Saturday, 16 April 2011

Along the Boardwalk

As the final episode of the series concludes, we see corupt crime boss Enoch "Nucky' Thompson and Irish imigrant Margret embrace, as we get a long shot of the boardwalk of 1920s Atlantic City. This could as well have been the ending to a great Hollywood film, maybe a Scorsesse one (He directed the 1st episode and is a producer), but no this is one of many epic scenes from the new HBO series.
There was much hype around this series while it was being made, with names such as Scorsesse and Steve Buscemi being tied to it and the exuberantly large budget used to recreate the prohibition era. Needless to say from my opening sentence, the show has lived up to the hype.

As aformentioned, what makes this show great to begin with is it's blockbuster feel. The scene in episode 6 where Jimmy Darmody and Al Capone (more on that later) gun down a rival gang in a hotel lobby could seem like a scene from the Godfather movies, although comparison is rarely needed as Boardwalk deserves to be in a league of it's own. The settings are also another great quality, as it seems the millions of dollars used to produce it were well spent. Somehow they've managed to recreate a 1920s boardwalk with old time shops and attractions, realistic to the last detail, you'll find yourself lost in the time period.

What holds the show together though is the writing and characters, the show is produced and semi written by Terrence Winter who did the same for the Sopranos (my favourite show) and it shows with vast amounts of mini plots that all add up in the end and contribute towards the central story, smart dialogue, e.g from episode 1 when a Polish bootlegger changes his name to Doyle; Nucky: "A rose by any other name" Doyle: "What?" Nucky: "Read a fucking book!". And the setting itself seems to reflect on the characters, of which there are vast amount with good qualities. If Atlantic city is the land of sin then Nucky Thompson is the devil, overseeing it all, ending the lives of those who go against him and offering great rewards to those who are loyal to him, yet there's a fragile, good hearted quality that makes us support Nucky as the protagonist, e.g the loss of his wife/son or his generous nature, giving out money to those less fortunate such as battered housewives and hard on luck accomplices. Nucky's right hand man, Jimmy Darmody, is an inriguing character, a man haunted by his past (he fought in WWI) which transends into his dirty work (e.g sliting a mans throat with his war knife), but he's also a man who lives his family to the point that no matter how many times his wife cheats on him (with both man and woman) he'll never leave or throw them out. Other characters include the upright Margret, whose morals are put to the test with her relationship with Nucky. Nucky's brother Eli, the sherif who helps enforce Nuckys reign through numerous killings and turning a blind eye, he is also the proverbial Cain to Nuckys Abel, jealous of his brothers success and influence, possibly usurping him in the next series? The only other character who gets any prolonged screen time is FBI agent Van Alden (possibly my favourite character) a mad, fanatical Christian that makes Billy Graham seem tame, but the idea of Atlantic city being the land of sin and temptation affects Van Alden through the series, whether it's drowning his corrupt partner during a baptism then quoting bible verse or shagging Lucy (ex-mistress of Nucky and known whore), overall the vast amount of character make Boardwalk captivating television.

There are a few problems I have with the show however, one of them being that even though the many mini-plots add to the story, that can be confusing to follow for a casual viewer. My main minor gripe with the series is the use of real life figures, famous gangsters such as Al Capone, John Torio, 'Lucky' Luciano and Arnold Rothstien are all prominant figures in the show. This bothers me because I prefer to have a sense of realism in a show and whilst the set pieces do a good enough job, sometimes I find my self asking "Would Capone have really done that?" although this is a minor complaint to an overall great show.

The acting is something to be admired in Boardwalk, the best performance by far is Steve Buscemi, he manages well in a leading man role, switching from his usual fast talking, wide eyed act to moments of sensitivity which have rarely been seen with the actors. Michael Pitt as Darmody is a typical performance, a tightly rapped performance, not giving away the emotions this character wants to contain. Kelly Mcdonald is fine as Margret, sporting an Irish accent most would struggle with, she also uses voice cracks and watery eyed expressions to convey her feelings of sadness on fine form. Shea Wigham as Eli is another typical performance, although the best range the character is given is during the St. Patricks episode when Eli is drunk. Michael Shannon as Van Alden portays Van Aldens buttoned down yet zeolitic personality well and I would like to see more work from this actor.

In conclusion, Boardwalk Empire is one of the finer shows to appear on television in recent years, deserving to be compared with the Sopranos, with great cast, characters, story, production and one of the best t.v themes.

No comments:

Post a Comment