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Beatles Go Tudor?
Jun. 14th, 2014 07:58 pmThere will be a NBC miniseries about the Beatles written by Michael "The Tudors" Hirst. . Oh my.
...I'm not sure whether I'm horrordelighted or amusedified or what. The Tudors was such an odd thing: it had elements that were genuinely compelling - Wolsey in season 1, Anne Boleyn in season 2 (but not in s1), Thomas Cromwell ditto -, and then again it never gave a flying fig about accuracy if it could help it (nobody at that court ever seemed to worry about pregnancies, Henry's sisters becoming one sister, Margaret, who got to marry the King of Portugal instead of the King of France, with no sister marrying a King of Scotland at all which presumably means in that verse Mary Stuart never existed is but two examples), and of course there's Jonathan Rhys Meyer not gaining weight until the very last possible moment in the last season... but then again, most accurate rendition of Anne's death (complete with actual speech), and most interesting Mary Tudor as a young girl.
...I think I'd roll with the trashiness, because let's face it, 60s rock stars did have a life that begs for trashy, if Hirst manages to get across the genuine passion for music (which is why we all still bother) as well, but what I'm really worried about is that he leaves out the humor. Which would be deadly. It was a quintessential part of their appeal and a key character trait of all four. And The Tudors was many things, but funny it was not.
Casting: Hirst does have a good eye. Natalie Dormer got an international audience first through playing Anne Boleyn, ditto for Sarah Bolger as Mary. I do hope he'll go with actors not already known for the Beatles themselves, because that makes it easier, and will use the already established stars for other roles. Mark Strong for George Martin? Rufus Sewell for Allan Williams? I did love Kristin Scott-Thomas as Mimi in Nowhwere Boy, but I doubt he'll go for encores. May I suggest Ian Hart, who was an eerily good John Lennon twice in his youth, as John's never do'well absent father Alfred (aka Alf aka Freddie)? On a similar note, Aidan Quinn (who was a good Paul in Two of Us) for Jim McCartney. Oh, and please, Mr. Hirst, do your part against the European crisis, show European cooperation and cast actual Germans for the Hamburg parts as opposed to Brits or Americans pretending to speak German.
...see, if James Gandolfini hadn't died, he could have cast him as Allen Klein.
In conclusion: maybe it'll be a trainwreck, but of course I'll watch. Meanwhile, here's the skit from A Midsumemr Night's Dream again which they boys did for Shakespeare's 400th anniversary:
...I'm not sure whether I'm horrordelighted or amusedified or what. The Tudors was such an odd thing: it had elements that were genuinely compelling - Wolsey in season 1, Anne Boleyn in season 2 (but not in s1), Thomas Cromwell ditto -, and then again it never gave a flying fig about accuracy if it could help it (nobody at that court ever seemed to worry about pregnancies, Henry's sisters becoming one sister, Margaret, who got to marry the King of Portugal instead of the King of France, with no sister marrying a King of Scotland at all which presumably means in that verse Mary Stuart never existed is but two examples), and of course there's Jonathan Rhys Meyer not gaining weight until the very last possible moment in the last season... but then again, most accurate rendition of Anne's death (complete with actual speech), and most interesting Mary Tudor as a young girl.
...I think I'd roll with the trashiness, because let's face it, 60s rock stars did have a life that begs for trashy, if Hirst manages to get across the genuine passion for music (which is why we all still bother) as well, but what I'm really worried about is that he leaves out the humor. Which would be deadly. It was a quintessential part of their appeal and a key character trait of all four. And The Tudors was many things, but funny it was not.
Casting: Hirst does have a good eye. Natalie Dormer got an international audience first through playing Anne Boleyn, ditto for Sarah Bolger as Mary. I do hope he'll go with actors not already known for the Beatles themselves, because that makes it easier, and will use the already established stars for other roles. Mark Strong for George Martin? Rufus Sewell for Allan Williams? I did love Kristin Scott-Thomas as Mimi in Nowhwere Boy, but I doubt he'll go for encores. May I suggest Ian Hart, who was an eerily good John Lennon twice in his youth, as John's never do'well absent father Alfred (aka Alf aka Freddie)? On a similar note, Aidan Quinn (who was a good Paul in Two of Us) for Jim McCartney. Oh, and please, Mr. Hirst, do your part against the European crisis, show European cooperation and cast actual Germans for the Hamburg parts as opposed to Brits or Americans pretending to speak German.
...see, if James Gandolfini hadn't died, he could have cast him as Allen Klein.
In conclusion: maybe it'll be a trainwreck, but of course I'll watch. Meanwhile, here's the skit from A Midsumemr Night's Dream again which they boys did for Shakespeare's 400th anniversary:
