Archive
DICKENSIAN – Debbie Wiseman
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Dickensian is a fascinating British drama series from the BBC, which re-imagines many of the numerous characters from Charles Dickens’s most famous works – A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, Bleak House, Our Mutual Friend – and places them into a shared single setting in Victorian London. The plot of the series concerns Scotland Yard police inspector Bucket (Stephen Rea), and his investigation into the apparent murder of a prominent businessman, Jacob Marley, on Christmas Eve, an event which gradually draws many local figures into the plot. The series, which has an ensemble cast that includes Peter Firth, Tuppence Middleton, Pauline Collins, Caroline Quentin, and many others, was a critical success when it aired during the early months of 2016, and looks likely to be renewed for a second season in 2017. Read more…
GUARDIAN OF THE SPIRIT – Naoki Sato
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Guardian of the Spirit is a 4-episode live-action Japanese television miniseries which aired on the NHK network in March and April 2016. Directed by Keiji Kataoka, it is an adaptation of a popular series of historical action-fantasy novels by author Nahaoko Uehashi, and tells the story of a mysterious spear-wielding warrior named Balsa who, shortly after arriving in the New Yogo Kingdom, saves the life of Prince Chagum from a thinly veiled assassination attempt. When it is revealed that the attempt was ordered by Chagum’s own father, Emperor Mikado, Balsa is hired to protect him; as they travel together, Balsa’s complicated past begins to come to light, and they uncover Chagum’s mysterious connection to a legendary water spirit with the power to destroy the kingdom. Read more…
Under-the-Radar Round Up 2015, Part 6
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
The sixth and final installment in my series of articles looking at the best “under the radar” scores from around the world concentrates on music from films from Asia, although all of main ones this year are from the far eastern nation of Japan, with a couple of interlopers from Iran and the Lebanon. In this article, I’m taking a deeper look at several truly excellent works, which range in scope from anime movies and prestigious TV series to fantasy adventures, small-scale dramas, and religious epics.
Under-the-Radar Round Up 2015, Part 4
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
The fourth installment in my series of articles looking at the best “under the radar” scores from around the world concentrates on music from films and TV shows from the United Kingdom. The British Isles have always been a major center for excellent film music, and this year is no exception: as well as scores for projects like Peter and Wendy, Wolf Hall, Poldark, Suffragette, Spectre, Mr. Holmes, and Far From the Madding Crowd, which I have already reviewed, the rest of this year’s bumper crop includes the scores for a low-budget thriller, two wonderful TV documentaries, a witty comedy, and a swashbuckling TV adventure series!
SANADA MARU – Takayuki Hattori
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The annual NHK Taiga drama is a year-long television series broadcast on Japan’s main television network, NHK, and has been a staple of Japanese television since the first one was broadcast in 1963. It is widely considered to be one of the most prestigious television events of the Japanese calendar, attracting the cream of Japan’s dramatic talent, actors, writers, directors and composers. The 2016 NHK Taiga drama is Sanada Maru, which tells the life story of Sanada Yukimura, one of the last great historical samurai warriors in the “Warring States” period, and who is famous for successfully withstanding a great military siege in Osaka in 1615. Directed by Takafumi Kumira, it stars Masato Sakai in the leading role, and has an original score by composer Takayuki Hattori, who despite being a prominent figure in Japanese film music for more than 20 years may still be best known in the West for his monster movie score Godzilla Millennium from 1999. Read more…
Under-the-Radar Round Up 2015, Part 1
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
The first installment in my series of articles looking at the best “under the radar” scores from around the world concentrates on music from films from Spain and Portugal. I have been very vocal in the past about my admiration for the music coming out of the Iberian peninsula, and this year just reinforces my view that some of the best film music in the world right now is being written there. My first look at the area features new scores by some of my favorite contemporary composers, including Federico Jusid and Nuno Malo, and there will be more to come later!
