Any other Aussie Dopers watch the first episode last night? I hadn’t read the book, although I’d heard about it, but I did watch last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have yet to decide if that’s because it’s well written, well acted etc or if I’m just starved for drama.
I’m looking forward to watching it (now that you’ve told us it exists). I read the book several years ago and since it’s set in the town where I grew up (Melbourne), everything was very familiar to me, the geography, landscape, characters, attitudes, experiences - all very authentic.
Is it set up as a several-part miniseries? Or are they going to try to adapt it into soap-opera? I think it would be good as a 7 or 8 part miniseries, in order to flesh out all the characters.
Eight part mini-series. You may be disappointed in some aspects of the adaptation if you’ve read the book. Aisha is played by a woman who appears to be of African or West Indian descent and a number of comments have been about the fact that Hector’s wife in the book is a woman of Indian descent. That doesn’t alter the enjoyment for me but it has for some who’ve read the book.
I thoroughly enjoyed last night’s episode but that could just be because I loathe reality tv and that’s all that seems to be on lately.
The first episode was titled ‘Hector’ and next week’s is ‘Anouk’. I believe each episode is based on the pov of the character so named.
That’s how each section of the book is divided, so I’m glad they’ve stuck with that concept.
I thought it was fantastic and the book is one of my all-time favourites, so I was nervous they’d fuck it up. Can’t wait for next week, I’m so used to watching TV on DVD that this whole waiting a week between episodes thing is frustrating.
Glad to see Alex Dimitriades is another Christos Tsiolkas adaptation - he previous played Ari, the main character from Tsiolkas’ first book Loaded, in the film version which was called Head On. Ari turns up briefly in The Slap (book version) at the barbecue, so it would have been cool to see him come back as a cameo in the TV series, but obviously Alex can’t do that if he’s now playing a different character.
It’s sitting there waiting for me to watch it.
Reading an interview in the Green Guide yesterday, they did try for an Indian actress, but rewrote it for Sophie Okonedo. Tsiolkas was cool with the change and apparently wrote background details for the ‘new’ Aisha.
I’ve not seen Sophie Okonedo in any other roles but so far I’m liking her. In fact, she’s one of the few adults in the programme I do like - most of the others are quite unsympathetic characters.
I’m very much looking forward to next week but will have to record the episode because I’m working Thursday evening and probably Friday when it’s replayed on ABC2.
Isn’t Lex Marinos looking old? Well, he’d probably say that about me too …
Hmm, I’ve watched a bit of the first episode now. Hector was meant to be handsome in the book. I don’t know what happened with that small detail in the transition to TV.
And I think the voice-overs were a tragic choice. They should have been in the actor’s (Hector’s) voice saying “I’ll stop seeing her if…”. Instead of some person we don’t know chiming in and saying “Hector thought he’d stop seeing her if…”. Unless this whole story is a morality tale done in the traditional style (which would also fit the book, but wouldn’t work for TV).
Watched it last night.
@Isamu: Yeah, I agree. I like William McInnes in general and he’s got a good voice and narration style, so it’s not a gripe about the quality of the narration, but that disembodied voice did stick out ever so slightly.
@jabiru: Check abc.net.au/iview. I’m not sure if it’s on there or not, but it’s likely. That’s the ABC’s replay-on-demand page. Very useful, and a lot of ISPs don’t meter content coming from that page.
Overall, I enjoyed it. The progress from the initial all-happy-family to hinting at and then showing faultlines was well-handled, and it’s something that goes on throughout each of the eight parts in the book, so we’ve got lots to look forward to.
Rosie’s episode is going to be the test; in the book, she’s the character readers are most likely to dislike and not relate to, but I’ve seen comments from the makers and early reviewers saying her episode/chapter gives her depth and relateability, so I’m looking forward to seeing how they handle it.
Finished watching it tonight. Overall I really liked it. They built the tension well, and used the voiceover sparingly thank god.
The only thing I had to get used to was Hector’s cousin being a lot younger and fitter than I thought he was from the book. But it still worked quite well. Looking forward to the next ep.
Just watched the second episode. I didn’t find it as rivetting as the first but that could be because it wasn’t building up to The Slap. Mind you, I felt like I could give Rosie a slap of her very own.
One thing I did like better - much, much less narration.
Next week looks to be interesting.