It's a whole lot of dark comedy and thought-provoking drama. For this review of Black Mirror Series One, there are three different stories and I will be reviewing these stories separately.
Warning
Black Mirror is not only creepy little skits about tech, it's also full of very dark humor. Sometimes way dark. Violence and foul language are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.The Premise
For The National Anthem, it all kicks off with a panicked call to Prime Minister Michael Callow in the middle of the night. Princess Susannah has been kidnapped and will be executed unless Prime Minister Michael Callow has sex with a pig on live TV. What follows is the reactions of the British government, the Press, and the public.The Characters
Rory Kinnear as Prime Minster Michael Callow. Kinnear doesn't look like much, but here he delivers a pretty powerful performance - befuddlement anxiety, followed by moments of rage. It's gripping stuff.
Anna Wilson-Jones as Jane Callow. Wide-eyed, teary and dramatic. The actress does a fine job considering the sheer silliness of the entire premise. She is supposed to be a victim of the entire thing as well, though somehow doesn't come off as very sympathetic.
Lindsay Duncan plays Alex Cairns, Press Secretary with a potent combination of political savvy, starchiness and shrewdness.
Tom Goodman-Hill as Tom Bilce, who appears to be some kind of liaison to the Press. He doesn't do much with his lines near the beginning, but as the show runs along, we see him becoming increasingly frazzled.
Donald Sumpter as Julian Hereford, Minister of Defence. Grave and solemn. Guy's face doesn't change much.
Alex Macqueen plays Special Agent Callett, with stony-faced gravitas. Seriously, this guy wouldn't be out of place in a Hitman movie.
Lydia Wilson as Princess Susannah. She puts up a great and convincing, if perhaps a little stiff, portrayal of a young woman scared to death of her kidnappers.
Jay Simpson as stand-in performer Rod Senseless. Cocky but enthusiastic dude, and fun to watch. Wish he had more screen-time.
Alastair Mackenzie as Martin, Editor-in-Chief of the Press. Not that much is seen of him, though he alternates between exasperation and eagerness as the biggest story of the century breaks and he's torn between wanting to do his job and needing to adhere to the laws of the land.
Chetna Pandya as Malaika, the pretty journalist who keeps being shown taking naked selfies of herself. Why is she even in this?!
Patrick Kennedy as sleepy-eyed, almost sheepish Section Chief Walker. Mostly there as furniture.
The Mood
The lighting in the early stages is a nice contrast to the full-color video of Princess Susannah. Somehow it really brings across the bleak war room vibe. The story starts out dark visually, and gets darker thematically.
What I liked
The scary power of the Internet is on full display here. The British Government try to kill a story, but the fact that it was uploaded on YouTube means that the video is here to stay. The speed at which information is disseminated in the modern era, is thoroughly underlined.
I especially love how various segments of the public is shown discussing it, including that scene in the press and how they wrestle with whether or not they should work on that story. The medical team discusses whether or not the PM will actually fuck a pig on live TV. Bonus points for the entirely cavalier way that guy is holding those crutches!
OMG the hashtags are to die for.
There's a deliciously cruel twist near the end, and a bold statement about the attention of the public today.
The ending was a real downer. The PM's marriage is utterly ruined and it wasn't like he deserved it. Still, it's a realistic ending and for that, I give it props.
What I didn't
The reporter takes a naked selfie of herself in a restroom... for what? The viewers' cheap titillation?
In fact, the entire running gag of her taking sexually explicit selfies and sending them to her contact for information, just feels like a gigantic waste of time.
No comments:
Post a Comment