So I have a friend who lives in London who has suffered through my endless diatribes about my classes, and who emailed last week with a link to a BBC website and one, ominous sentence in the subject line: thought you would want to see this.
Apparently the BBC did a recent adaptation of a handful of The Canterbury Tales. Among them, The Man of Law's Tale, The Wife of Bath, and The Miller's Tale. Below I've copied and the description of The Miller's Tale:
John (Dennis Waterman) runs a pub in suburban Kent. He hosts a regular Karaoke night, where his much younger wife Alison (Billie Piper) is queen bee. One night a smooth talking stranger, Nick (James Nesbitt), arrives claiming to be a talent scout and declaring that Alison has what it takes to be a star. Alison is drawn to him by the promise of fame, but his motives aren't quite what they seem.
My obsession with Billie Piper (thank you, Doctor Who) aside, I'm both intrigued and horrified. I immediately decided this mixture of feeling needed to be shared, and hence this blog post.
You can check out descriptions of the rest of the adaptations at the BBC's site, here.
Aforementioned Friend from London-town, has offered to get a hold of the DVDs for me, and what I would like to know is, if it's possible for me to get a hold of them and copy them, if people would be at all interested in witnessing the horror/hilarity?
Beyond that, what are your thoughts on these adaptations? The MFA in me would rather see originality then a constant reworking of older material, but I can't deny that in some instances these kinds of adaptations have proven to be wildly successful (Wicked, anyone?).
So. Thoughts?
And John Simm as Arcite! Okay, so, if you could cast David Tennant as any character in the Canterbury Tales, who would it be?
ReplyDeleteI would love to check out these adaptations. I went to the Bender Library website to see if they might have copies, and they don't, but they do have a film called A Canterbury Tale. Here's the description:
Reworking of Chaucer's epic 14th century tale, largely set in 1940s wartime Kent, with three modern-day incarnations of Chaucer’s pilgrims: a plainspoken American Army sergeant, a resourceful British sergeant, and a melancholy girl. While enroute to Canterbury they are waylaid and forced to solve a local crime, the mystery of a man who pours glue over the hair of village girls at night.
which makes me do this: ahhahahaha.
And then wonder which of the Canterbury Pilgrims the plainspoken American Army sergeant, the resourceful British sergeant and the melancholy girl are supposed to be.
I love John Simm! Which makes me want to watch The Knight's Tale adaptation. John Simm made LIfe on Mars my favorite TV Show of all time. And he's the Master, so, you know...clearly awesome.
ReplyDeleteOh god, that sounds amazing. I'm sort of want to watch it. And try to figure out the answer to your question of who they are supposed to be. Because I haven't a clue.
I think the easiest way would be for Friend in London-town to rip the DVDs for me and send it to me via internet so I can distribute it amongst those who want to check it out. Not sure that's legal, but...it's for EDUCATIONAL purposes so...er. Yeah.
And to answer your question about David Tennant: I don't know. That requires thought. Serious, serious thought. I may have to get back to you. Can't make David Tennant just ANYONE, after all...has to be perfect.
ReplyDeleteDamn, I love him. Eleven has to win me over yet.
Okay, I nominate David Tennant for Chaucer the Pilgrim.
ReplyDeleteAssuming that Paul Bettany is not available to play the role.
I approve.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, naturally Paul Bettany gets first dibs.