S01.E02: An Invitation

[paigow]

Helpful exposition 

[paigow]

The staff party was like the Titanic steerage dance-off.... If this was HBO, Kate Winslet would have a cameo..

ETA: Nikolai looks like the violinist from Titanic 

Edited April 7, 2024 by paigow

[paigow]

Is Kenobi Rostov going to say Mishka, you in danger bruh! ?

Edited April 7, 2024 by paigow

[Chippings]

Just found this page, and I hope there will be some more commenters, as with Episode 1.

I was very nervous about seeing this dramatized, but am pleased actually at both the settings and the cast.  I had never really had a visage in mind for the Count, and Ewan McGregor is suiting it very well.  

I haven't gone back to look at the book's episode about the mustache, but I thought that, in the barber shop, the fellow had very quickly cut off one side's extension of the mustache, and so he had to trim off  the other side but the basic mustache, without the exaggerated curls, remained.   Will go re-check that.

After viewing Episode 2 I did get into the book and I'm really impressed about how very faithfully they showed the New Year's Eve conversation between the Count and the girl.  They also capture the tone of his thoughts and the ways he speaks --  which is so much of it all, for me.

 

[Haleth]

I'm loving this series.  My only concern is that

Spoiler

the Count already looks like a middle aged man and there is a loooong story to tell.  Guess we'll have to handwave that he doesn't change much over the years.

 

[paigow]

2 hours ago, Haleth said:

I'm loving this series.  My only concern is that

the hotel collapses due to flooding from the top down...

Does it rain in Moscow? So many interior areas have snowfall... the attic should have been washed out by now... 

[edhopper]

I am a little bothered by how man black actors they use. I am all for neutral casting. But in a historical setting, it hinders authenticity. 

But not enough to ruin my enjoyment of the show. 

[Ceindreadh]

12 hours ago, edhopper said:

I am a little bothered by how man black actors they use. I am all for neutral casting. But in a historical setting, it hinders authenticity. 

But not enough to ruin my enjoyment of the show. 

Have you never heard of a Black Russian before?  😀

[paigow]

23 hours ago, edhopper said:

I am a little bothered by how man black actors they use. I am all for neutral casting. But in a historical setting, it hinders authenticity. 

But not enough to ruin my enjoyment of the show. 

Bruh... almost everyone sounds like a Death Star crew member regardless of skin colour...

[edhopper]

13 hours ago, paigow said:

Bruh... almost everyone sounds like a Death Star crew member regardless of skin colour...

Always an interesting choice in shows like this. Absent having everyone speak in Russian with subtitles, do you have them talk with a distracting Russian accent or with an accent from the shows origin country.

[lucindabelle]

For me, the problem with nontraditional casting and something that’s otherwise realistic and historical is that I just don’t know what I’m looking at.

 

For me, the problem with nontraditional casting and something that’s otherwise realistic and historical is that I just don’t know what I’m looking at.

 

Kayson point I just saw the musical the outsiders on Broadway. There’s a role of a juvenile delinquent called Dally. The other greasers look up to him. is the musical he’s played by a black man. And there’s a black girl in the gangs.

 

Butis the musical he’s played by a black man. And there’s a black girl in the gangs.

 

But we’re clearly told and in the vapid lyrics, this is Tulsa 1967. So when dally flirts with a ”soc” and the only thing people notice is the class difference I’m… confused.

in American stories, I believe this leads to a bizarrely optimistic look at the past. When I take a friend of mine who is African-American to the theater she’s actually very offended by this kind of thing. She was really annoyed at back to the future because there was a black man running for president in a small town in 1957. I want to give actors opportunities.. but it’s confusing. 
 

and in a historical film even more so. If it’s Bridgerton the whole thing is a fantasy. Yes there were a few Negro Russians but it was rare and it’s just so odd it wouldn’t have ever been remarked on.

 

[Blackie]

On 4/13/2024 at 10:09 PM, edhopper said:

I am a little bothered by how man black actors they use. I am all for neutral casting. But in a historical setting, it hinders authenticity. 

But not enough to ruin my enjoyment of the show. 

 

Mr Blackie and I were just talking about this. It kind of threw me off at first as it has been awhile since I read the book. I had to try to remember back if there were black characters in the book. But when I realized that they weren't playing a black character  I kind of got used to it . (Also Young Hugh from The Detectorists as the barber was a bit weird). I don't know if these are the right casting decisions for a period drama.