Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I've seen this in England, and I can faithfully vouch for the fact that yes, the first two volumes of Mervyn Peake's masterpiece trilogy have finally been accorded their due on the screen. I should start by warning fans of the novels that the Gormenghast realized here is much prettier than you would expect; perhaps the film's producers were worried that a vision of the giant castle and its environs as decayed and yellowed as Peake imagined might be too offputting to anyone but fans of the novels? As a result, Gormenghast is slightly too pretty at times to convey the sense of Gothic dissolution Peake intended: even the campsite of the carvers seems gussied up in pretty green decor. And in the central role of Steerpike Jonathan Rhys-Meyers looks smashing and works hard, but fails to turn in the truly bravura performance the part requires (in part because he lacks tremendous physical presence, despite his sneering beauty).
On the other hand, so much is given to us in this version that it would be churlish to complain. Celia Imrie steals the show as the brutally abstract and terrifyingly towering Countess of Groan: she has both the presence and the ability to play the role. The great Fiona Shaw transforms herself exactly into Peake's sketches of Irma Prunesquallor, and Zoe Wanamaker and Lynsey Baxter do something very original and believable as Titus's half-witted and murderous aunts. The special effects are at times jawdropping, and at times the director allows for the off-kilter camera angles--and yes, even the Gothic atmnosphere otherwise missing--that brings you back to Peake's original vision (the library sequence is particularly smashing). This is the kind of adaptation that, even with its few flaws, one would never have dared hope to have seen.
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Since its publication at the end of World War II, Mervyn Peake's masterpiece, The Gormenghast Novels," has stood unchallenged as one of English literature's most extraordinary flight of imagination. Its themes of treachery, decay, madness and honor have come to be regarded as a metaphor for the fall of an empire, the passing of an age, and the rise of fascism. The glorious castle of Gormenghast is home to the ancient family of Groan, where nothing has changed for thousands of years. The dynasty is threatened by the charming and evil kitchem-boy, Steerpike. With the birth of a new heir, Titus Groan, Steerpike begins his ruthless ascent to power. As he charms, outwits and terrorizes the castle's inhabitants, only the young and timid Earl of Groan, Titus, stands in Steerpike's way. Who will ultimately rule Gormenghast?
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