One of the side effects I'm finding of being home all day is that it gets quiet. The bunny makes relatively little noise, and the cat only really meows if it's mealtime (then he's whining up a storm) but otherwise, it's pretty quiet 'round here. So, I've been popping in movies that I can knit or do housework to. Miniseries are great for this, because I can have nice background stuff to watch/listen to for longer than a 90 minute movie. This classic came off the self recently for a well-deserved re-watching. Here you go: I, Claudius.
Plot summary? Well, it's the story of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, as told by Claudius. In other words, murder, death, corruption, conspiracy, incest, sexual deviancy, political power plays, all sorts of fun stuff. It begins during Augustus' reign and ends with Claudius' death, as Nero takes power (though there are definitely foreshadowing lines about Nero, like "What a pretty thing, is fire"). If you don't know the story (i.e. if you haven't had waaaay too many years of classics courses like me), search Wikipedia or something. :) It's the period of transition in Roman history as they change from the republic to the empire, following the assassination of Julius Caesar. The miniseries don't start as early as Julius Caesar's death, but the events filmed were all surrounded by these changes in Roman government.
Casting was awesome. Not that it's a piece where everyone in the production is a Name (think Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet) but that everyone in the production has gone on to have strong careers. I recognized sooooo many faces from BBC Mystery productions, from careers that came later. Spent a LOT of time on IMDB with this one, trying to figure out where certain faces were from! But being filmed in 1976, these people were a lot younger here than in (for example) a Miss Marple filmed 10 or 15 years later - makes them a lot harder to recognize sometimes :)
Derek Jacobi as Claudius is, of course, the driving presence in the whole piece. His narration reports on all events in the family, even before his birth. Such a quiet observer on all the chaos surrounding him - being the only one not trying to seize power means that he can watch it all and appreciate it for what it is. This 'wise fool' is just perfect by Jacobi. He doesn't steal the show though - it's a strong cast throughout. Jacobi's performance is followed closely by Sian Phillips, playing Livia. She is incredible as the scheming manipulative matriarch of the royal family. So cold and just evil, such a good performance. A true ice queen.
Patrick Stewart had a role too, way before Picard, and even before Karla (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy), making this the youngest I've ever seen him! So ruthless and manipulative, I loved it! According to IMDB trivia, he began losing hair at 19, so I'm assuming that the hair in this role is a toupee. But for him to still have enough hair that he wore a toupee instead of just being bald... I hadn't ever seen any productions earlier than this one, so this was the most hair I'd ever seen on that head. He appears in 4 episodes, but in the first one doesn't really have any lines. I was watching and had the "Wow, so young" response then. Zach (not totally watching) didn't see who I was talking about, and didn't really notice the character until the next episode when Stewart starts talking. Zach looked up from the computer suddenly, "Wait, WHO was that just now??" Totally hadn't registered for him yet, until hearing that voice. It was a great reaction :)
I loved the story, too. This is one of those stories that can only be told via miniseries. 12 episodes meant a lot of history to cover, and there were still sections where they spent relatively little time. It's probably a pretty good teaching tool. I remember watching parts of it back in middle school in my early years of Latin classes. Maybe it's because I'm home all day and easily distracted, or because I'm a dork to start with, but in-between episodes I'd find myself looking up the history sites online and getting more information about whatever conspiracy or political event had been covered. The miniseries is a fictionalization, of course, not a historical text, but it's a great introduction to (or reacquaintance with) this time and these events.
Being filmed when it was (1976) and where (a BBC production), there is that certain look to it. Something about the lighting and filming and all, very common in BBC productions of the time, I dunno how exactly to describe it. Maybe I just notice it so much because I watch a lot of these productions. :) For this production, though, I think I honestly prefer it that way. Without the big Hollywood budget, it tightens things up a bit, brings the focus in on the characters involved instead of spectacular scenery or a cast of thousands or (if it was filmed today) overblown special effects. The events told would be (and are) gripping without all the Hollywood rigmarole. Still, if that sort of look is off-putting to you, just be aware that it's here.
Overall: 5 of 5. It's a saga, epic in the fullest sense of the word. Not one to pick up and just watch for a few hours of light entertainment. Beautiful acting and writing, just a few quirks that are common in BBC productions of that particular time period (lighting, etc) but overall very well done. If you like history, definitely give it a watch at least once.
Casting was awesome. Not that it's a piece where everyone in the production is a Name (think Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet) but that everyone in the production has gone on to have strong careers. I recognized sooooo many faces from BBC Mystery productions, from careers that came later. Spent a LOT of time on IMDB with this one, trying to figure out where certain faces were from! But being filmed in 1976, these people were a lot younger here than in (for example) a Miss Marple filmed 10 or 15 years later - makes them a lot harder to recognize sometimes :)
Derek Jacobi as Claudius is, of course, the driving presence in the whole piece. His narration reports on all events in the family, even before his birth. Such a quiet observer on all the chaos surrounding him - being the only one not trying to seize power means that he can watch it all and appreciate it for what it is. This 'wise fool' is just perfect by Jacobi. He doesn't steal the show though - it's a strong cast throughout. Jacobi's performance is followed closely by Sian Phillips, playing Livia. She is incredible as the scheming manipulative matriarch of the royal family. So cold and just evil, such a good performance. A true ice queen.
Patrick Stewart had a role too, way before Picard, and even before Karla (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy), making this the youngest I've ever seen him! So ruthless and manipulative, I loved it! According to IMDB trivia, he began losing hair at 19, so I'm assuming that the hair in this role is a toupee. But for him to still have enough hair that he wore a toupee instead of just being bald... I hadn't ever seen any productions earlier than this one, so this was the most hair I'd ever seen on that head. He appears in 4 episodes, but in the first one doesn't really have any lines. I was watching and had the "Wow, so young" response then. Zach (not totally watching) didn't see who I was talking about, and didn't really notice the character until the next episode when Stewart starts talking. Zach looked up from the computer suddenly, "Wait, WHO was that just now??" Totally hadn't registered for him yet, until hearing that voice. It was a great reaction :)
I loved the story, too. This is one of those stories that can only be told via miniseries. 12 episodes meant a lot of history to cover, and there were still sections where they spent relatively little time. It's probably a pretty good teaching tool. I remember watching parts of it back in middle school in my early years of Latin classes. Maybe it's because I'm home all day and easily distracted, or because I'm a dork to start with, but in-between episodes I'd find myself looking up the history sites online and getting more information about whatever conspiracy or political event had been covered. The miniseries is a fictionalization, of course, not a historical text, but it's a great introduction to (or reacquaintance with) this time and these events.
Being filmed when it was (1976) and where (a BBC production), there is that certain look to it. Something about the lighting and filming and all, very common in BBC productions of the time, I dunno how exactly to describe it. Maybe I just notice it so much because I watch a lot of these productions. :) For this production, though, I think I honestly prefer it that way. Without the big Hollywood budget, it tightens things up a bit, brings the focus in on the characters involved instead of spectacular scenery or a cast of thousands or (if it was filmed today) overblown special effects. The events told would be (and are) gripping without all the Hollywood rigmarole. Still, if that sort of look is off-putting to you, just be aware that it's here.
Overall: 5 of 5. It's a saga, epic in the fullest sense of the word. Not one to pick up and just watch for a few hours of light entertainment. Beautiful acting and writing, just a few quirks that are common in BBC productions of that particular time period (lighting, etc) but overall very well done. If you like history, definitely give it a watch at least once.
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