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| Shakespeare Would Have Watched "Game of Thrones" if he were alive today. |
I had long given up hope of good television. In the seventies there were some exceptional series made by the BBC such as "The Six Wives of Henry the Eighth", "Jenny, Lady Randolph Churchill", "The Duchess of Duke Street" and others. They were high quality and riveting series of six to eight episodes and all based on historic characters. Then, suddenly, they disappeared over thirty years ago. Just like that, Poof. None of them come close, however, to the impact of "Game of Thrones".
There have been good shows and sitcoms amongst the dearth since those series in the seventies; jewels even. However, I sensed the end of television as entertainment was nigh when 'reality' shows reared their vapid heads well over ten years ago. At first these were touted as 'infomercials', a commercial turned documentary without the guts.
"Game of Thrones" has been made for television and may well be the saviour of the medium. It comes from the US yet many of the actors are British. This was a brilliant choice as there was, after all, no US in Medieval times in which the series is set, even if this is a fantasy one. The effect is to give the series that added zing of class and realism, which comes with a series the BBC might produce. Some of the actors are good looking, some are not, but all faces have been chosen to fit character. Young, middle aged and aged characters all play and look their parts.
I first heard of "Game of Thrones" when reading the news magazine "The Monthly" for the very first time in 2013. The journalist in the 'Film' section was raving about it and how the lead character, Edard Stark, played by Sean Bean, is beheaded. She admitted to having a bit of a thing for Bean and she wasn't expecting him, as a main character, to be executed at the end of the first season.
Well I had to watch after that, didn't I? I was hooked from the moment the program started for a number of reasons. I love period dramas and realistic costumes. I am a Media graduate who never found work in the industry but I studied film for five years. Not that I had to in order to appreciate the visual spectacle and sumptuousness of this production.
The introduction to each episode begins with incredible mechanical miniatures that grow to represent each of the seven kingdoms and their position on the map of a mythical continent called Westeros. Whoever is responsible for these is a genius. Who could not watch after such an introduction?
The series is set in a mythical Medieval past and the lighting is done so as to reproduce a time of dark interiors, candle and torch light. The lighting for exterior scenes appears entirely natural and yet filters have been used to capture the cold and stark landscapes of the Northern Kingdoms. In the sun drenched South there are lush gardens and Roman porticos. The landscapes range from snow covered, frozen vistas to dark mountainous regions and moors to sunny Mediterranean climes. The costumes are amazing and made of cloth suitable to the time. The skins and furs look real and the sets are both lavish and realistic.
The story is multi-faceted and each episode deals with events in each kingdom so that we may jump from the cold North to the South or jump the sea to a land of sand and Byzantine palaces. In each series there are a number of lead characters as well as numerous lesser ones. These change as time goes on and characters are killed off. In the beginning the head of Northfell is Ned Stark and his wife Catelyn and the Stark's adult and younger children. The children remain integral to the series as it continues.
There is the King Robert Baratheon, his wife Cersei Lannister, her incestuous brother, Jaime, and her son Joffrey. It is obvious to the viewers that the vile Joffrey is actually the son of the brother and sister. The other characters are the blonde exiles Daenerys Targarin and her brother, Vyseris, who wish to win back their throne. There are the men of 'the Wall' and to top it off the rarely seen Wildlings, a race of living dead.
As the series progresses more characters are introduced. Some start as minor characters whose roles grow, making the complex tapestry of the plot even richer. The incestuous Lannisters have a powerful father, Tywin Lannister, played by Charles Dance who makes my mouth water at the best of times. His other child is the real centrepiece of the show, Tyrion Lannister, a dwarf of formidable brain, loathed by one and all but his mistress for his deformity.
Peter Dinklage, who plays him, is the actor who has left me reeling with his scenes. I believe I am not alone. He is brilliant. No one wants his character to die and I have a feeling he won't as I believe a dream he speaks of suggests a premonition that he will one day be the King. The dream is about beetles and an idiot cousin, but I can tell a good premonition when I see one.
Another character, Jon Snow, is the bastard son of Edard Stark. He is sent to 'the Wall' but eventually becomes a leader. His younger sister and brother in the meantime are having adventures of their own. The younger brother early on, catches Cersei and her brother in flagrante delecto and is tossed from a tower with no memory of what happened and paralysed. His sister, who wants to be a warrior, ends up alone after her father's death and abducted by reprobrate who plans to sell her off. They begin to form a strange alliance on their journey and this is another sub plot. The middle sister, Sansa, becomes a major character and is meant to be married to the horrid Joffrey but, when he chooses another bride, is instead later married to Tyrion Lannister, the dwarf, for whom she cares not at all.
She is rescued after Tyrion is accused of Joffrey's murder by Petyr Baelis, the Machiavellian character of the series. He, no doubt, has plans to make her Queen of his own kingdom when he finds one. He is an incredibly polished devious man who represents the higher public servants of the world everywhere. He schemes and manipulates right down to telling whores how to do their job.
In fact there are many sub plots and major plots but they are beginning to come together. Nonetheless they are often glued by grisly deaths. Lesser characters in the series all have complexity and add considerable weight to an extraordinary plot. Each scene is meticulously put together from the costumes, the fabulous sets and lighting to create mood and ambience. Never in my mind has there been a more perfect show. I doubt there ever will be again.
Did I mention there are dragons? Daenerys is also known as Kaleeshi, 'the mother of dragons' and these, the wolves of Northfell and the Wildlings make up the only supernatural parts of the show. None is overdone so the sense of realism prevails.
Am I raving? Those of you who watch it know I'm not. Those who don't watch it have the pleasure of discovering that I'm not.
It is like a modern version of Shakespeare, but his Globe Theatre is the Media and the best artisans of their time are his producers and actors. If he were alive today he would be glued to his television set and waiting for the next episode. In this show I'm sure he would have felt he had found his peers.
I salute the author of the books on which the series is based, George R.R. Martin. Perhaps his double, middle initials give a hint to the fact that he likes to make things complex. Whatever the reason I am in awe of him.
I also salute two masters of film making in David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. The latest issue of Vanity Fair calls this show the best television series ever made. That is high praise from the highly respected News Journal. However it is its fans all over the world that prove that quality still wins over crass. In the sit-com "The Big Bang Theory", which I confess to liking immensely, even Sheldon has something to say about it. "How good is "Game of Thrones"," he enthuses. From this shows producers, through him, comes high praise.
It is almost sad to watch the best television you are ever likely to see. At the same time it would be worse if it had not come about. What it shows is that the media is still capable of reaching beyond it's last best to further better itself. It is an analogy to the human race. We are always capable of going one better and to grow. It is heartening to know.
I had been beginning to feel that technology was marking the end of the evolution of the human race but perhaps I am wrong. We are still progressing. There is not much new technology in "Game of Thrones" in respect to special effects. It is simply the marriage of great talent with television. In the game of life, it seems, the human mind is still capable of originality. That gives me hope when I had begun to think humans were running out of initiative in the face of massive technological revolution.
Long may our minds reign supreme above technology. In my 'game of thrones' I fear the day technology is incorporated in the human minds. Technology is there for us to use and must be kept in its place. The greatest power of all rests with us and our minds and of what they are capable. They are our greatest kingdom.
END
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