Gunboat Posted 1 February , 2012 Share Posted 1 February , 2012 Looking at "images" on Google the actor has always had lips as they now appear. Little he can do about that. Kevin You would have thought so Kevin but a friend of a friends friend at the BBC has revealed that Eddie's lips were faked and that they had to rush him off to a lip clinic in between takes to keep them plumped up. It was highly controversial among the production staff with one executive threatening to quit saying that he could cope with any liberties taken with historical accuracy with dates uniforms, locations etc but couldn't countenance this flagrant fakery as not one of the millions of men who served in the Great War would've had full lips and he would have no truck with playing lip service to historical accuracy. He was overruled and the director is said to have insisted that Eddie be pumped with enough botox to make Angelina Jolie look like Wallis Simpson. Eddie told his agent that it helped him get into character as a stiff upper lipped British Officer. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevmc Posted 1 February , 2012 Share Posted 1 February , 2012 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!! He was offered promotion after recovering from being shot. This he refused and also refused chance of return to England and desk job. Insisted on going back to his old unit. Presumably that set a precedent for him to stay with the same group of men and complete the story Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Filsell Posted 1 February , 2012 Share Posted 1 February , 2012 Would an officer be wearing cuff titles, rather than 'pips' in 16,17 and still in 18?? Would the explosion of a counter mine not cause sufficient noxious gas to kill the trust Firebrace and the officer.? How many officers had personal one man dugouts in the front line? Would infantrymen be sent down the mine to protect the miners? Would one tunneling company apparently spend the entire war in one location? Would tunnels have been built so far behind the German lines in late 18? and Was War horse merely a boy finds horse, looses horse, gets horseback melodrama? Was Birdthing boy finds love, looses love, fins love's siste/daughter on too? Both with added bangs? Or am I just being a bit of a tart? I only ask David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraint Posted 1 February , 2012 Share Posted 1 February , 2012 Dammit David you old iconoclast you! You've spoilt both for me now! *seeks pearl handled revolver* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 1 February , 2012 Share Posted 1 February , 2012 *seeks pearl handled revolver* Clot. Neither of those in Birdsong or war Horse. You're thinking of Rod Steiger in Napoleon, which, despite the innacuracies, got a lot of people into the English Civil War. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraint Posted 1 February , 2012 Share Posted 1 February , 2012 Clot. Neither of those in Birdsong or war Horse. You're thinking of Rod Steiger in Napoleon, which, despite the innacuracies, got a lot of people into the English Civil War. No no! I'm thinking of the tartan handled one in Braveheart; or was it the lincoln green one used by William Tell to shoot a cherry off John Wayne's helmet as a centurion in Life of Brian...Oooohhh! These movies! I get soooo confused... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salesie Posted 1 February , 2012 Share Posted 1 February , 2012 The few inaccuracies towards the end (old Somme trenches being worked at the Armistice etc.) grated a touch, and the "lost" daughter storyline felt a little contrived - but none of this spolit my enjoyment. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Edit: forgot to mention the question about the explosion in the tunnel. Coming from a long line of coalminers (and steelworkers), I asked my old Uncle about the gases from the explosion that got Wraysford out, he said (paraphrased) "They don't evacuate a full f*ckin mine when blasting, if they got far enough away from it they might have been alright - anyway, what f*ckin choice did they have? If they hadn't blasted their way out, and just f*ckin sat there, they'd be f*ckin dead anyway." Cheers-salesie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Filsell Posted 2 February , 2012 Share Posted 2 February , 2012 I had intended to report Geraint to the head for what I thought was an insult. But I'm not so sure having checked and circumscribed. No I think he offered high high praise. Particularly the "one who attacks established beliefs or institutions" definition. I am thinking hard about having to "destroy or attack religeous images or oppose veneration". I had a meeting with my staff and the GSO1 has decided that God does have more battalions than me, but we have now decided to blow the mine early and make a rush for the perimeter befor Mitt Romney gets there. Thank you Geraint (pearl handed Luger in the post to you today). Best regards david Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
o j kirby Posted 2 February , 2012 Share Posted 2 February , 2012 Well troops, Inspite of the haircuts, and a few minor uniform issues, I consider the battlefield environment created for the drama was on of the best I have seen. Just to add to other comments, please remember that this is a drama, not a documetary of real life, and as a drama, it still has to work through the eye of the camera. Owain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil andrade Posted 2 February , 2012 Share Posted 2 February , 2012 Heated agreement with you, Owain, and let me add that when we consider all the brown and sticky stuff about '14-'18 that has been pedalled before on our screens, and might have been proffered to us on this occassion, the effort passes muster. Phil (PJA) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Banning Posted 3 February , 2012 Share Posted 3 February , 2012 On 11 January 2012, actors Clémence Poésy and Joseph Mawle, along with director Philip Martin and screenwriter Abi Morgan came to BAFTA in London to talk about their adaptation of Sebastian Faulkes's novel, Birdsong. You can listen here: http://soundcloud.co...dsong-interview Good to hear Joe Mawle talk about his time in the tunnels at La Boisselle and the effect they had on him. See http://www.laboissel...9-january-2012/. Also delighted he had had clearly studied the story of William Hackett VC and was so moved by it. This bit is from about 5.15 onwards and again at about 30 minutes when he says the 'bible' book is Beneath Flanders Fields by Barton, Doyle and Vandewalle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 3 February , 2012 Share Posted 3 February , 2012 Inspite of the haircuts, Agree with the broad thrust of where you are coming from. I enjoyed it - but, yes, many of the haircuts were appalling and just not remotely