Well, that was disappointing.
Gormenghast review
By
KVM from Edinburgh, Scotland
- 5
- 0
19th June 2008
I missed the BBC's adaptation of Gormenghast the first time round and have since then, always been on the lookout for it. Sadly, I needn't have bothered. What irrated me the most about this mini series was that despite the strong cast and decent production values, it seemed that nobody bothered to actually read the source material itself.
No, instead of picking up Peake's masterpiece they read a Terry Prachett novel and decided to do a parody of it instead.
While most adaptations do tend to get altered slightly so that the material flows better with the television medium, those involved for the most part, tend to try and at least keep some recognisable aspect of the original work in the script; they didn't bother here.
Gone is the intense brooding atmosphere, underlaying menace, mesmerizing characterization that Peake created; and in its place is a bunch of actors running around, shouting at the top of their lungs.
Don't bother. Read the book instead.