POLDARK – Anne Dudley
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Poldark is one of those British period romantic dramas that the BBC does so well. Based on the series of historical novels by Winston Graham, this is actually the second adaptation of the story made by Auntie Beeb, following the massively popular and successful series starring Robin Ellis and Angharad Rees which first began airing in 1975. The stories follow the fortunes of Ross Poldark, a British Army officer who returns to his home in Cornwall from the American Revolutionary War only to find that his fiancée, Elizabeth Chynoweth, having believed him dead, is about to marry his cousin Francis. Ross attempts to restore his own fortunes by reopening one of his family’s long-derelict tin mines, and after several years he marries Demelza Carne, a poor servant girl, and gradually comes to terms with the loss of Elizabeth’s love. However, as is always the case with stories such as these, the course of true love never runs smooth, and the dramatic saga of the Poldark family continues across the generations. The show stars Aidan Turner as Poldark, Eleanor Tomlinson as Demelza, Heida Reid as Elizabeth, and Kyler Soller as Francis. Read more…
TEXAS RISING – John Debney, Bruce Broughton
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The American cable TV channels A&E and History have, in recent years, been branching out of their usual comfort zone and producing a number of epic mini-series chronicling important events or people in American history. Their first effort, in 2012, told the story of the feud between the Hatfields & McCoys that has since become part of American folklore; the second, in 2013, was a chronicle of the lives of gangsters Bonnie & Clyde, while the third, in 2014, was an extended biography of the life of magician Harry Houdini. Their latest project is a 10-hour western epic called Texas Rising, which chronicles the events of the 1835 war which led to the state of Texas breaking away from Mexico, and briefly becoming an independent nation, before becoming the 28th state of the United States. A large number of important historical events, like the battle at the Alamo, and pivotal figures from the American west, such as Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone, and Sam Houston, are depicted by director Roland Joffé, whose cast includes a who’s who of character actors, including Bill Paxton, Brendan Fraser, Ray Liotta, Kris Kristofferson, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Crispin Glover and Jeff Fahey. Read more…
WOLF HALL – Debbie Wiseman
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The name Cromwell is a notorious one in British history. Oliver Cromwell briefly turned the monarchy into a republic when he overthrew King Charles I in 1649, and he and his son Richard Cromwell ruled the country for six years during the so-called ‘Interregnum’ period, before Charles II was restored to the throne. Less well-known, but no less important, was Oliver’s ancestor Thomas Cromwell, who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII for eight years in the 1530s. Cromwell played a pivotal role in the formation of the Church of England, which was initiated by Henry’s desire to divorce his first wife Catherine of Aragon, due to her failure to provide him with a male heir, and instead marry the apparently more fertile Anne Boleyn; Pope Clement VII would not allow the divorce, forcing Henry to break away and form his own church. Unfortunately, Cromwell proved to be a controversial and divisive figure who made many powerful enemies, and he was eventually arrested and executed on a litany of trumped-up charges in 1540. The BBC TV costume drama Wolf Hall, based on the historical novel by Hilary Mantel, chronicles the rise and fall of Cromwell through the corridors of power. Read more…
THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH – Trevor Jones
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The Last Place on Earth was a critically acclaimed British TV mini-series, directed by Ferdinand Fairfax, which aired over seven episodes in the spring of 1985. It charted the epic race between two teams of intrepid adventurers and their efforts to become the first men to reach the South Pole – one from the United Kingdom led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, and one from Norway led by Scott’s great rival, Roald Amundsen. Their trials and tribulations caught the attention of the world in 1912, but ended in great tragedy, as the entire British party famously died from a combination of exhaustion, starvation and extreme cold on the return journey, having been beaten to the Pole by Amundsen by just a matter of days. The series starred Martin Shaw as Scott, Sverre Anker Ousdal as Amundsen, Max von Sydow as Amundsen’s mentor, the famed explorer Fridtjof Nansen, and Brian Dennehy as the American Arctic exploration pioneer Frederick Cook, as well as several now-popular British actors in early supporting roles, including Hugh Grant and Bill Nighy. Read more…
Under-the-Radar Round Up 2014, Part 5
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
My fifth article in my Review of the Year 2014 looks at the Best Scores from Scandinavia. Scandinavian movies and scores get pretty short shrift from the majority of mainstream audiences, and that needs to change, because the level of talent and craftsmanship at work in those countries is superb. While composers like Johan Söderqvist from Sweden, Jóhann Jóhannsson from Iceland, and Tuomas Kantelinen and Panu Aaltio from Finland have developed an international profile over the past few years, there are still a number of domestic composers doing excellent work within their own industry; as such, this year’s choices from the frozen north contain music by both established names and promising newcomers, and include a Danish TV mini-series, a Swedish comedy, and three scores from Norway: a children’s adventure, a historical thriller, and a wonderful classical documentary.