period. At other times both the art direction and sense of period were both exquisite and, IMHO spot on. Quite bizarre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 5 February , 2012 Share Posted 5 February , 2012 Several negative comments in today's Sunday Times "Culture", noting the slowness of the drama, unclear diction and the sound of collared doves, which apparently only appeared in France a few years before being first sighted in Britain in 1947. Moonraker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted 5 February , 2012 Share Posted 5 February , 2012 I knew that about the doves but I did not post as members would think me a "know-all" Norman Here is an excellent image of said bird: PS: He is called “Speckled Jim” not to be confused with other avians bearing that name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMarsdin Posted 5 February , 2012 Share Posted 5 February , 2012 Norman, I never had you down as an avian pedant ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilB Posted 5 February , 2012 Share Posted 5 February , 2012 Here`s Eddie Redmayne in a previous existance (No 11):- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2096575/What-picture-Prince-Williams-Eton-days-tells-modern-Britain.html So he probably got the accent spot on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevmc Posted 5 February , 2012 Share Posted 5 February , 2012 Here`s Eddie Redmayne in a previous existance (No 11):- http://www.dailymail...rn-Britain.html So he probably got the accent spot on! Hello Phil His accent for the character would be anything other than a toff. He was from a village in Lincolnshire, born to a mother who dumped him with grandparents, father unknown. The grandfather was imprisoned and the child put in an orphanage. He received his education as a result of support from a benefactor who showed no feelings for him. So he would not have had a background to match the toff image. This also gives credence to the traits he shows in the story ie remoteness and lack of feelings towards others. In the book he was able to speak french because he had lived in Paris for a time - in the TV production they had the family speak in English so that speaking in french was avoided, this suggesting that he couldn't speak french at that time. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilB Posted 5 February , 2012 Share Posted 5 February , 2012 Thanks for the gentle correction. It`s a long time since I read the book! Maybe he didn`t get the accent right then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevmc Posted 5 February , 2012 Share Posted 5 February , 2012 Thanks for the gentle correction. It`s a long time since I read the book! Maybe he didn`t get the accent right then? There are a number of things done in the TV production which were, presumably, done to make the story easier for viewers, but caused some confusion. An example being the use of english by the household when he visited the factory owner. In the book this wouldn't have been necessary as he was a fluent french speaker. Earlier in this thread someone queried how a young man of his age would get such a responsible mission. I feel that his knowledge of french supports him being given that job.(This wasn'r spelt out in the book however, so we don't know for sure why he was specifically chosen). Also someone wondered why he hadn't risen above lieutenant. He had been promoted from within the ranks and this, together with a desire to stay with the same men was why he hadn't been promoted - he kept refusing. In the book he reluctantly takes a promotion to a desk job, partially because of his knowledge of french, then returns to the Front and is promoted, as deaths cause upward movement of the various officers. I must admit that I only recently read the book so this is all fresh in my mind. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted 5 February , 2012 Share Posted 5 February , 2012 Being a great fan of the Inspector Clouseau school of acting in relation to the portrayal of French persons I have been greatly troubled by the directors need to employ actual French persons (Including the spotty lady) in the roles of the said French persons and then in the first episode of this classic to have them all speaking in English with of course those wonderful French intonations. Why not, I ponder, employ out of work British thespians to take those parts as indeed the late, great Peter Sellars did with such success. I offer this brief example of classic dialogue:- Inspector Jacques Clouseau: I ruin everything I touch. Lt. Lisa Morrel: Hey, what's the matter with you? Inspector Jacques Clouseau: [close to tears] Arrested twice, I destroy a phone booth at a railroad station... I steal from a nun, I don't know my own face. A man comes up to me with, with my own face tied on, I don't recognize who it is. I don't... I don't deserve to have this autographed picture of Sean Connery! [takes a picture from back pocket and tears it apart] Regards Norman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunboat Posted 6 February , 2012 Share Posted 6 February , 2012 I am rather relieved about the mixed reviews. If it had been a totall success then the BBC may've been searching for other Great War source material and we may've ended up with Ben Elton's The First Casualty (shudder) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silkman3811 Posted 8 February , 2012 Share Posted 8 February , 2012 Yes... but where were the Americans coming to the rescue and saving all mankind ? Clot. Neither of those in Birdsong or war Horse. You're thinking of Rod Steiger in Napoleon, which, despite the innacuracies, got a lot of people into the English Civil War. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silkman3811 Posted 8 February , 2012 Share Posted 8 February , 2012 I get the feeling that, if dear old Winston Churchill had got his way and managed to have the ruins of Ypres preserved as a lasting memorial to the sacrifice of the British Empire, the scenery and props would still be viewed as not realistic enough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silkman3811 Posted 8 February , 2012 Share Posted 8 February , 2012 Nice and plump... and Capt Blackadder definitely did not shoot him! I knew that about the doves but I did not post as members would think me a "know-all" Norman Here is an excellent image of said bird: PS: He is called “Speckled Jim” not to be confused with other avians bearing that name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pioneecorps Posted 21 February , 2012 Share Posted 21 February , 2012 Hi All I finnaly got around to watching the TV two part adaption last night, and enjoyed it, as good as any Spielberg film if not better. Regards. Gerwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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