Submitted by spectacleskeptic t3_zkp3ya in television
I am blown away. This series came out of nowhere for me and was achingly beautiful. The love story between Cornelia and Eli could have been tropey and sappy, but wasn't at all. I can't even describe it. I honestly feel cheated out of not getting to see more of these two characters together.
This just shot up to my favorite series of the year. Something I had no intention of watching, but am now completely at a loss of words.
"Disjointed" is basically a core element of Hugo Blick's style. If you've watched his previous shows, especially The Shadow Line and The Honourable Woman (both masterpieces), all of the same elements are there.
Blick has a unique style. He draws out the dialogue scenes to absurd extents, he relies on stilted, stylized (some people have called it tarantinoesque) dialogue, and he appears to intentionally undermine moments of action with broken pacing, and violate a dozen filmmaking rules at the same time. Sometimes it feels like we're watching a stage play and not TV. But somehow it seems calculated and somehow it works, and his shows are always beautifully shot and filled with superb character actors.
One of the things I like is the air of mystery he's able to imbue his shows with. Even when the plot is a pretty straight story, you never get too close to the characters to get bored of them. There's always some inexplicable motivations going around.
The nearest contemporary I can think of in terms of style and weirdness is David Lynch, especially the Twin Peaks sequel.
I've not seen all of The English yet, so I will reserve judgement. So far it hasn't grabbed me as much as Blick's earlier shows, but I don't dislike what I've seen so far.
I went in not knowing what to expect and I thought it was easily one of the best shows of the year.
I've loved everything else that Hugo Blick has done and while this had some good moments it never quite came together for me. It felt a bit too over stylised (which will only really make sense if you've seen the other stuff he's done, which all have some heavily stylised elements but still feel grounded in a reality that is close to - but slightly apart from - our own) I think if anything it took a bit too long to really get to the heart of the story (with Rafe Spall's character), but when it did it was much better.
If you like this then definitely check out his other shows. The Shadow Line, The Honourable and Black Earth Rising are all fantastic.
Honestly, the heart of the show for me was Eli and Cornelia, the other stuff was just superfluous. I thought their story and relationship really grounded everything else.
[deleted]
Had no idea Amazon had this. Just a regular BBC show in the UK
Agreed, we powered through it in a week and loved it!
It's a great show so far but it's funny that I'm watching it on disney+ and not on prime even though it says amazon studiosright at the beginning!
is it comedic at all? the trailer turned me off because it looked a little silly
not at all.
There are comedic moments, but overall, it's not comedic.
it's an amazing show, but yes, may be not easily approachable. If you like Hugo Blick, check The Honourable Woman, his best job imho, tremendous from start to finish
So it is a sappy romance show?
Not at all. It's a lot of blood and guts. Diseased and necrotic limbs and wounds are shown. It's extremely grimy. One character has to wear goggles all the time because their eyelids had been peeled off their face.
The opening shot of the show is literally an opening shot, a person's head explodes after being shot by a rifle.
Not in the slightest haha
At times, the show has a Quentin Tarantino feel. I loved it.
Pineapple996 t1_j01kh2r wrote
Mixed feelings about this show. It has great visuals and an incredible score. The story wasn't bad but it was very oddly structured. It does mostly come together at the end but it was still too disjointed for my taste. I struggled a bit to connect with the characters also.