Under-the-Radar Round Up 2014, Part 2
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
I’m pleased to present the latest installment in my on-going series of articles looking at the best under-the-radar scores from around the world.
This article, the second of 2014, looks at four of the best scores from Italy. Italian cinema doesn’t quite have the same level of acclaim and popularity as it did in the past, and the glory days when composers such as Ennio Morricone, Pino Donaggio, Nino Rota, and Riz Ortolani dominated the country’s film music scene appear to be mostly over; meanwhile, several of today’s most prominent Italian composers, including Dario Marianelli, Carlo Siliotto, and Nicola Piovani, tend to work primarily on non-Italian projects.
Ironically, some of the most promising Italian film music being written today appears to be for television, and three of the four scores featured here originated on the small screen: Stefano Caprioli’s Furore: Il Vento della Speranza and I Segreti di Borgo Larici, both of which showcase his rich, classical, strongly thematic style, and Andrea Farri’s Le Mani Dentro la Città, an excellent example of contemporary action-thriller scoring which blends orchestra and electronics without allowing the latter to overwhelm the former. The final score is Alexander Cimini’s Red Krokodil, a stunningly beautiful and unexpectedly symphonic accompaniment to a dark and disturbing art-house drama, and one which earmarks Cimini as “a composer to watch.”
PENNY DREADFUL – Abel Korzeniowski
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Penny Dreadful is a Gothic horror/drama series on the American Showtime network, set in Victorian London at the turn of the 19th century. Taking inspiration from the classic writings of Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde and others, as well as the “penny dreadful” magazines which told lurid tales of serial killers, highwaymen and cowboys, creator John Logan re-imagined these classic characters in a new setting, interacting with each other, and working together to defeat an ancient evil. The story follows Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett), a charming American gunslinger sojourning in the motherland, who is recruited by the mysterious Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) to help Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton), a famed African explorer, rescue his daughter Mina, who he believes has been kidnapped by a vampire-like creature. Needing help of a medical nature, Sir Malcolm also obtains the help of Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway), a brilliant young surgeon, who has a problem of his own: unknown to the others, Frankenstein has been conducting experiments involving death and resurrection, and one of his creations, the fearsome Caliban (Rory Kinnear), has come looking for his father… Read more…
Under-the-Radar Round Up 2013, Part 4
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
I’m pleased to present the fourth installment in my on-going series of articles looking at the best under-the-radar scores from around the world.
This article, the fourth of 2013, explores seven outstanding scores from recent months, including a raucous horror-comedy about a pair of bumbling bank robbers who run afoul of a coven of cannibalistic witches in the Basque country, an ingenious thriller about a concert pianist who discovers that a sniper will kill him if he plays a wrong note during his comeback performance, an epic historical television series chronicling the life and reign of Queen Isabella I of Castile, a bittersweet drama about a soldier and the mule he adopts during the Spanish Civil War, a sweeping television drama about a Madrid seamstress whose life is transformed by war, espionage, and political intrigue, an apocalyptic science-fiction thriller in which a mysterious epidemic leaves humanity terrified of venturing outdoors, and a boisterous family adventure about mischievous twin brothers who form a secret gang at summer camp and embark on a hunt for hidden treasure. Read more…
Under-the-Radar Round Up 2013, Part 3
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
I’m pleased to present the third installment in my on-going series of articles looking at the best under-the-radar scores from around the world.
This article, the third of 2013, explores eight outstanding scores from recent months, including a Polish science fiction comedy about a young couple who discover a time-travelling elevator and find themselves face-to-face with Adolf Hitler, a biographical drama about celebrated Polish poet and wartime resistance fighter Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, a hugely popular Polish television series following a group of friends struggling to survive in Nazi-occupied Warsaw, a Russian biographical drama telling the story of pioneering cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and his historic journey into space, a nature documentary about brown bears living in the Carpathian Mountains, a Polish family drama about two teenage girls who discover that they are twin sisters separated at birth, an epic historical drama about a Polish family deported to Siberia during World War II, and Roman Polanski’s French-Polish adaptation of Venus in Fur, an erotic comedy-drama about the shifting balance of power between a theater director and an actress during an unusual audition.
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