John Adams: the HBO Films Miniseries
Did anyone get a chance to watch the premiere of this seven-part miniseries last night on HBO?
http://www.hbo.com/films/johnadams/
They aired the first two episodes (clocking in at 2 1/2 hours total) and I was simply blown away. Descriptors like "epic" and "miniseries" seem to go hand in hand by default these days, but in this case, the movie based on David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize book is epic in every sense of the word.
The sets are grand in scale and simply gorgeous. Aided with seamless cg backgrounds, New England circa the late 1700's has never been presented so authentically, imo. It's almost worth it just for the "time machine" elements it presents the viewer. For example, John Adams owned a farm in Quincy, MA. (just outside Boston). At one point, his wife and children are looking out over the harbor as British ships are firing on revolutionists in Boston. I grew up in Boston and, it was simply incredible to look on a familiar vantage point (the view of Boston from Quincy) from the perspective of the surrounding lands all being farmland, as now it's a fully populated suburb of Boston. It was totally surreal.
Props go out to the two lead roles played by Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney as John and Abigail Adams. The play wonderfully off each other and the film successfully strives to humanize them as individuals and a couple. Also of note is David Morse as George Washington...this guy looks so much like the former president that it's almost creepy.
So did any one else get a chance to check it out? If you didn't, I understand that it's currently on HBO's On Demand rotation right now.
I wish I had HBO. John Adams is one of my favorite historical figures in America (because he was not only unapologetically irascible, but deeply in love with his wife), and I loved the McCullough biography. I guess I just have to wait for the DVDs.
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I watched it (actually I'm about halfway through the 2nd episode - I'll finish it tonight). I was also very, very impressed. They do a good job of recasting a lot of the classical images you have in your head of the events surrounding the run up to the Revolution. I'm sure that for every myth they tear down, they're presenting another to take its place, but it makes for great television. Tom Wilkinson as Ben Franklin just rocks.
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I recorded it and tried to watch it after hockey but I was just too tired to concentrate. The filming did look amazing for the few minutes I did watch. Can't wait to get home tonight and finish them up.
Finally, a thread about this. I'm pretty much set to get the DVDs as soon as they're out. For now, having no HBO sucks, but I'm motivated to see the episodes one way or another.
"Three blokes go into a pub. One of them is kind of stupid, and the whole scene unfolds with a tedious inevitability." - Bill Bailey
I cought the second half of one of the episodes. I believe it was the first one, as it ended with him riding off to Philly. Quite an amazing show. The production values are spectacular.
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I'll be checking this one out, the clips and trailers I've seen look absolutely amazing.
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MCullough's book is spectacular and well deserving of it's Pulitzer prize. I like John Adams because we still have all of his letters and can really gets into his head. Plus John's wife Abigail is easily his intellectual match, it's wonderful to read their journey through life together.
EDIT: if you have a Costco membership, they have the book for $11. I like the author's style, he doesn't write in that dry style which most detailed history authors like to use. Some PhDs just can't write. Hurry up and finish your degree, Lobo!
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HBO is doing a free preview on most service providers starting Thursday (20th) and going through Sunday (23rd), so you should be able to at least check out part of the series if you're interested. Of course, I suppose they're hoping people will watch it and get hooked and sign up to finish watching it. Showtime did something similar with Dexter which ended up getting me to sign up... bastards.
Unfortunately I missed the beginning of the series, but I'll probably have to catch it On Demand. Unless they're re-running episodes then I'll try to DVR them in HD. I hate that HBO doesn't have a HD On Demand.
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To be fair, he also has a bunch of assistants and researchers to do a lot of the grunt work. I don't think most people have that luxury while writing their dissertations. Aside from which, he wrote John Adams for a mass audience, whereas a lot of history books are written for an audience of students & professors.
But it's true, there is no reason academic writing needs to be impenetrable and dry. And John Adams is really well written.
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I don't get HBO so I am unable to watch this series. I will put a plug in for the book, which is truly magnificent. Also, McCullough's biography of Truman (called 'Truman') was published prior to John Adams in 1992 I believe and is what I consider to be perhaps the finest piece of historical writing ever completed. I have never been so absorbed in a book as I was when reading Truman.
Some of the parts are so overwhelmingly nostalgic and emotional.
Here we have some smart men in a room, squabbling over rights while boston is being bombarded.
Next thing you know there is an empassioned plea regarding the unique possibilty of starting your own country and the chicken or the egg argument of whether you should seperate first and then create the government or create the government first so that people will have something to get behind since they don't relish war against Brittain and its unopposed navy.
Then Jefferson goes away for a few weeks and get the Declaration of Independance.
Its such an unbelievable sequence of events and oh to be a fly on the wall in that room with those men.
Sometimes I feel guilty for being so prideful, but the first few sentences of the Declaration of Independence make me well up with tears and a little weak in the knees.
Also Abigail Adams FTW!
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I'm going to have to check this out.
Here's hoping they do Gore Vidal's Burr!
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*SPOILER*
My favorite scene has to be when Franklin and Adams were editing Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence. As soon as Franklin said "'Sacred and undeniable...' Smacks of the pulpit," the look on Jefferson's face was that of a man whose pride was clearly wounded. "Does it?"
One thing the series does well is its humanization of the founding fathers. The casts do a convincing job at displaying their respective characters' flaws - the short-tempered and inflexible John Adams, the introverted and defensive Thomas Jefferson. After taking US History from high school, I, and I'm sure many of us, inevitably viewed the founding fathers as revered but distant figures. This made it difficult to appreciate the courage and persistence with which they overcame the problems of their time. The difficulty that my history class failed to convey was instead shown in the series. When the notion of declaring independence was finally passed, the complete silence that followed in the room made clear the doubt the men felt at that moment.
A couple questions. Was Washington as humble and reserved as Morse played him out to be? I always envisioned the man to carry some pride in his manner.
And then there's Rutledge from South Carolina. Is it just me or does he come off as a complete tool to anyone else? It made me suspect that the actor playing him was trying too hard to be a villain.
"Three blokes go into a pub. One of them is kind of stupid, and the whole scene unfolds with a tedious inevitability." - Bill Bailey
I watched it live with a friend Sunday night. Fantastic show. Did anyone else bother to watch the short "Making of" segment they showed after Episode 2? Some amazing details on the effects. The opening scene where he approaches Boston on horse was shot in a snowless meadow. They digitally inserted the snow and Boston - the effect was amazing.
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I just finished up the 2nd episode this morning. An excellent show. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the episodes.
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I thought that was impressive as well. I was talking to Chiggie about this and came to the conclusion that this is the first rendition of the founding fathers where they seem like people going out on a limb, rather than really smart guys that noticed the inevitability of the USA and decided to take credit for it by writing some things and having paintings made.
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I wholeheartedly agree. Burr is one of my favorite books.