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Gormenghast [DVD] [2000]
 
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Gormenghast [DVD] [2000]

DVD ~ Celia Imrie
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
RRP: £29.99
Price: £5.98 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

Gormenghast [DVD] [2000] + Neverwhere - The Complete BBC Series [1996] [DVD] + Mirrormask [DVD] [2005]
Total RRP: £65.97
Price For All Three: £14.93

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Gormenghast [DVD] [2000]
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Gormenghast [DVD] [2000] 3.9 out of 5 stars (38)
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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

The BBC's lavish, glowingly designed adapation of Mervyn Peake's eccentrically brilliant novels Titus Groan and Gormenghast is a triumph of casting. Ian Richardson's Lear-like depiction of the mad earl of a remote, vast, ritual-obsessed building is matched by the brutal pragmatism of Celia Imrie as his wife, the synchronised madness of Zoe Wanamaker and Lynsey Baxter as his twin sisters and the duplicitous charm of Jonathan Rhys-Meyer as Steerpike, the kitchen-boy determined to take over no matter how many deaths it costs. John Sessions is surprisingly touching as Prunesquallor, the family doctor who realises almost too late what Steerpike intends.

It is always tricky to film a book dear to the hearts of its admirers: Wilson and his design team achieve a look rather more pre-Raphaelite than Peake's own illustrations, shabby velvets, garish sunlight and dank stone passages. The score by Richard Rodney Bennett is full of attractive surprises--fanfares and waltzes and apotheoses--and John Tavener's choral additions are plausibly parts of the immemorial ritual of Gormenghast.

On the DVD: The double DVD comes with scene selection, an informative half-hour documentary on the making of the serial and a slide gallery of costume designs, characters and their dooms. --Roz Kaveney



Special Features

DVD 9
English
Region 2
Costume Gallery
Picture in Picture
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Customer Reviews

38 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (38 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Millenium Drama Triumph!, 3 May 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Gormenghast [VHS] [2000] (VHS Tape)
This BBC self-proclaimed Millenium Drama really is a triumph! Despite some critics chastising the production for not being 100% faithful to Peake's original novels, it's as faithful as any 4-hour TV adaptation could be! With beautiful, opulent costumes, seemingly endless sets and excellent "blue-screen' effects - the whole creation of the world of Gormenghast is like a dream, sprinkled with the stars of British acting. John Sessions is wonderful as the painfully verbose Prunesquallor, with Fiona Shaw truly sublime as his menopausally desperate sister Irma. Neve McIntosh is the most beautiful, infantile Fuchsia that one could imagine, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers is the very essence of emotionally troubled teenager as the ultimate social climber Steerpike. Topped off with the likes of film legend Christopher Lee as Flay, along with Celia Imrie, Stephen Fry et al. this really is a must see for fans of the genre. Read the novels in conjunction with the video to really get the best out of both!
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31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Visual Absorption, 1 May 2006
By Mr. C. C. Barrett "worldismyoyster" (Suffolk, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
I watched Gormenghast when it was originally shown on BBC television and was totally raptured. From the outset, it appears you have a window into a lustrous, animated, impressionist, surrealist painting; such are the amazing backdrops of the extensive, eclectic, idiosynchratic castle alongside the costumes, expressions and eccentricities of the characters. It really feels like you have entered the imaginations of a flamboyant distopian; Gormenghast is all at once rich, beautiful, haggard and doomed. The intensity of the film, the strength of the characters and the epic nature of the story may be a little too much for some viewers (like a particularly rich chocolate gateau) but it is fun and handily divided into four parts.

Now for the issue of the book versus the televised version. As previously said, I watched the television series when it was first broadcast. I managed to wade my way through the trilogy of books (the last of which is not included in the adaptation) in the last year. It is true that the adaptation makes necessary exclusions and changes to enable it to be digested on film. My opinion on re-makes and adaptations is that if significant changes have been made, it can only be chastised if it affects the enjoyment of the original: in the case of Gormenghast, when I read the novels, the television adaptation soon lost its influence; I saw nearly all of the characters differently (apart from the sister Clarice and Cora) and enjoyed the books on their own merit.

