James Clavell was one of the most remarkable writers of his time. Not only did he himself live an incredible life, he wrote extraordinary stories with an unbelievable range of topic and mood, everything from horror to adventure to crime. His screenplays included The Fly, The Great Escape, and To Sir with Love. (His politics, however, were unfortunate, being a rightwing libertarian. No one is perfect.)
The reason he could do all this is that the art of excellent narration was second nature to him; he was born a natural story teller. Unfortunately, this adaption of his best selling novel leaves the clear, lucid narration behind. Admittedly, Clavell had more room in his novel that this series has, but the people behind this show, rather than emulate Clavell's genius, have opted for a confusing script that is hard to follow and sometimes seems to meander off into oblivion. A shame, as everything else is here: great direction, superb acting, and above all, extraordinarily luscious sets filmed with precision and clarity: everything the script somehow avoids.
The reason he could do all this is that the art of excellent narration was second nature to him; he was born a natural story teller. Unfortunately, this adaption of his best selling novel leaves the clear, lucid narration behind. Admittedly, Clavell had more room in his novel that this series has, but the people behind this show, rather than emulate Clavell's genius, have opted for a confusing script that is hard to follow and sometimes seems to meander off into oblivion. A shame, as everything else is here: great direction, superb acting, and above all, extraordinarily luscious sets filmed with precision and clarity: everything the script somehow avoids.
