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Regardless
of this, the BBC has drawn on the public’s fascination with the Robin
Hood legend to once again present us with an episodic re-telling of the
story of Robin Hood’s return from the Crusades, his life of crime
living in the forest, and his romance with the beautiful damsel, Maid
Marian. This TV show version has met with some success in the UK
(and was pulling fantastic numbers here in Australia) and a second
season is currently being filmed.
A critical factor to this
success can be attributed to Dominic Minghella, a writer/producer who
seems to have the Midas touch when it comes to creating interesting and
slightly quirky TV shows. Two recent examples of his efforts
were Hamish Macbeth and Doc Martin.
However,
it seems that Minghella may have bitten off more than he can chew with
this Robin Hood series. Some may find it difficult to accept some
of the newer elements of this version of the famous story, particularly
the twist in the tale that finds Maid Marian not being a lady of the
court and the slightly off-centre (and potentially queer) Sheriff of
Nottingham. The production does, however, have
some welcome modern film techniques thrown in - like slow motion
running, quick swipes between scenes and very effective sound effects -
but the village sets and mansions look very modern and clean looking
(and certainly don’t convince you that we’re looking at medieval 12th
Century England).
Perhaps part of the explanation is that the TV
series was actually shot in Hungary of all places! Now I know the 1938
film version was actually filmed on the West Coast of America, but at
least it created a convincing (although idealised) vision of what we
all think Sherwood Forest looks like. This TV series looks like
it was filmed in a wet, dull and very boring landscape (...so England,
really)!
The actors (all surprisingly young) do their best with
their parts. However, one gets the feeling that Jonas Armstrong
(as Robin) lacks the necessary charisma to create a long-term memory of
him in this role. Lucy Griffiths (as Marian) is strikingly
beautiful in her role (although it is interesting that she comes across
as somewhat of a ‘plain Jane’ in the off-camera interviews included in
the Extras). It's glossy swashbuckling entertainment, but hardly timeless. Short story long - where's Kevin Costner when you need him?!
EXTRAS
Actually, it is the Extras that hold most interest for this 5-disc DVD
set. There are several lengthy featurettes on Disc Five, the best of
which is “The Making Of….” which presents an exhaustive examination by
the producers and actors of the planning and filming of the series.
Sprinkled throughout the episodes on the remaining four discs are
character profiles and even audio commentaries on four of the episodes.
Conclusion:
Movie 60% Extras: 80%
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