Christopher Eccleston and The Dark is Rising...

[fajrdrako]

You may have noticed that I love, absolutely love, Christopher Eccleston as Claude in Heroes. Not as much as I loved him as the Doctor, but hey, nothing could match that. And there's a new episode tonight - great! Last week distressed me by not featuring Claude and Peter at all. This week, I live in hope.

But I keep seeing news items about Eccleston's role in "The Dark is Rising". And I keep trying to feel confident about this, but really, every item I hear makes it harder to fight my dismay.

First of all - and I think this may be heresy, considering how many people recommended this book to me - I didn't much like The Dark is Rising. It was... not terrible. But it didn't match the standards of Diana Wynne Jones for British fantasy. Considering the recommendations I'd heard, it disappointed me.

Secondly, it is clear they have made a lot of changes to the characters and updates to the themes - making the main characters Americans, for example. The updates might make me like the story more. But it annoys me. Why adapt a book as a movie if you're going to change everything? Why not just make an original fantasy movie about American kids in Cornwall? (Er... it was Cornwall, wasn't it?)

Thirdly, this does not bode well for Eccleston having a long tenure on Heroes, which is too bad, since I like Claude so very much.

Comments

[glinda-north.livejournal.com]

There will be Claude and Peter tonight from what I read. Yays! I sorely felt their absence last week, too.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes! We got Claude and Peter scenes. Great Claude and Peter scenes. But not enough of them, and too short, and it looks as if Claude has ... disappeared.

[attolia.livejournal.com]

I agree with you about not liking The Dark is Rising much.

If they do most of the film over the summer, it shouldn't conflict with Heroes much, but I don't know how long Claude is supposed to be on it.

Personally, I consider Heroes a step down for Eccleston. The show is so uneven and the pseudoscience (and Mohindar's voiceovers) are cringworthy.
But I did miss him last week.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

If they do most of the film over the summer, it shouldn't conflict with Heroes much

That's a good thought. I hope he'll be back next week. I hope they keep featuring him. There are characters I would happily do without - but he isn't one of them.

I don't mind the pseudoscience. It's kind of fun. And I like Mohindar's silly voiceovers because I love Mohindar's voice. But I agree that Heroes is a big step down for Eccleston, for various reasons, including that he only has a role that gives him a few minutes screen time per week, rather than being the protagonist.

I wouldn't mind getting a new series called The Invisible Man, starring Christopher Eccleston as Claude Rains.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

It's worse than you think. The producer is a guy who got into the film business to encourage more Christian themes, and who is most famous for last fall's biased and inaccurate "The Path To 9/11", which boils down to "It's all Clinton's fault."

Consider how very pagan The Dark Is Rising is, and then imagine the Christianized version. Note also that the eldest son has been cast as a very bad boy by Dominionist standards: not only pierced and tattooed but rebellious against his father. Not his parents, but his father.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It's worse than you think.

Erk. The only good thing I can see about it is that they aren't massacring a book that is precious to me.

Note also that the eldest son has been cast as a very bad boy by Dominionist standards: not only pierced and tattooed but rebellious against his father.

Heh. I can only approve!

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

I also adore Claude, but I fear me muchly that the Ancient Ruthless Mentor always gets whacked before the end.

It's possible (faint ray of hope) that the season-ender of Heroes is in the can, and this is what Eccleston is doing on the hiatus.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I fear me muchly that the Ancient Ruthless Mentor always gets whacked before the end.

I hope not!

I hope you're right about the hiatus and Eccleston coming back. I really, really hope.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Dark is Rising was already pretty generic, which is probably why it got bought when Hollywoodites went looking for "something like Harry Potter but not Harry Potter" Boy--magic--magical doohickeys--girl as sidekick--old guy as adviser--bad guys--got all the trimmings.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you're right: seeing it as generic fantasy with a Celtic twinge, that they could do anything with. And they will.

They have no mercy, those guys.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

*CRIES*

It started here tonight and I don't have the channel. I'll have to wait till it comes to BBC2

[cupati.livejournal.com]

So will I!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

You'll have a bit to go before you get to Christopher Eccleston, though there are some good bits along the way. The show has so many threads that even if you don't like them all (and I suspect no one does) there is always something to keep you entertained through each episode. They are all very fast moving - even the ones in which nothing much happens.

I didn't like Claire much at first, now she's a favourite. And I always loved Peter.

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

I love those books. They were set in the Home Counties, Cornwall and Wales. And they are specifically about English and Welsh mythology (involving events that foreigners were specifically unable to participate in), so the idea of bringing Americans into it is just a travesty. Maybe the poms should make a Western set in Dagenham?

Also that whole description of the Old Ones as "warriors"? Give me a fucking break. I bet there's going to be that whole Fantasy PhallusSword bollocks as well. And then throwing in the "rebellious older son" trope into the family dynamics is totally unnecessary. < /rant>

[loreleif.livejournal.com]

A hearty second on all of that (from an American, FWIW)! How and why and WTF?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

the idea of bringing Americans into it is just a travesty.

Yes. Very annoying, IMHO. Sort of like making King Arthur a Roman solider ... and they did that too.

I bet there's going to be that whole Fantasy PhallusSword bollocks as well.

I wish you hadn't said that. That sounds Only Too True.

The problem isn't even just movie quality. It's having respect for the material. And understanding of it.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

I am fed up to the back-teeth of gratuitous Americanisation... Bad enough with Disney's Winnie-the-Pooh.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Worse with "The Borrowers".

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Disney's Winnie-the-Pooh is the worst thing ever. I cringe. I am a huge fan of Ernest Shepard and his artistic vision. He's one of my favourite illustrators - and as you already know, illustrators are my favourite artists.

[vervassal.livejournal.com]

But... but... but...

The rider is red-headed. And awesome. And... and...

Dude, I still read those books. They rock.

Oh, well.

[vervassal.livejournal.com]

Not that I don't love Christopher Eccleston. But he's not the Rider. Maybe Merriman, at a pinch.

Ay yay yay.

What ever will they do with Bran?

[vervassal.livejournal.com]

And will Will be pudgy?

Probably not.

Don't mind me, I'm the dejected fangirl in the corner.


*sulks*

[renka54.livejournal.com]

I love all 5 of the books, and read them every couple of years or so. I had been looking forward to seeing The Dark is Rising on film, but now, after reading the above comments, I'm thinking I'll give it a pass. It sounds like they are going to totally destroy everything that was good about the story.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I hope they don't destroy everything about it, but I am somewhat afraid to hope. It sounds as if they have already gone too far conceptually down the wrong road.

Pic Of CE As The Rider In The Dark Is Rising

[raissad.livejournal.com]

Here's a dark treat (http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=10&id=3896&type=10). :)

Re: Pic Of CE As The Rider In The Dark Is Rising

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Oooooooooooh.

And I mean oooooooooooooooooooooh.

Suddenly it's really hot in here.

Instant obsession?

[raissad.livejournal.com]

Here's an interview (http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=20581) with CE. He discusses DW and Heroes, as well as DIR.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Interesting interview. I'm disappointed there's nothing concrete about his return to Heroes. I was, as you know, hoping. What he does say is promising: "I think there's got to be something really meaty for [Claude] to do for me to go back, but I'd certainly like to." I like the idea of Claude getting a meaty role.

Interesting that he thinks Tolkien, Susan Cooper, and Doctor Who are just for children.