Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Dragons and Pendragons


Dragons and Pendragons

Heroic or medieval fantasy has never had an easy time on the Tube.   The related genres of horror and urban fantasy have done just fine:  Thriller, Twilight Zone, Buffy are the most obvious examples.   But the particular problems of filming a fantastic world - costumes, SFX, elaborate sets - have led to sword and sorcery of the low budget camp variety, such as  XenaWarrior Princess or Merlin.
That we now have two shows dealing with medieval fantasy that actually have large budgets is due to two trends; the critical and financial success of cable adult oriented drama series such as Deadwood and the The Wire, and the terrifyingly lucrative Lord of the Rings series in cinema.   Not only did Peter Jackson demonstrate how much cash could be made in the heroic fantasy genre, he also used special effects in an unprecedented way to make the world and creature building affordable.
HBO’s Game of Thrones and Showtime’s Camelot are both fairly large budget fantasy series that have some points in common; intrigue over rulership of a warring land, sweeping shots of real and CGI landscapes, nudity (mostly of the nubile female variety), sudden violence, and as a sign of the dark ages none but the prettiest of the leads use hair conditioner.  The series part ways in content, writing, and direction.
Camelot often seems to be shot with a shaky cam - as if hand-held cameras provide verisimilitude in the fifth century A.D.  The sets vary from fairly convincing to a village in the first episode which resembled a low budget renaissance faire.  The CGI castles have those Ridley Scott style CGI birds fluttering around them.  The dialogue is often a bit too modern.  And the acting varies wildly.  Joseph Cambell Bower’s Arthur and Peter Mooney’s Kay play as if they have a real relationship.  Joseph Fein’s Merlin often speaks in short growly sentences of one word. At. A. Time. Like. This.  His quiet noshing on the scenery should be more fun than it is, and it isn’t.  The standout is Eva Green as Morgan.   She’s found the exact right tone in the midst of the hyperbolic action going on around her, and even her overacting appears calculated to manipulate the characters around her, rather than the audience.  If the show were better, she would be looking at an Emmy nod.