In the bonus track of the DVD of "Gunpowder," the film artists described how they wanted to focus an event from English history and demonstrate its relevance today. The 1605 Gunpowder Plot involved a group of Catholic recusants who sought blow up Parliament with a massive cache of gunpowder. If successful, the blast would have destroyed the House of Lords, Westminster Abbey, and Whitehall Palace with untold casualties. In its age, this was a potentially greater act of terror than the tragic events of September 11, 2001.
The three-part series begins with an enormously sympathetic treatment of the terrorists. In the extras segment of the DVD, it was clear that the film producers wanted a film that would portray the conspirators from their own perspective, to humanize them, and to demonstrate the personal motivation that leads to modern acts of terrorism.
As the film progressed, the initial sympathy for the plotters disappears when we see them as a motley crew consumed by vengeance as much as their diehard religious values. In the bonus track, the Jacobean era was described as "a dark period" in which the filmmakers wanted to evoke "visceral" scenes to depict the age. They located an abandoned mill in Yorkshire that was converted into many of locales for the depiction of the court, prison, and torture chambers. The production sought to avoid "a gore fest," yet the film undeniably approached that level of violence in the graphic execution and torture scenes. Was it true to the period? Yes. Was it appropriate to string out the scenes so long? Doubtful.
Historically, the Gunpowder Plot is linked to Guy Fawkes, who was stationed below the House of Lords ready to ignite the fuse, prior to his capture and the foiling of the plot. The filmmakers wanted to set the record straight by focusing on the main ringleader, who was Robert "Robin" Catesby, not Guy Fawkes. Incredibly, the actor playing the role of Catesby is one of his descendants.
The pacing of the series was slow in places, and the chiaroscuro lighting was often so dark that it was difficult to make out characters' faces. Still, there was some good research on the part of the production team and some good performances, especially Peter Mullan as Father Garnet and Liv Tyler as Anne Vaux. Those two characters were recusant English Catholics who had knowledge of the plot unfolding, yet refused to condone it. They both were guided by their conscience, yet not quite enough to turn in the terrorist recusants to the authorities. This was a well-conceived miniseries that provides instructive food for thought on global terror today.
The three-part series begins with an enormously sympathetic treatment of the terrorists. In the extras segment of the DVD, it was clear that the film producers wanted a film that would portray the conspirators from their own perspective, to humanize them, and to demonstrate the personal motivation that leads to modern acts of terrorism.
As the film progressed, the initial sympathy for the plotters disappears when we see them as a motley crew consumed by vengeance as much as their diehard religious values. In the bonus track, the Jacobean era was described as "a dark period" in which the filmmakers wanted to evoke "visceral" scenes to depict the age. They located an abandoned mill in Yorkshire that was converted into many of locales for the depiction of the court, prison, and torture chambers. The production sought to avoid "a gore fest," yet the film undeniably approached that level of violence in the graphic execution and torture scenes. Was it true to the period? Yes. Was it appropriate to string out the scenes so long? Doubtful.
Historically, the Gunpowder Plot is linked to Guy Fawkes, who was stationed below the House of Lords ready to ignite the fuse, prior to his capture and the foiling of the plot. The filmmakers wanted to set the record straight by focusing on the main ringleader, who was Robert "Robin" Catesby, not Guy Fawkes. Incredibly, the actor playing the role of Catesby is one of his descendants.
The pacing of the series was slow in places, and the chiaroscuro lighting was often so dark that it was difficult to make out characters' faces. Still, there was some good research on the part of the production team and some good performances, especially Peter Mullan as Father Garnet and Liv Tyler as Anne Vaux. Those two characters were recusant English Catholics who had knowledge of the plot unfolding, yet refused to condone it. They both were guided by their conscience, yet not quite enough to turn in the terrorist recusants to the authorities. This was a well-conceived miniseries that provides instructive food for thought on global terror today.