Gormenghast

There are few genuinely unique fictional landscapes. Dickens and Wodehouse created their own enclosed worlds, Wodehouse with his own language, as distinct and peculiar as Middle Earth's Elvish. Dickens and Wodehouse called their worlds "London" and "England" but really both were places of fantasy. Nevertheless, Dickens and Wodehouse are recognizable places, however they twist their realities. Even in labelled fantasy literature too much of what passes as a new world is really a recognizable pastiche of our own.

However, there are a few literary works that present fully realized alternate existences: Tolkien's Middle Earth; Herbert's Dune; Peake's Gormenghast; perhaps Donaldson's Mordant. It's difficult to bring these to the screen ("Dune" was unsuccessful, for instance) because reading exercises the imagination and all readers have their own ideas of how the worlds should be presented. One can't please everyone.

"Gormenghast" is a game attempt at Peake's comic, nightmarish world. Gormenghast is the castle of the Earl of Groan, and in the book it seems to stretch forever, through endless corridors and towers. Though the literary Gormenghast is filled with more distinctive characters than can be presented in a miniseries, one gets the oppressive, cavernous emptiness of Gormenghast. That vast emptiness does not come across very well in the series, but one is left with a sense of the show's hollowness.

Some of the performances are remarkable. Christopher Lee, an actor who has often appeared in materials beneath his talents, is wrapping up his peculiar career with roles as Flay in "Gormenghast", Saruman and "Lord of the Rings", and a part in the Star Wars saga; and hopefully these will be the fitting reminders of Lee when his multitudinous Dracula flicks are forgotten. Ian Richardson, while an inspired selection for Lord Groan, is a mixed blessing; while is portrayal is wonderful and he makes the best scene moving (when he and Fuchia are planning their library), when he goes away halfway through the series misses his power and presence. John Sessions, a Peake fan, plays one of the few sympathetic characters in the story with a wonderful pinache. Neve McIntosh is by turns funny and heartbreaking and Fuchia. In small parts, Steven Fry is good as Titus' teacher. Spike Milligan has an infinitesimal role as the headmaster, and while it's nice to see him it's clear he won't be doing much more: Pete and Harry are already gone, and Spike doesn't look good, nor does he contribute much. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers would probably be accepted by Peake as Steerpike, and he plays the role as if his life depended on it. Steerpike, the villain, rises to power over Lord Groan and Gormenghast like the American left: promising everything to everyone; preaching about everyone getting along, then behind the scenes quietly setting one group within the family against the other and raising the general level of paranoia until Steerpike is the only person in Gormenghast they trust.

While the series does try to do justice to Peake, it falters. Most modern British versions of Dickens' works focus on his darker elements and forget that Dickens is very funny. At times Peake's humor is lost. Also, in the books, Gormenghast is not just a cavernous home, it's also a character. It lives and grows. Sometimes one feels that it thinks. In the series the best scenes are always the intimate ones -- like the one between Fuchia and Lord Groan, or Irma's soiree; the big scenes, where Gormenghast should feel alive make it seem less like a growing tree than a hollow one. The scenes that should be sweeping and big fall flat, and one starts pining for Ian Richardson, even in a flashback, to fill the halls of Gormenghast again with his glory.

If you're a Peake fan, it's a must-see and a keeper. If you don't know the trilogy, but enjoyed the series, you can extend Gormenghast and find much more by reading the books. In the end, though, "Gormenghast" is not for every taste, and is recommended for aficionados and not very inviting for the casual viewer, who probably should be exposed to new worlds of the mind like Gormenghast.

i happened to see the last episode of gormenghast in the middle of the night one day and was instantly intrigued. although i had no idea what was going on i was glued to my seat by the surreal sets and costumes and, above all, by the intense and brilliant acting!

i bought the books and dvd at once and soon realized the difference. the books are beautifully written and have a life of their own that does indeed compare to tolkiens middle earth. but the tv-series is marvelous. i think the whole story is very close to the books and all the actors are amazing.

jonathan rhys meyers as steerpike is the main focus of attention, every time hes onscreen the whole story gets incredibly dynamic and his villain is the most attractive person ive seen in a film in a long time. his characters brilliance, but also suffering, are the main themes of the film, since titus doesnt really seem convincing. most of the other characters are rather one dimensional, but thats intended, since no one wants to change in gormenghast except steerpike. even fuchsia, who is so miserable cant overcome her prejudices in the end.

