magdalene

Were people upset back in the day that the actual battle wasn't shown? I didn't read the book and watch the original until the nineties. I do know the book was a big bestseller and the mini-series a huge hit. I love the ending because it is unconventional and it is quite true to both the novel and the mini-series.

I read today that there is a special significance to that beautiful lake location where Blackthorne and Fuji commit the ashes of her family and Mariko's crucifix to the lake. This is the real life place where author James Clavell's family committed his ashes.

In the official podcast they said Blackthorne's vision of the future was a dream, not his future.

Well, the real life person Blackthorne is based on never returned to England. He is buried in Japan. And in the novel he never did. And in this finale Toranaga basically states he would destroy any future ship if he needed to....

I thought this was the perfect ending to a beautifully crafted unconventional series. From Blackthorne hallucinating a return to England that never was to be for him, to the grace the ending gave to characters like Buntaro and Father Alvito who in a lesser show would have been straight-forward antagonists throughout. I was thrilled to get such lovely scenes with Fuji and Blackthorne, absolutely thrilled, because Fuji and her actor had been such a stand-out for me all the way through the narrative. Yabu-Shige got his just desserts - any sadness I feel for his fate is down to the marvelous performance by the actor. Yes, lets remember that he boiled an innocent young man alive. Cosmo Jarvis was especially fine in the finale. I never thought he was a weak link of the cast. There was just less focus on him in this adaptation in comparison to the book and the old mini-series.

The way I remember it the old mini-series was mostly a vehicle for the lead actor who was according to my mother a very big deal back then with all the Japanese cast there to support him. That there was even that much Japanese focus made it probably quite special for the time. The new adaptation is much more Japanese focused and Mariko is a main character. It's about her duty, her tragedy, her sacrifice. None of these have anything to do with Blackthorne. She is not dying for his love. He is her lover but she is not the "love interest".

They managed to make Mariko's death even more of a tragic downer than in the original mini series.

That was a superb teaser trailer, kind of darkly romantic. So, I think this teaser is obviously very misleading. My theory for this sequel is - feel free to laugh at it - he falls in love with her but does she with him? The trailer makes it look like she is another inmate but she is actually a music therapist or some kind of volunteer. Maybe even the doctor as in the comics. In the comics the Joker manipulates and abuses her - maybe they are turning the tables here? The poor crazy murderous schmuck falls for her and under her spell but she uses him for her own crazy murderous desires. And here is the darkest possibility, in the end she kills him and becomes him? Smiles. Too dark?

I bought the movie on Prime last night so I could rewatch it after many years. I found I wasn't just to the movie in my memory. It was an excellent movie though not faithful to the first Ripley book. Dickie is a beautiful monster in the movie and Marge is much more sympathetic character in the movie than in the book. The invented characters for the movie of Meredith, a wealthy socialite, and Jack Davenports character who becomes Ripley's lover and who he has to strangle to keep Meredith from finding out everything ensure that the movie Ripley is quite trapped in the end. This re-enforced my opinion that the new series is much closer in spirit to the five novels where Ripley lives quite comfortable through his various erm... adventures in crime and for all intents of purposes gets away with everything and never is the tragic character Matt Damon's Ripley is.

I liked the movie - it's been a long time since I have seen it though and I remember it as being kind of miscast. Matt Damon came across as way too sympathetic. I read all the books and this series comes closer in tone to the books. Even though the series main three actors are all too old for their roles I can picture them better as the book characters. The thing is that in the books you root for Ripley but not because he is a Matt Damonesque likable person. You root for books Ripley kind of in spite of your moral make-up, ha. It also helps that I really dislike book Dickie and book Marge. Both this series and the books are very queer - coded and the movie is just very milk-toast and mainstream.

That cat stole all its scenes...

Well, I binged all 8 episodes in a row - which is something I never do. The actors should be too old for these characters but young men actually looked like men back then, not boys. And who would be churlish enough to complain about the caliber of talent they have at play here. Obviously the story only works because it takes place before the advent of modern criminal sciences. Not even the talented Mr.Ripley could get away with these murders nowadays. They should film the other Ripley books. I'd watch it in a minute.

Yes, I have had wonderful food in the UK, though none of it was actually British origin.

It's a one season series with 10 episodes, covering the entire novel. To me Lady Ochiba isn't just powerful because she is the mother of the heir. Her hatred has given her a certain aura, she doesn't seem quite sane to me and that makes her unnerving. From what I remember she was an inspiration for GRRM's Cersei, which I totally get - though Ochiba comes across as much smarter than Cersei. Ochiba's historical counterpart certainly makes a worthy opponent for the historical Toranaga.

Rege-Jean Page. He left Bridgerton to do movies. I am not that familiar with Theo James. My point basically is that all these guys want to branch out while they are "it". How long does it take to film a season of Miss Scarlett? Probably longer than I would guess. My guess would be 6 to 8 months?

It seems to me these British leading men types who the ladies swoon over leave quite commonly for "greener pastures". Remember the Bridgerton hottie from season 1 or the leading man from season 1 of Sanditon? The latter is now having his own series on Netflix called "The Gentlemen". Stuart Martin actually stuck around longer than both these actors.

I am enjoying myself and to me this revival is more sophisticated than the old mini-series. I know this was a big deal back in the day but quite frankly it was dated when I watched it as a child. And I would probably find it more dated now. I kind of regret I remember certain plot details. I wish I didn't. Anyways it's something new to watch. Something not Marvel, or DC. Something that scratches the itch while I am waiting for HOTD to come back, ha.

Escpecially when he is boiling young foreign sailors to death. He is an interesting character but he should die eventually.

Portugal was a world power then so it wouldn't be so odd that an educated navigator would speak their language. So, the difference between a pirate and a privateer is that the privateer is officially sanctioned by their government? How convenient.

Can't they recast the duke like they do in soaps? Don't get hung up on actors in roles. And I say this as someone who has done it myself. Nash is a good substitute for me personally because I like both the looks of the actor and his vibe with the leading lady. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/specialfeatures/masterpiece-announces-miss-scarlet-season-5-and-casting-news/#:~:text=Miss Scarlet will welcome back,Tim Chipping as Detective Phelps. So who is the new romance going to be with? ETA to me it seems obvious that the departure is the actors wishes, that it wasn't planned, and that they are now trying to make lemonade out of the lemons the actor handed them.

https://deadline.com/2024/02/miss-scarlet-and-the-duke-will-continue-without-duke-masterpiece-1235841918/ I will probably keep watching. I hope they will bring Nash back. I did like him.

Oh yes, I am in. I was grateful not having to watch the baby die. They are not shying away from the brutality of the story but they are also not coarse and rubbing your face in it. All the characters, even Ishido are quite multi-level and not one note villains.

Promising start. I was a child when the old mini-series was airing and I remember loving it and learning some Japanese watching it. Looking back on it it seems quite soap opera like. I also read the novel later on which was quite brutal in parts. This new version is more sophisticated and it can obviously be more through the Japanese gaze now.

Smiles. Well, he did put her before Jesus.

In case you didn't see it, two more seasons, guys, with Christmas specials!