Review: Gormenghast

Set in the huge Castle Gormenghast, a place of rigid tradition over all else. A young kitchen hand named Steerpike (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) plots and schemes to advance his station in life, manipulating the various characters in the castle. Ian Richardson and Celia Imrie play the revolting Lord and Lady of the castle (their family have ruled the place for centuries), the latter of whom has just birthed the new Earl of the castle. Zoe Wanamaker and Lynsey Baxter play Richardson’s twit twin sisters, Neve McIntosh is Lady Fuchsia (eldest daughter of Richardson and Imrie), whilst John Sessions and Fiona Shaw turn up as Dr Alfred Prunesquallor and his daffy spinster sister. Sir Christopher Lee plays the gaunt, taciturn devoted manservant Flay.

 

This 2000 BBC comic fantasy miniseries really ought to have been up my alley. In basic terms it’s a mixture of Charles Dickens, Terry Pratchett, JRR Tolkien, and J.K. Rowling. Sounds brilliant, right? Yeah, it’s really not. It’s just very, very strange for the most part, alternately odd and boring, despite a mostly fine cast. Directed by Andy Wilson (A British TV veteran, he directed “Playing God” with David Duchovny) and scripted by Malcolm McKay (whose credits are few and modest), this TV adaptation of the literary works by Mervyn Peake works better in the realm of comedy than fantasy. There’s a genuinely funny sword vs. cleaver fight early on between Sir Christopher Lee and Richard Griffiths, temporarily interrupted by a somnambulant Ian Richardson. As a fantasy it’s a bit too strange for my taste, with clearly outdated blue screen backgrounds (that are straight out of 1993, not 2000) and the exaggerated, eccentric performances grow tired after a while, especially a fussy John Sessions and a bug-eyed Neve McItosh who is out of her element here. She wears one constant overwrought, worried facial expression from start to finish that would seem a bit much for “The Bold and the Beautiful”.

 

By around the third episode the story gets far less interesting, partly because some of the more interesting characters have either died off or faded into the background. Stephen Fry is well-cast in an academic role, but why so much focus in the latter stages on his inconsequential character instead of Jonathan Rhys Meyers far more interesting character? It feels like a very wrong choice to push Rhys Meyers into the background after him basically being the lead in the first half of the show. The issue it causes is that we have little motivation or understanding of what makes Steerpike tick. It’s a massive problem while we’re farting around with Stephen Fry and John Sessions instead. And why waste the very recognisable Martin Clunes in such a nothing role as one of Fry’s colleagues? My attention drifted from time to time because the story seemed to lack a consistent main protagonist or antagonist, though an hilarious Fiona Shaw kept me awake in episode three with her daffy performance. Yet, around episode four we get a strange and sudden tonal shift, with practically no comedy at all. It’s jarring.

 

As I said, most of the cast is solid here with Jonathan Rhys Meyers seemingly born to play Steerpike. Whatever my issues are with the way the character is used, Rhys Meyers is not at fault. He’s really rather good in this vengeful, deceitful part. “EastEnders” institution June Brown is wonderful as Nannie Slagg, Richard Griffiths is in fine disgusting form as the odious Swelter, Celia Imrie is dry and just plain horrible in the best way, while the ever-reliable Ian Richardson is similarly scene-stealing. If you enjoyed Christopher Lee’s Blind Pew in “Treasure Island”, you’ll probably like his solid character turn here as Flay, a similar performance. I also enjoyed the Lewis Carroll-inspired twins, one played by Zoe Wanamaker.

 

I can imagine someone loving this wannabe Gilliam comic-fantasy strangeness. I suspect I might enjoy the books somewhat, but this comic fantasy miniseries ultimately wasn’t for me as it turns out. A little of it went a long way, the comedy was hit and miss, and the fantasy rarely hit for me at all. A strange disappointment, but your mileage may differ.

 

Rating: C