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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0794051154521
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Label: BBC Warner
Manufacturer: BBC Warner
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: BBC Warner
Region Code: 1
Release Date: July 03, 2001
Running Time: 270 minutes
Sales Rank: 47176
Studio: BBC Warner
Theatrical Release Date: June 10, 2000
Editorial Review:
Description:
Since its publication at the end of World War II, Mervyn Peake's masterpiece, The Gormenghast Novels,' has stood unchallenged as one of English literature's most extraordinary flight of imagination. Its themes of treachery, decay, madness and honor have come to be regarded as a metaphor for the fall of an empire, the passing of an age, and the rise of fascism. The glorious castle of Gormenghast is home to the ancient family of Groan, where nothing has changed for thousands of years. The dynasty is threatened by the charming and evil kitchem-boy, Steerpike. With the birth of a new heir, Titus Groan, Steerpike begins his ruthless ascent to power. As he charms, outwits and terrorizes the castle's inhabitants, only the young and timid Earl of Groan, Titus, stands in Steerpike's way. Who will ultimately rule Gormenghast?
Amazon.com:
The BBC's lavish, glowingly designed adaptation 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 synchronized madness of Zoë Wanamaker and Lynsey Baxter as his twin sisters, and the duplicitous charm of Jonathan Rhys-Meyers 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 realizes 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. --Roz Kaveney
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - !
a really beautiful, faithful adaptation of the books. the characters and set are rightfully surreal, grotesque, and comical, and the series definitely captures the decaying quality of gormenghast. i only wish it could have gone on longer, and would have loved to have seen them continue with titus alone.
Rating: - Fantasy Genre Revived
I ordered "Gormenghast" on the basis of the favorable reviews offered by other Amazonian viewers. Having only "perused" the Peake novels, I came into the Groan's world as a newbie, with no real expectations of liking, loving, or disliking the mini-series.
I was pleasantly surprised with the vigor and boldness of the direction. The wide camera angles, the purposely muted colors of all of the characters' clothing, all added to the trippy-dippy feel that is the daily life of Gormenghast. ... Read More
Rating: - Gormenghast, a great mini-series from great novels
The Groans have ruled over the earldom of Gormenghast for seventy-six generations. Just as the future seventy-seventh Earl, Titus, is being born, rebellion rears its head in Castle Gormenghast, within whose walls dwell a collection of madmen and grotesques.
This BBC mini-series retells Mervyn Peake's epic fantasy novels, Titus Groan and Gormenghast, in a very faithful treatment. This one is a must-see for those who have read the novels, and for those that haven't, it presents a wonderful ... Read More
Rating: - Great followup to the book
If you have read the book and enjoyed it, as I have, then this is a very good video. I'm not sure how it would be received by someone who had not read the book first.
Rating:  - Terrible DVD transfer of beautiful series
I just received the new NTSC "widescreen" DVD version of Gormenghast (ISBN 1419838172). It is the worst DVD transfer I have seen. The original series was shot in widescreem (1.66:1). The Region 2 PAL version (which I also have) shows the full picture full screen (on a widescreen TV) with excellent sharpness and detail. The new NSTC version I am describing in this review is cropped heavily and has black borders on all four sides; it is also as fuzzy as a cheap VHS tape.
Bottom line - do not ... Read More
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