Peter Firth #2

[A Cousin]

(27-03-2011 04:06 AM)Obsession Wrote:  My least favourite, actually a total dislike, was Tess - no-one warned me it was a tradgey! I wanted to turn it off after an hour but persisted with it and was sorely disappointed I'd wasted 3 hours of my life. Watching 'an awefully big adventure' was also a chore for me. Didn't like that story at all.

Both certainly challenge certain sexual taboos and can be difficult to watch. AABA just goes over the top for me. I really, really, really don't like Hugh Grant as an actor so the fact that the rest of the cast are stellar is hard for me to concentrate on. I thought it was one of PF's better performances though.

I love the story of Tess, but she is one of "those" characters that I find difficult to like. I have not seen this version of Tess in eons but I remember not much liking Roman Polanski's interpretation of the character of Tess. If you ask me, he was using it as a little bit of a soap box for his own personal "situation" at the time. Apart from that, there are simply better interpretations of the book, IMO. Hardy made a very strong statement about social/sexual mores of the time. The characters can seem weak to our modern eyes. Both Tess and Angel try to do the right thing, but are victimized and shackled by the expectations of their time. They overcome them, in their own way, but too late.

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(27-03-2011 12:03 PM)langley Wrote:  I know this will be unpopular, but I wish he'd come to America and star in a series here so we could get 20+ episodes of him in something (between Spooks gigs, of course). American series tend to be more quantity over quality (i.e. "24"), but that way I could get my PF fix. I wish the same for NW, too. Not that they even want that, but what about MY needs?

HaHa! He did actually. That's Life. I watched it in its original airing but was only mildly aware of PF at the time. (As in "Oh look its Peter Firth.") Not sure where to get it though. It ran on UK TV not long ago though. As far as I am concerned, as long as they stay on UK TV I am happy. At least that trickles over the Atlantic eventually. Its missing the stage work that makes me sad.