“But this is for the Emperor.
It must be done.”
As far as WWII horrors go, we don’t hear often enough about what Imperial Japan inflicted on Australian POWs.
Richard Flanagan’s novel, The Narrow Road to the Deep North, brought this tragedy to life for a new generation a little over a decade ago – and subsequently won the 2014 Booker Prize.
This year, we finally got an eponymous miniseries, currently available on Prime.
Before I say anything else, I have to point out that I loved Flanagan’s book, although some respected critics dismissed it as overwritten and badly in need of a ruthless editor.
As much as I, in turn, respect ruthless editors, I sunk into The Narrow Road to the Deep North like a dream. Flanagan’s descriptions have been etched onto my conscience. A chapter featuring an out-of-control wildfire in peacetime Australia still stays with me, as do the magic words about a dead woman’s necklace, glittering within the deep sleep of the earth.
I believe that it’s the fate of many great books to be overwritten, and I don’t begrudge Flanagan the churning depth and scope of his prose.
Shaun Grant’s mini-series adaptation is similarly in love with this prose, and for that, I am grateful.
What I absolutely cannot get over is the cinematography. Directors are overfond of darkness these days – while I frequently bitch about that, it’s rare that darkness and muted tones actually begin to spoil the experience for me, but this adaptation simply goes all out.
Even the famous red flower worn by Amy, one of the two love interests of the hero, Dorrigo, is washed out to a weird, dull brown. Even most of the time Dorrigo spends with Amy on the beach reminds me of being stuck in a cold, poorly lit room, though the beach scenes do come alive by the end.
I understand the point the filmmakers were trying to go for with this palette, but the intent just doesn’t quite come through.
If you’ve read Flanagan’s very vivid book, you might find the mini-series barely watchable at times.
It’s not that I want a narrative of brutal, cascading tragedies set during one of the worst chapters of human history to look like a Disney movie – it’s that I can barely tell what’s going on half the time when watching this adaptation.
Adjusting the TV settings only does so much. Watching in the dark only does so much.
Posted from: https://globalcomment.com/weighed-down-by-its-own-sense-of-importance-the-narrow-road-to-the-deep-north-review/
V romanu Ozka pot globoko do severa (naslov si je avtor sposodil pri Bašu, japonskem pesniku iz 17. stoletja) se Richard Flanagan osredotoči na življenje avstralskega kirurga Dorriga Evansa, ki je bil v času druge svetovne vojne japonski vojni ujetnik v azijskih taboriščih. Tam so bivali vojaki zavezniških sil, ki so, skupaj z azijskimi civilisti, gradili burmansko železnico, imenovano tudi »železnica smrti«. Središče romana je Dorrigova življenjska pot, ki nas vodi od njegovega otroštva do zadnjih let njegovega razburkanega življenja. Ozka pot globoko do severa je pretresljiva pripoved o obdobju druge svetovne vojne, o krutosti japonskih vojaških sil, o ljubezni, krivdi, o večnem hrepenenju po nedosegljivem, o iskanju neprehojenih poti in o poskusih premagovanja vsakodnevnih rutin, ki nas lahko oddaljujejo drug od drugega in v nekoč tesnih in ljubečih odnosih privedejo do stanja popolne tujosti. Flanaganov roman je predvsem prikaz neizmernega človeškega trpljenja, bolečine in ne nazadnje tudi (občasnega) zmagoslavja dobrote in spoštovanja do sočloveka, vrlin, ki zlasti možem, ki jih zasužnjuje železnica smrti, na trenutke prinašata svetlobo in upanje.
Recenzije kritikov
- Eden prevodnih romanesknih vrhuncev letošnjega leta.Bukla
- Odlično in pametno napisana, s čustvi nabita ter berljiva saga o vojni, ljubezni, trpljenju, smrti in upanju.Delo
Posted from: https://beletrina.si/knjiga/ozka-pot-globoko-do-severa