Three key pieces of info:
This is absolutely not a Maggie Gyllenhaal vehicle, it’s one of the roles of the year
It’s a mini series
It’s by the same writer/director/producer (Hugo Blicks) as a hugely memorable mini series from 2-3 years ago called The Shadow Line
After the first hour, it’s looking classy as hell - adult, intelligent, obtusely humourous. You obv. have your ways and means but here’s the BBC link. Def worth checking out, imo:
Guardian blog - SPOILERS!:
I’m going to wait until the last episode airs and then binge it all on the iPlayer. That’s the way I consume shows these days - the wait between episodes is too tedious otherwise. I think the internet has rewired my brain in some fundamental way.
Generally, I tend to agree. This, however, is a double watch job; end up seeing it every 3-4 days.
Damn those Brits. Always stealing our actors and making them play the part of the hero.
Interested Americans should note the series will be shown on the Sundance channel starting 31 July. Sounds good; I’ll definitely take a look.
Indeed. She probably does the best accent ever in this. Hints of, say, Emma Thompson I thought. Almost as good as that other US export to London, Idris Elba <cough>
How 'bout that! Now I know that, and having seen the character do a presentation, I’d say this is almost as much mimicry (of Thompson) as it is ‘doing an English accent’.
Very good, though perhaps a fraction sloooow.
I caved in and started watching. I’ve just seen the second episode, and I think I’ll have to watch it again. It’s beautifully shot, and Maggie Gyllenhaal is really rather wonderful in her role - her performance is often one of silence and gesture and glance. The plot seems to be slowly unfolding in a way that reminds me of a John le Carre novel, and that’s a major recommendation.
It’s a hell of a thing. You think you’re being very clever in working something out (like the real mother), and then Blick’s hits you with another level.
Fwiw, I think the US wanted to bug the West Bank cable and flagpole guy ws about to spill.
As I mention above, imo it’s so worth seeing every episode twice.
Really classy.
I’m on episode seven (UK) now. I still have no idea what’s going on. Trust me, by the time you get to this episode you won’t either. Oh, some of your earlier questions will have been answered and some of your predictions probably proven right, but then boom! Everything’s on its head again.
I almost want to start a BBQ Pit thread about this show (and perhaps about British spy drama in general). It’s very very hard for me to figure out what’s going on. Example:
Right now I’m in the middle of Episode 5. Some woman – I can’t remember if she works for the CIA or the PLO :smack: – just told Nessa:
“You’ll have to think very carefully now about what I’m about to tell you …”
I figure out very little about this show, but as soon as I heard this I did guess one thing correctly: Whatever the CIA (PLO? IRS???) woman is about to tell Nessa, she’s not going to tell me. Sure enough, after the women exchange some meaningful glances, we cut to another scene.
Mumbling and British accents are always a problem for me, but I don’t think I could follow this show even with subtitles and footnotes.
The “flavor” of shows like this appeals to me, but I’m mostly just confused. Do others have this problem, or am I just stupid?
It’s not you. It’s the worst show I’ve watched all the way to the end.
The show was too convoluted and the parts I did understand sucked.
A longer thread on the show. May have missed it due to the speulling change.