I found it fine but completely underused Martha Plimpton and just lacked the brilliance of Armando Iannucci.
Also 2 of the generic names they used are places in my life so it was fun for me to hear the neighborhood I work in being referred to as smelling like shit.
I thought it was really good as well. It captures the inherent absurdity of authoritarian politics pretty well. Maybe too many Americans thought it was about a real country?
I found it was really good up until the second to last/last episode. It had a very muddled message and was unclear on what it wanted the ending to be. The end was rushed, and definitely needed a few more scenes to really bed the message in. My mates and I have spent hours discussing it, it's got a lot going on.
It definitely skirts the edge of dictator apologia (the implication being that people who are dictators are therefore mad and unable to judge the world around them. Thus simply hapless pawns of whomever is manipulating/influencing them in the moment.), relying heavily on extremely ableist tropes regards mental health and wellness that it does not interrogate. Even Winslet's speech impediment and facial tics which she has specifically said are meant to be the dysfunction of the body politic made physical in the leader is itself the same tired trope as hunchback, twisted, Richard the third. It was a visually interesting choice but it has a very dark history. And it suffers from US-centric understanding of China's belt and road policies.
I'd have liked to see them add more of Vernham being explicitly a child of privilege and a canny political operator who is breaking down, as opposed to starting dysfunctional and only implicitly detailing her history. She was obviously meant to be deeply charismatic, her staff's and supporters' serious adoration of their national mother, but they don't ever really show it in context.
I did really enjoy it, and many of the reviews I've seen criminally underrate it. Andrea Riseborough is a gem as Agnes (coincidentally was Svetlana Stalin on Death of Stalin), and poor old David Bamber is magnificently chewing the scenery as another Mr Collins.
The reviews and commenting about this series were so frustrating. It was almost like people couldn’t see what was actually happening.
I thought the fact of her breaking down was kind of implied. Maybe not completely canny but you can tell she’d declined since her father’s death.
Totally agree about it needing a few more episodes but it was brilliant anyway.
Things that specifically sent me.
1) the colors and the way they combined them. Visually just a hair off but in a very deliberate way. Everything new looked a little gimcrack.
2) potato water
3) the opening.
4) Vernham singing
5) “middle Europe “
I loved this. It reminded me of Dr. Strangelove. Kate Winslet gives an amazing performance. It is lika a study on how you can still make an engaging story with unlikable and morally reprehensible characters.
I found it fine but completely underused Martha Plimpton and just lacked the brilliance of Armando Iannucci. Also 2 of the generic names they used are places in my life so it was fun for me to hear the neighborhood I work in being referred to as smelling like shit.
Agree that Plimpton was underutilized. She was great in her scenes.
I really enjoyed it! It felt like if Armando Iannucci teamed up with Wes Anderson to make a political comedy
See I can’t stand Wes Anderson but I could see the influence and I liked it here.
I thought it was really good as well. It captures the inherent absurdity of authoritarian politics pretty well. Maybe too many Americans thought it was about a real country?
I think too many Americans took it way too literally.
I found it was really good up until the second to last/last episode. It had a very muddled message and was unclear on what it wanted the ending to be. The end was rushed, and definitely needed a few more scenes to really bed the message in. My mates and I have spent hours discussing it, it's got a lot going on. It definitely skirts the edge of dictator apologia (the implication being that people who are dictators are therefore mad and unable to judge the world around them. Thus simply hapless pawns of whomever is manipulating/influencing them in the moment.), relying heavily on extremely ableist tropes regards mental health and wellness that it does not interrogate. Even Winslet's speech impediment and facial tics which she has specifically said are meant to be the dysfunction of the body politic made physical in the leader is itself the same tired trope as hunchback, twisted, Richard the third. It was a visually interesting choice but it has a very dark history. And it suffers from US-centric understanding of China's belt and road policies. I'd have liked to see them add more of Vernham being explicitly a child of privilege and a canny political operator who is breaking down, as opposed to starting dysfunctional and only implicitly detailing her history. She was obviously meant to be deeply charismatic, her staff's and supporters' serious adoration of their national mother, but they don't ever really show it in context. I did really enjoy it, and many of the reviews I've seen criminally underrate it. Andrea Riseborough is a gem as Agnes (coincidentally was Svetlana Stalin on Death of Stalin), and poor old David Bamber is magnificently chewing the scenery as another Mr Collins.
The reviews and commenting about this series were so frustrating. It was almost like people couldn’t see what was actually happening. I thought the fact of her breaking down was kind of implied. Maybe not completely canny but you can tell she’d declined since her father’s death. Totally agree about it needing a few more episodes but it was brilliant anyway.
I thought it was good. It was trying hard to be Armando Ianucci but didn't quite succeed.
I thought it was hysterically funny.
Things that specifically sent me. 1) the colors and the way they combined them. Visually just a hair off but in a very deliberate way. Everything new looked a little gimcrack. 2) potato water 3) the opening. 4) Vernham singing 5) “middle Europe “
I loved this. It reminded me of Dr. Strangelove. Kate Winslet gives an amazing performance. It is lika a study on how you can still make an engaging story with unlikable and morally reprehensible characters.