You will have recognized, that I tried to erase my grumbling over "Spooks 9" and finish it together with the year 2010.
I was not totally successful with these efforts, but in my search for a new way for this blog I continued to find topics of "Spooks 9" which still disturbed me.
I will go on and dissect the episodes of Spooks 9 for a bit longer, but also want to get in new aspects.
For this I want to explain my relationship with other roles of Richard Armitage a bit:
I avoided "Robin Hood" so far in this blog and I have to admit, this has a reason.
It took me a while, at least 1/2 a year into fandom, till I was able to even watch Robin Hood fan videos. It still took me a while longer till I was able to watch "Robin Hood" episodes. I could not get hold of the whole of series 3 so far, but as I will buy the whole series anyway, I did not try overly much.
The reason for my hesitations?
I found Guy of Gisborne so dark and fearful, that I just could not imagine liking this character or even wanting to see Richard Armitage in this role.
He frightened me and even in bits and snippets he was so forceful, that I really avoided him as Guy of Gisborne.
What changed my mind?
I saw the scene in a fan video, where he is dumped into a water basin and afterwards speaks to Marian, thanking her for saving his life. This one scene changed my whole perception of him and his intentions as Guy of Gisborne and afterwards watching "Robin Hood" just felt o.k. for me.
I still did not see "The Vicar of Dibley" though I watched some fan videos with snippets already.
Here I cannot really put my finger on the reason, why I avoid Richard Armitage in this role. It surely is not jealousy, because the snippets I saw were much too funny for such a feeling. And as Servetus very well examined, I feel more sisterly protectiveness for a person I never saw in person nor likely will ever see.
What I really did like of Richard Armitage's previous film projects was:
"Moving on - Drowning not Waving" - John Mulligan is by far my favourite character Richard Armitage played so far. I think I once must examine my affections for underdogs a bit more ;o)
"Frozen" - Though his role is short I found his appearance in this film very impressive.
"The Impressionists" - Though I normally do not like bearded men, Richard Armitage really looks charming as Monet.
"The Golden Hour" - I liked his performance, though my stomach was not so very pleased by all the film blood. I had to stay away from food for hours after watching the episodes.
"George Gently" - Richard Armitage as Ricky Deaming really convinced me. Life is too short to waste inside 4 walls (real walls and those in the mind).
"North and South" - I love this film and perhaps that is the reason, why I cannot really talk about it or analyse it. I love all the characters, some I even knew previously from "Hornblower" (A BBC series of the C.S. Forester books which I absolutely adored as child. My feelings for these books were something like others describe feeling for "The Lord of the Rings".)
"Strike Back" - That I love John Porter will surprise nobody after my fan-videos. The book already brought me to tears when I imagined Richard Armitage in the role of John Porter even before I saw the film.
The audio books just are wonderful and I cannot name one I especially like. I like them all !!!
The witty characterisation of each person by change of voice is just adorable.
I let a friend of mine listen in to one of the audio books and she said: "It is just one (?!!) narrator?" (Translation)
I can understand your hesitations about Guy of Gisborne. It took me awhile to warm to him too. But once I did! Whew! Is it HOT in here?!
ReplyDeleteHave you read Mulubinba's postings about RH series 1 where she was trying to find the "good" in Guy? I tried to find a link for you, but I think she has made some of her older posts unavailable.
Harry Kennedy is probably my favourite of his characters because I enjoy humour so much and because I love to see him smile. (love romance too!)
I have loved all his characters so far, but there is certainly something very special about that last scene in Drowning Not Waving where we see Mulligan let down his guard after his taunting of the girlfriend. That scene (that moment!) was worth the whole production for me!
I can't get enough of this man! :)
@phylly3
ReplyDeleteYou exactly hit the one scene in "Moving On - Drowning not Waving" which absolutely grips me.
I even feel the moment when he decides to let his former schoolmate off the hook and make her exit easy for her. Wonderful acting all done by Richard Armitage - without large gestures but so very effective.
That you had reservations with Guy of Gisborne as well is a relief for me. I read such a lot of fan praise for RA in this role, that I wondered if only I had my problems with this film character of him.
I am not sure if I saw Mulubinba's post. I think it was still in the time when I mostly avoided Robin Hood and so I swapped it without reading.
A daily dose of RA makes the day bright and sunny for me [in full oblivion of the real weather outside];o)