Several weeks ago I viewed the film version of 1776 and I mentioned that I was going to watch the recent HBO mini-series John Adams and compare and contrast. Well, here it is.
The mini-series is really wonderful, due mostly to the strong performances of Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. Each deserves the Emmy they won for these roles. There are particularly good when on screen together, which unfortunately becomes rarer and rarer and the story progresses.
The mini-series does not focus for long on the Continental Congress and the writing of the Declaration of Independence, so comparing to the musical 1776 would really be a conceit--although I will say both productions depict Adams as an irrantant and generally disliked by his Congressional colleagues. The delight for me in the mini-series is to learn more about Mr. Adams service to his country during its infancy, particularly his work in finding allies in the Revolutionary War.
The difficulty of daily life during the 18th century is aptly depicted throughout this series, particularly in showing the farming of the Adams family and in the (at times horrifically graphic) medical practices of the day.
There is a large cast of secondary characters, portrayed with varying degrees of success. Particularly lively is Tom Wilkinson's Ben Franklin.
No comments:
Post a Comment