Ein Kartenhaus

That is one of the many great quotes from this film. Ian Richardson plays the character of Francis Urquhart for all it's worth, and the rest of the supporting cast is quite stellar. Paul Seed does a competent job of the direction, and has a good talent for photographing faces.

The way the Francis frequently comments (breaking the 3rd wall so to speak) encourages viewer participation, and I found myself agreeing with him, or even yelling at him during the course of the film.

If it ever comes on television, do yourself a favor and watch this one. It is long (clocks in at about 4 hours, 1 hour per episode), but it's certainly worth your while. I'm eagerly looking forward to the next part in the series, "To Play the King", which I've heard is just as good.

Daniel Baker has mentioned echoes of Macbeth in HOC. One of the many clever things about it and its two sequels was the liberal use of quotations from Shakespeare and other dramatists of the period (I think I caught some from Middleton's "The Changeling").

After all, this really is Jacobean drama set in the 1990s!

I found the series at Best Buy (House of Cards, To Play the King and The Final Cut) all packaged together. I was really excited, because I think this is one of the best to come from the BBC. Ian Richardson was superb. Wicked and cunning. I watched the first installment the other night and was glued to my chair for 4 hours. I highly recommend this series.

This is without any doubt the best political thriller I have so far seen. Not only does everything seem so chillingly possible, I also think the actors are great, especially Ian Richardson. What I liked best was the end - it is different than the ending in Michael Dobbs' book. One should of course despise Francis Urquart, but his charm makes that very difficult. House of Cards is a must!

"House of Cards" is an entertaining and frightening tale. Ian Richardson, playing the intelligent and ruthless Francis Urquhart, immediately draws the viewer into the tale with his wry comments to the camera, discreet confidences just between the two of you, and compels you to accompany him as the tale moves from an amusing political fantasy to something altogether darker.

The writing and acting is spot on (I must give kudos to Susannah Harker whose fine performance as Mattie Storin has, I think, been overlooked by many viewers), and the pace of the show doesn't slow until the final, shocking end.

I am constantly recommending "House of Cards" to friends, to the point of hosting viewing parties at my place every few months, and I'm not tired of watching it, yet! :) I find that anyone who enjoys such pieces as "I, Claudius" or any other involuted, political drama, will enjoy "House of Cards".