Therefore, despite the changes and somewhat misinterpreted characters (such as Fuschia - a character I empathised with in the books, but cannot in the film) I think the BBC adaptation is a beautiful, exciting, disturbing achievement and should be enjoyed alongside the books. Well done, Auntie!
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28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Fatally flawed adaption, 22 Nov 2003
First let me clarify where my viewpoint is coming from. The Gormenghast trilogy is probably my all time favourite literary work. I have "lived" with this wonderful story since I was but a strap of a lad, 18 years ago. I suppose you could say that it holds a special place in my heart, so I was always always going to be a difficult critic to convince. I was definitely looking forward to seeing the result though, when I read that the BBC were going to produce an adaption.

The first problem is the format. There is no way that the first two books could be filmed in 4 hours, whilst keeping the narrative and dramatic integrity of the books. When lesser, mainstream and unimportant "pap" series can command six 1 hour episodes, and considering the amount of time and money involved in bringing the production to the screen, it is frankly amazing that the Beeb would cut the legs from under the production before it was even made. The end result is comparable to driving through the centre of Florence at high speed! Many beautiful impressions appear fleetingly, with the next vista appearing before the previous can be digested. Subsequently many wonderful plot and character details are cut from the work to fit the time constraints. The greatest example of this is the removal of the Keda's life and loves.

The second, and to this reviewer, even more serious flaw, is in its handling of the most important character, and one of the few with whom the reader forms an emotional bond: namely Fuschia. In the first book she is a 15 year old girl, given to a life in her own imagination, through her alienation from her family and those around her ( Nannie Slagg apart). What do we get? An actress in her mid twenties purveying the ghastly scene of a child in an adult's body, causing the viewer to assume that she must be suffering from developmental problems! The end result is reminiscent of a pantomime. (Gwyneth Paltrow as Alice anyone?)

The final flaw is to completely alter the nature of Fuscia's relationship with Steerpike, so that her most important scene in the second book (when she stands looking out of her window across the flooded landscape), is altered from one of the most beautifully moving pieces of prose to a cheap (and convenient) piece of plotting.

So why do I give it 3 stars do you ask, given my harsh critique? The bulk of the casting was exceptional, Steerpike was a revelation, and much of the visual language was faithfully reproduced: Cora and Clara's tree being a perfect example.

Enjoy this adaption, but make sure you read the book also. The former is in no way a representation of the depth and beauty of the latter.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply excellent
Atmospheric, faithful to the books, and stuffed full of good performances (and largely free from bad ones), Gormenghast is well worth the asking price, and the time you'll spend... Read more
Published 11 days ago by JD Georgeson

5.0 out of 5 stars Impressive! Well Done to the Creators and Cast.
I have viewed this for the first time.9 years after it's making. I was aware it had been made, but never managed to see it when it was first screened. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Brendan McCaul

5.0 out of 5 stars TV nostalgia !!!
I saw this whern first released and shown on TV. Delighted now to own my own copy. Classic performances and wonderful sets. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Lizzi T

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic
I absolutely love the books, and this bbc version is fantastic. Although it is not an exact rendering of the books, that probably adds to the film's strengths. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Richard A. Brenton

5.0 out of 5 stars What the BBC is for.
I've just watched this DVD, a replacement for an often watched video of the series, and thought I'd add to the reviews. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mr. S. Kerfoot

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard to see how this could be any better.
Ignore those who say that this doesn't do justice to the books - it's different, yes, but in a good way. Read more
Published on 30 Oct 2007 by Hannah E. Dennerly

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome
I read the books in 1990, although I got a bit bored of the last one I have to admit and didnt finish it. Read more
Published on 28 Jul 2007 by I.T. Consultant

1.0 out of 5 stars Simply not Gormenghast at all!
Sorry, Beeb, but this to me is not the Gormenghast of the books, and I am amazed by other reviewers' celebration of it. Read more
Published on 21 Feb 2007 by P. A. Clarke

5.0 out of 5 stars Calm down everyone
So it's not a word for word interpretation of the book. as everyone agrees - that would be impossible. Read more
Published on 11 April 2006

4.0 out of 5 stars That That Always Will Be
I'm not going to ramble on for hours over the greatness of this Movie. Nor will I, to save time more than anything, sing it's much deserved praises. Read more
Published on 1 Jul 2004 by jackofthegreen

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