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Rating:  - Films That Changed My Life!
This production is simply perfect! It's one of the best releases to have grace the screen - big or small. From the acting to the writing to the music, it's unbelievably well done. It all starts, of course, with a good script, and this one is especially eloquent. That it's based on a true story is even more incredible. Easy to comprehend, yet witty and funny, with plenty of morals to learns, and history to obtain. Who couldn't relate to a little anxiety, suspicion? Who hasn't been slightly distraught with paranoia, and loneliness. I remember first seeing it on PBS-TV, in the late 80s, and being amazed. You expect good quality television from Public Broadcasting System, but they really delivered this time. Astonished at the quality and talent behind such an undertaking, I bought the videotapes and watched them again and again, and hunted down the various music used. And of course worship Michael Gambon ever since! What a role to bring to life... The sets, the lighting, the editing, is well thought through, very deliberate, and obviously very necessary. And, then, there's the music. Mainly a collection of crooners and jazzers, and oh so wide, eclectic, and tasteful. You are a traveler, moving through the mind of a brilliant and pained man, one you join with, and cheer for, to overcome his handicap, his fears, and bring to fruition a good, healthy, happy, and creative life!
Rating: - One of a kind
The Singing Detective is a virtually unique entitiy: Rashoman-like dramatic stories, interwoven through and around one another, with humor, intrigue, fantasy, tragedy, sex, psychology, and music!! To try to describe it with any degree of accuracy would be to become so bogged down in detail as to make the telling of it well nigh incomprehensible; meaning, I suppose, that it can't be described, it has to be experienced. And you'll either love it or hate it. I love it!
Rating: - Engrossing show
This is a masterpiece of semi film noir. Tha acting is superb, and you will be guessing and wondering throughout. A real treat!
Rating: - Painful Memories, And A Writer's Imagination: Outstanding Masterpiece!
First of all, I will write up front that this is not only the greatest television miniseries I have ever seen, but I rank it right up there with one of the greatest films ever! I first saw "The Singing Detective," starring Michael Gambon, in 1991. Years later, when I saw it in a video store, I was surprised, and without hesitation purchased the DVD set without even caring about the price. Thant is how GREAT this TV series is. There are not too many things on TV that have captivated my attention. However, this film certainly did. The films narrative centers on a writer named Philip E. Marlow (Michael Gambon) who has been hospitalized due to a rare skin disease that has left him incapacitated.
Moreover, the viewer is given a glimpse into the mind of Philip E. Marlow as he hallucinates while suffering from this horrible skin condition. We see his thoughts being played out on the film, which in turn, segues into both an offbeat musical and a noirish detective drama. For instance, as Philip E. Marlow undergoes his treatment, we see his life experiences being played out like a dime store Chandleresque detective novel, due to his high fever. In his mind he is a detective investigating a murder, and then when he is startled into his present reality, we see his interactions with the hospital staff and other patients. Further, his interactions with the nurses and doctors are at times funny as hell, and at other times emotionally and dramatically played out--as he feels everyones indifference to his plight. Yet, he is not an easy person to get along with.
We witness his paranoid interactions with the nurses and doctors who are looking out for him, and especially when the nurses must place a body lotion over his entire body, lest his skin condition worsen: And at times this makes his feel awkward and helpless--as his bodily functions have a life of their own. Everything about this film is great--totally flawless. The other actors in the film also rise to the occasion in their supporting roles, and I found their interactions with Philip E. Marlow to be exceptional. The dialogue in the film is not only biting at times, but extremely funny. As the film moves from the past to the present, the viewer not only sees what has possibly happened in Marlow's life, which may be the reason for his present skin disease, but also how in his minds journey he is the creator of who he is in the present. Past and present blend with a creative talent, that only Dennis Potter, who wrote the script, could have accomplished.
Moreover, as the film moves through the life of Philip E. Marlow, we see his childhood, and what has caused him to be the cynical person he is today. Plus, we see that in his hallucinations, he is living his life from the memories of an an old novel he wrote years before titled "The Singing Detective." Eventually, the film ties everything together as both the past and present trauma of Marlow is woven together in a way that gives the viewer an absolutely brilliant ending. However, it is the journey in Marlow's mind which the viewer is privy to that make this film so unforgettable. Everything in the films early episodes are tied together in the end.
I did not know that the autobiographical details in the film were in fact factual accounts of the late novelist Dennis Potter's life, until reading his obituary several years ago when he passed away. The fictional detective, Philip Marlow (played by Gambon) suffers from a debilitating disease called psoriatic arthritis, and indeed so did Dennis Potter. If you like a great story, with noir tossed in and excellent acting, I would highly recommend buying this DVD set. Or rent it. The "Singing Detective" is well worth the watch. The DVD set comes with 3 discs. The first one contains episodes 1-3, the second episodes 4-6, and the 3rd one has bonus features, which contain interviews with Dennis Potter, and a documentary on the life of writer Dennis Potter. Once again, actor Micheal Gambon is incredible in the role of Marlow, and this TV series is without a doubt the BEST I have ever viewed. [Stars: 5+++]
Rating: - huh?
20 years after I first saw this on the BBC, I watched it again, just as mystified and enthralled and, I have to say, confused.
Dennis Potter makes enormous demands of the viewer in trying to figure out just what the heck is going on during the whole thing. That's partly the enjoyment of watching it.
As with his earlier 'Pennies from Heaven', Potter has the cast break into song sporadically to great effect.
Well worth the money.
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