J Banning Posted 26 January , 2012 Share Posted 26 January , 2012 Nothing we can do about it I'm afraid! It is one of the perils of making information freely available online. Our ethos has always been to share information gleaned so one must expect the occasional inevitable consequences. Still, this is outweighed by the response we have received from the general public in offering their help, donations etc. By the way, the poem that the Mail article refers to is in tunnels at La Boisselle. See http://www.laboisselleproject.com/2012/01/20/birdsong-by-sebastian-faulks-%E2%80%93-a-two-part-adaptation-by-working-title-television-for-the-bbc-broadcast-sunday-22-january-and-sunday-29-january-2012/ for pictures and video of the Birdsong actors reading the poem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 26 January , 2012 Share Posted 26 January , 2012 I saw this article earlier and thought it a pity that the Mail took much of the information for it from http://www.laboisselleproject.com/ and http://www.tunnellersmemorial.com/ I hadn't realised when @LaBoisselleProj tweeted the link (which I then commented on) that the article contained plagiarised material. (I did notice that the DM placed the Valley of the Somme near Mons! But then they recently had the Dunkirk evacuation as part of WW1 and captioned Wehrmacht soldiers as standing on the beach at Wokingham, so I suppose being in the right corner of Europe is progress.) Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g6yfb Posted 26 January , 2012 Share Posted 26 January , 2012 I read the book and said "enough is enough" so voted with my finger on the TV OFF button, if its your "cup of tea" fine but nobody is forced to watch remember that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roughdiamond Posted 27 January , 2012 Share Posted 27 January , 2012 Whatever negative points can be made on this topic will be far outweighed by the 10,000 plus points for the first mainstream primetime depiction of the finest Regiment in the British Army... Steve. I agree but then I've always liked the Royal Engineers Look out!! there's one coming over Ooooooh how very dare you old owl! my beloved RE is a Corps never something as Plebeian as a Regiment Anyway "Birdsong", BIG thumbs up for a couple of aspects of the casting: They employed French actors to play the French characters and then the father M. Azaire makes the point that for the duration of Wraysfords stay they will be speaking English, thank goodness there were no cod French accents from misscast British actors. Secondly M. Azaire, his Daughter is 16, making him early to late 40's? So they made the right choice in the actor IMHO rather than going down the "old man" route. The costume was good, especially the fact the tunnellers wore working clothes rather than uniform in the tunnels, also a nice touch explaining they had little military training. One for the nit pickers there Good to see they didn't go with the original scene in the book, where Wraysford walks away from the pile of dead he's been thrown on and into the arms of Firebrace in a full on OTT Lazarus moment, (declared dead yet he walks? COME ON!!!!!) the final scene in part one was far more believable. All in all I enjoyed it for what it was, a piece of fiction set partly during WW1. Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCudden Posted 27 January , 2012 Share Posted 27 January , 2012 I've read and enjoyed the book and approached the BBC version with some trepidation. However, it was better than I thought. I realise we should just view it as entertainment but I'm unable to ignore technical errors and ridiculously inflated lips on men, particularly in historical dramas. It may well be that Germans in 1916 wore picklehaubers in tunnels but I thought it looked odd and incorrect. I hope someone will clarify that one. Also, I noticed a sergeant (during the rifle practice scene) who's uniform just looked wrong to me. Did anyone else think it looked more like a US uniform? I think we have a responsibility to present history in books, films and on TV etc as accurately as possible; if we don't we risk losing sight of it's reality and (worse) the lessons it can teach us and future generations. I know it sound a bit trite but it's how I feel... Alec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beau Geste Posted 27 January , 2012 Share Posted 27 January , 2012 Just watched it on I Player. Sound not brilliant but that might be because I'm going deaf ! I thought the WW1 scenes were excellent. Highly credible. Really enjoyed it. Harry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deerhunter Posted 27 January , 2012 Share Posted 27 January , 2012 Let's see what tomorrow's episode brings - got it set to record on Sky plus; one to keep, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beau Geste Posted 28 January , 2012 Share Posted 28 January , 2012 I've read and enjoyed the book and approached the BBC version with some trepidation. However, it was better than I thought. I realise we should just view it as entertainment but I'm unable to ignore technical errors and ridiculously inflated lips on men, particularly in historical dramas. quote Alec I have to admit that the "technical errors" you refer to ( Germans wearing picklehhaubers in tunnels and the soldier wearing a uniform that "looked wrong" ) didn't offend me in the slightest. However, I'm not here to argue or criticise your point of view. I just wonder how many historical epics would be made for the big screen if film directors weren't given some freedom of interpretation and artistic licence. However, I agree completely with your comment on "ridiculously inflated lips". I found its 'trout effect' a real distraction. Harry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger H Posted 29 January , 2012 Share Posted 29 January , 2012 Episode 2: Magnificent, simply magnificent. Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick63 Posted 29 January , 2012 Share Posted 29 January , 2012 I really enjoyed that. With the limitations of television, and trying to cram it all into two episodes, I think they did rather well with the story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted 29 January , 2012 Share Posted 29 January , 2012 Wow! To use a word my daughters overuse....awesome! It was simply superb. It cannot have been easy to condense the book into under three hours, but all praise to the Beeb....they got it right. Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRANVILLE Posted 29 January , 2012 Share Posted 29 January , 2012 Likewise, very impressed. Dave Upton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunboat Posted 30 January , 2012 Share Posted 30 January , 2012 It's not very often I disagree with my dear friends RogerH and Bruce...but I did not like it very much (but as I said in earlier post I wasn't that taken with the book). It just seemed so pedestrian. The only difference this week is that we didn't get as much of Clemence Poesy staring vacantly into the distance and instead we had to endure more of Eddie doing it. I tried to like it I really did but it disappointed on most counts save any technical errors aside it looked good... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFayers Posted 30 January , 2012 Share Posted 30 January , 2012 On the whole I thought it was very good indeed. To adapt the book into 3 hours of film I think the Beeb did a magnificent job; for me the story didn't really lose anything for missing out the modern-day element of the book. I would have imagined no-mans land on the 1st July to have been a lot more verdant and a lot less 'moonscape' - but that's just me! cheers Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil andrade Posted 30 January , 2012 Share Posted 30 January , 2012 Do you remember a BBC adapttion of another novel about the Great War, THE SPANISH FARM ? Forty years ago, or thereabouts ? Similar kind of story, similar themes. Whatever innaccuracies in BIRDSONG - and I admit that I thought there was a plethora of pickelhaubes last night - it must be acknowledged that this was a superb effort. I was very moved by the powefrul acting of Firebrace (?), and found one or two battlefield scenes harrowing. Phil (PJA) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Tucker Posted 30 January , 2012 Share Posted 30 January , 2012 Actually 2/3 of the book! Nothing on the late 1970s phase It cannot have been easy to condense the book into under three hours, but all praise to the Beeb....they got it right. Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted 30 January , 2012 Share Posted 30 January , 2012 I only managed to catch fleeting glimpse last night as there was a superb reality programme called Young Soldiers at the same time on BBC3. I was however lucky enough to catch the remarkable scenes where (and members will correct me if I am wrong) the bloke with the botox lips was in a tunnel and exploded a charge by laying a trail of powder then emerged from the tunnel into a mine crater where he was met by a German who informed him that the war was in fact over and then they both hugged each other in a manly fashion. Very, very moving and almost reduced me to tears!. Norman Sob Sob! PS Almost forgot, also caught a few shots of a spotty French woman being very silent but with a meaningful stare----------- Brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIRKY Posted 30 January , 2012 Share Posted 30 January , 2012 Really enjoyed part 2 , great battlefield scenes and got a sense of terror in the underground scenes. Jack was my favourite character. TK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyH Posted 30 January , 2012 Author Share Posted 30 January , 2012 Well I thought it was really excellent, and Firebrace stole the show for me. Bearing in mind that this was a BBC production on a miniscule budget compared to the Hollywood type productions it was hard to fault it. The battle scenes were superb, and it was in a totally different league to "Gallipoli", "Passchendaele", etc But as Alan Tucker said there was nothing on the 1970's period that was in the book - - - Anyone who enjoyed it but hasn't read the book should do so, if only for the missing bits. Good old BBC, BillyH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil andrade Posted 30 January , 2012 Share Posted 30 January , 2012 The screen - in this case - succeeded in imparting an even greater emotional intensity than the book ; a very rare achievement....the only other example I can think of is that 1939 film version of MICE AND MEN that I mentioned earlier. Phil (PJA) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Owl Posted 30 January , 2012 Share Posted 30 January , 2012 Excellent, well done the BBC--even if there were a few violations regarding uniforms etc!! We were all emotional wrecks by the end of last nights episode. One thing I was a little suprised by was the fact that our hero was a Lieutenant when he went over the top on 1/7/16 and yet two years later he was still showing the same rank, I would have expected him to have risen to Captain at least!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 30 January , 2012 Share Posted 30 January , 2012 Did no-one else cry out loud when the Tommy, replying to our hero's question into his health and well-being, answered "I'm good, thank you, sir"!!!!!! It's bad enough having every ruddy question I ever ask answered "I'm good", without hearing it on a GW TV piece. And when, exactly, did the british Army forego saluting, or referring to officers (when speaking in the third person to other ranks) as "Mister" so-and-so? And the hair cuts (or lack of them). That said, I enjoyed it overall, but yesterdays episode was a bit slow and the ending (I've not read the book, remember) was somewhat soppy. But, hey ... if it brings more people into the study of the Great War it's got to be a Good Thing. Can't wait for the Speilberg version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 30 January , 2012 Share Posted 30 January , 2012 I didn't enjoy the second episode as much as the first. As Steven said, it seemed as bit slow and there's a reference in today's Daily Telegraph to a lot of it being in "slow-motion". And this time around I found that the voice levels fluctuated. The military scenes looked excellent, though I did wonder whether an officer would be sharing the same entertainment venue as his men. And it would be churlish to wonder where the dim light came from in the tunnel after it had collapsed - after all, ten minutes or so of dialogue in the pitch-black wouldn't have worked. Overall, a very good effort. Moonraker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil andrade Posted 30 January , 2012 Share Posted 30 January , 2012 The detonation of the mine ( Hawthorn Redoubt?) prior to the great attack was one of the best features. Brilliantly done, I thought. Phil (PJA) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrtle Posted 30 January , 2012 Share Posted 30 January , 2012 Excellent, well done the BBC--even if there were a few violations regarding uniforms etc!! This was produced for television by Working Title of "Four Weddings..." fame. I found that the main character posed too much just as if doing one of his shoots for Burberry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now