Usually rather popular things are thought to have no hidden meaning or rather good things are not popular enough. I`m going to take sometimes some of them for a discussion.
The Nineteenth - "Do you believe in god?". Review on the "Penny Dreadful" series.
Penny Dreadful seems to be some sort of a reply to American Horror Story of
rather a high quality. The action
takes place in London, 1890. People in England of Victorian age were full of
beliefs and superstitions, which inspired many writers. The darkest ones merge
into single entity here. Dark tones, gothic violin, black robes, bloody red
drapes, flesh and mud, pain and screams, sex and blood – all of those genuinely
recreated atmosphere, perfect for a horror series.
The first episode begins with demons, vampires (here is when
many want to stop watching, I guess), Jack the Ripper, then – surprise,
surprise – Frankenstein. Those who
are aware of the history of British literature, know, that the novel was
written a bit earlier (1818), but like AHS,
time doesn`t predominate here. The story is changed a bit – it`s a sequel,
I can say – but so beautifully conveyed, mostly the tragedy of the Creature and
the nature of Dr. Frankenstein, with allusions to Wordsworth and Shakespeare.
Then comes Dorian Grey, seeking pleasure at the
edge between life and death. The actor was well chosen well – a true beauty of
sin. Well, generally, actors here make the most of the picture. Eva Green is a
gothic princess, who seems to be born for such parts, but you can`t tell for
sure whom she plays: a fortuneteller, a sinner, a witch, a sufferer, an obsessed with the devil.
Perhaps, the scriptwriters are ready to make her everything that fits. However, Vanessa (Eva Green) and Dorian together convey the tempting devilish beauty of the series.
Unlike AHS, that
gave many new and old faces a chance to uncover themselves, in Penny
Dreadful actors is a mean of attracting the audience. That`s why here are Eva Green, and Josh Hartnett, whom I haven`t seen for a long time, as long as Timothy Dalton and Billy Piper for those, who wants something more serious and dark
than Doctor Who. Unlike AHS, where there are no particular
characters of literature – they are more like collective images of characters
from horror stories of the past. Unlike AHS,
there are no breathtaking soundtracks, and the introductive titles include
scenes with the characters, which I don`t like (why show me the faces I don`t
know yet?). I don`t know what`s become of the characters, but I don`t see the
perspective of them changing their roles each season, like in AHS. Finally, when AHS works with the feeling of utter disgust, PD works with the feeling of temptation.
“Penny Dreadful” was a type of British fiction publication in the 19th century that usually
featured lurid serial stories appearing in parts over a number of weeks, each
part costing one (old) penny. The penny dreadfuls, named for both their cheap nature, and poor,
sensational quality, erupted into existence and met the desires of the poor
class. The tricky thing is the Showtime`s “penny dreadfuls” seem to be as cheap (surely I don`t mean money), meaningless and
transient, that the series won`t last long. However, isn`t any series nowadays
just another penny dreadful`s entertainment for our post-industrial information society?
