Back to the BBC

I've just finished watching the first two episodes (there are three 90 minute episodes total) of the BBC Miniseries "The Lost Boys" written by Andrew Birkin (who also wrote the Barrie biography of the same title)starring Ian Holm as J.M. Barrie.

(Should I be waiting to write about the miniseries until I've finished all the episodes? Psh, tosh! )

I mentioned in the previous post that I somehow managed to send back the first DVD having only watched 1 out of 2 episodes on it. Discovered this when I received the second one and found it was episode 3 instead of episode 2. I sent it back to Netflix and got the first DVD to start all over again.

SO - take 2 on "The Lost Boys."

It really is remarkable how much of a difference it makes when you know what you're getting in to. (I also think having finished reading the biography this time helped.)

(Should I have known what was in store the first time 'round having seen plenty of BBC films of the era and before? Bah!)

I re-watched the first episode again before continuing to episode 2 and I enjoyed it more this time around. I'm also very glad that I didn't skip the 2nd episode - as that's where a majority of the action takes place.

Major criticisms (aside from previously mentioned picture quality and pacing):

- They seem to have cut out a key scene between Arthur (the Davies' father) complaining of a toothache and his lying in a hospital bed with cancer of the jaw. It seemed a bit abrupt and without explanation - I imagine it would have been very confusing to me if I hadn't known what was coming.

-I really hate the woman who plays Peter Pan in the scene where the family is watching the play. A lot.

- From what I've read, Barrie having a persistent cough is very realistic. Some things are too realistic for art. :P However accurate it may be, it's just a bit much to have Ian Holm hacking through every scene.

- Much as I understand why Birkin was tempted to include so much voice-over (we're constantly hearing Barrie's thoughts, or his notes as he jots them down.) it just doesn't work well for film. 

(Tangent/fun fact: At age 16 I tried to write a screenplay of one of my favorite YA Fiction novels, "The Silver Kiss" - a vampire romance novel. I was *SO* ahead of my time! Anyway, the point is - I also used an excessive amount of voice-over -- I didn't want to lose anything from the book, and much of what I loved were the main character's internal reflections and reactions.)

It's understandable that Birkin wants to get in as many Barrie notes and reflections as possible -- but in the end film is a visual medium - it needs to convey primarily through action and not through text. Mind, I'd have no idea how to achieve this either - but I can't help thinking someone could have done it. (Sound bite: "Wendy thought Napoleon could have got it, [Mrs. Darling's kiss] but I can picture him trying, and then going off in a passion, slamming the door.")

On the positive side

The acting really is excellent - child actors in particular are uncommonly good.

Ian Holm might be a bit *too* much like the real Barrie - not at all sure it wouldn't have been better for the story if Barrie were a bit more lovable! That said - he's very moving in many scenes - he brought me to tears more than once, particularly during the scene where he begs Mary Ansell not to leave him for Gilbert Canaan.

I was also extremely impressed by Tim Pigott-Smith as Arthur Llewelyn Davies - he gives a truly moving performance - particularly in the scenes after he is diagnosed with cancer.

Nina Boucicault as Peter Pan in
 the original 1904 production in London

The more I read and watch about the Barrie and the Davies family the more I'm struck by how unrelentingly tragic the whole tale is.

A little child voice inside of me keeps lamenting "I wish it were a happy story."