, while visiting Amsterdam Holland, I was able to visit a museum there that has the centuries old miniature houses that are like the one in this series. I find it interesting that this series could very well be a play, because there is a small cast of actors, and the events take place in mostly indoor settings. There are reviews that suggest that the central female character tends to have a modern woman's sensibilities and view point.

I think it is reasonable to believe that some women, through the ages, were very "modern" in their thinking. In researching the series. It is mentioned in the book that the series is based on. That there is a mystical element to the story, and that does impact the plot of the series. Where some questions aren't answered.

While I found the movie not at all bad, I was irritated by the use of "Senor" and "Madame". The Dutch do not use these titles, they use "Meneer" and "Mevrouw". Surely this basic element of the spoken language of Dutch should not of been overlooked.

I started watching the first episode and did not move. It is beautiful. It is light and dark, funny and disturbing. It is worth the time and I will definitely watch it again. The acting was first rate, but the sheer beauty of the lighting and the sets, especially the miniature steals the viewer's attention.