The series The Witcher is one of the most discussed events in the media environment over the past couple of years. The authors of the expected show quite indiscreetly compared their creation with the epoch-making Game of Thrones, but in reality everything turned out to be completely wrong. How did the witcher come about? We watched all eight episodes and are ready to talk about it without a single spoiler.
Yesterday I managed to defeat all eight episodes of the first season The witcher from Netflix. When the pilot ended, a wave of disappointment swept over me: the series seemed much worse than the lowest expectations. Fortunately, it got noticeably better. Over the next seven hours, I was thrown into diametrically opposite feelings: from delight to indignation, from a smile to a complete misunderstanding of how such a thing could be allowed in adaptation “The witcher“. But this is definitely not a failure: work Netflix there is something to praise and scold.
Perhaps the most important complaint can be presented to the screenwriter and author of adaptation, Lauren Schmidt. The events of the series are chronologically mixed, the narrative is too fluid and ragged, something is constantly being negotiated, not shown and remains between the lines. It seems like you need to know the whole storyline of books from beginning to end in order to enjoy the viewing experience. People far from paper “The witcher”, They can definitely have difficulty understanding what is happening. Proof of this criticism from the authors of the magazine Entertainment weeklywho called the show “festival of boredom” and gave him 0 out of 100. Their position is extremely clear and justified. On the other hand, the emphasis on dynamic action and sometimes drama strained sometimes, and the general mood of the picture are made for the widest possible audience. But the series will seem incomprehensible, boring and drawn out to this widest audience. So for whom is the team really Netflix filmed it?
Of course, you can always justify yourself by the fact that it is difficult to fit a thick novel at eight o’clock, but Schmidt there was time to bring a pinch of his own creative genius to the show. A radical redrawing of the book did not happen, but new characters appeared in the series and some details of the narrative changed. In some places, this is even justified: for example, episodes from the past Yennifer will surely be a pleasant surprise for the viewer. True, even they are torn in places, but they won’t be able to get rid of the feeling of lack of information. In general, for you to understand, the leitmotif of the series is primarily a family theme of the great trinity from Ciri, Geralt and Ian.
And now to the more pressing problems. The scariest monster of The Witcher was the costume director. It seems that the team realized the deplorable situation under the release itself. First of course Lauren Schmidt tried to justify his vision the needs of the script, but then actually signed the insolvency of their arguments, getting rid of him. Well, I must admit that the Nilfgaard armor is not the worst thing that happened with the costumes in the series. The clothes of most characters are constantly striking, and not in a good way. It seems that fabrics either give away cheapness, or a strange choice of materials. Absolutely all outfits are thin, poor and boring.
Do not expect to be impressed by the charming robes of the sorceresses. In theory, the outfit of each of them is a separate type of art. The books described them colorfully and seductively, but in the series everything is different. As soon as you see the “exquisite” Fringilla Vigo bow closer to the end of the season, you will understand. No, there were good suits that were even remembered. Triss’s blue dress and Queen Calis’s outfit are not so embarrassing.
In general, the problem is not so much in bad outfits, but in character design. Sleek modern people in boring medieval costumes – something like this looks like most of the characters in the series The Witcher. It is impossible to get rid of this sensation.
Acting sometimes suffers. Before viewing it seemed to me that it would be difficult to look at Henry Cavilla in the role of Geralt. In fact, everything turned out to be wrong: he tried very hard. My attention was stolen by the strange Moushovur and the Brokilon Dryads. Here, it seems, the fakap happened. It was unexpected, instead of forest maidens, to see women who look like Uganda soldiers from the Black Panther. Accessories and images of the girls of Brokilon evoked persistent images from this film Marvel. No, the point is not racism, but the fact that magical dryads for some reason began to look like an ordinary and never fantastic image of an ethnic group from our gray boring world without magic. Such it is – the magic of diversity sorcerers.
But Yarpen Zigrin is a small ray of light. His appearance caused a smile that could not be restrained. The game of Buttercup and Calante also deserves special mention. Of course, many thanks to them. An unambiguous ten can be set soundtrack – the composer, as they say, could. Some of the dramatic scenes of the series turned out to be truly touching. On the other hand, it sometimes becomes sad not from the drama workshop, but because it is sometimes difficult to believe in what is happening. At the moment of scenes that are important for getting to know the lore (for example, when meeting with Filavandrell), the actors seemed to be trying to thicken the pathos, but it was not fair to play. In such moments, characters with a meaningful look talk, but they do not convey any emotions.