whats strange in the film is that, given rhys meyers steerpikes attraction and intelligence and force, still everybody is unwilling to accept his qualities. he stays forever the kitchen boy, even when the whole castle couldnt do without him anymore. his despair and ultimate madness are the result of that constant rejection.

the books especially, but also the film, are ultimately a description of a world without love, compassion or warmth. everyone is doomed to remain unhappy within the strict hierarchy and no talents whatsoever will elevate you.

steerpike in the books is primarily a monster and sadistic murderer, whose motive is simply to gain power. why mervyn peake wrote him as the one to propel the whole story forward and at the same time didnt make him into a positive figure, i dont understand. i know its criticising the british monarchy, but thats what makes the books so depressing, in my opinion.

in the film steerpike is the central character, hes extremely good looking and has plenty of emotions, mostly rage and the supressing of rage, (contrary to the books i think, where hes always cold). still the ending is inevitable, because in gormenghasts world no one is allowed to succeed.

the film itself is beautifully shot, the music is great, the sets a little disappointing, but the costumes are truly beautiful. what does outshine most other tv-productions however, is the brilliant acting from the entire cast, but mainly rhys meyers powerful performance.

WOW! Outstanding in every respect. Original, bold, fresh, topped off by outstanding acting by all, but most notably, Christopher Lee. One of the BBC's FINEST. Setting and costumes are impressive and unique to say the least. Cinematography once again, worth mentioning. Nothing mundane here, all around impressive. Characters, unlike most of the crud we get from Hollywood have some depth, which was more than welcome with me. It's so rare that characters actually capture you for their uniqueness; my personal favotire is Mr. Steerpike. All you have to do to see what I mean by villian with depth is watch this, and then something like Die Another day. This character relies on his witts rather than his muscles. I wanted so much for him to achieve his goal, but then realized...well, you didn't think I would tell you everything did you?? Watch it, a truly remarkable film.

From the opening shot of Master Chalk, the albino crow flying high over Gormenghast castle, this is something really special. The acting is excellent - all of the actors concerned are excellent, especially Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the scheming villain Steerpike. The visuals are largely excellent, although there are one or two problematic shots from time to time where the budgetary limitations are shown up. This is, though, an extremely enjoyable adaptation of Mervyn Peake's work, and certainly one of the best productions of its kind that the BBC has ever produced.

This BBC mini-series is actually a combination of the books Titus Groan and Gormenghast. In 4 - 1 hour parts, being from the BBC they're really close to a whole hour as opposed to the usual 45 minute network episodes.

Gormenghast is an ancient kingdom that must be located somewhere in Europe, since it is populated with Europeans. More specifically, it is populated with really odd Europeans, which sounds more like Great Britain. In fact it is a fictional location in which Mervyn Peake has created an extremely ossified culture, technologically stagnant, that indulges itself in numerous obscure rituals that cover almost all routine events, written down in huge books and applied as if their lives depended on it.

The story centers around the Groans, who's male heirs rule as Earls. Titus is set to become the 77th Earl of Groan, and as he matures he sees it as his doom rather than his destiny, and comes to despise Gormenghast.

At first, however, he's just a baby and the story centers on his father and the odd ducks that are his family and servants. Into this mix is added Steerpike, a kitchen boy of huge ambition that finds ways to ingratiate, titillate and extort his way to a much higher position, hardly killing anyone at all to get there. The Groans and Gormenghast in general are so dense and caught up in the minutiae of their lives it takes them years to realize that there's a raccoon in the chicken house, so there's plenty of story to take up a 4 hour mini-series.

I read these two books once upon a time and hardly remember them. I believe the BBC series plays Steerpike a bit more sympathetic than the books did. The trilogy has been compared to LOTR and the Thomas Covenant trilogy, both of which I liked more than Gormenghast. Gormenghast is fiction not fantasy, there are no dragons, orcs or hobbits. The kingdom appears to be mostly medieval with some touches of modernity here and there. The closest thing to monsters are the huge Death Owls.

What makes the mini-series work is a very talented cast that bring their characters to life. They make it a pleasure to watch, if only once. 8/10

The 2 DVD set has a Making Of, Cast interviews, a few unrelated trailers. It is all shot in a peculiar not-quite 4:3 or 16:9 format, at least the way my hardware decoded it to the screen. Video and audio are strictly TV quality, with video colorful if a bit smeared and audio all upfront mono as far as I could tell. The DVDs get a 6/10 for getting it on my screen but not much else.