The first 10 minutes or so of HBO’s new epic fantasy
series “Game of Thrones” are spent celebrating the glories of cable,
i.e. bloody violence (beheadings, hacked off body parts, eviscerated
guts steaming in the snow) and HBO sex (female semi-frontal nudity,
non-missionary position intercourse and unnecessarily graphic sound
effects.)
Unless you are a minor, you should not be deterred by any of this because “Game of Thrones,” written and produced by
political and psychological intrigue bristling with vivid characters,
cross-hatched with tantalizing plotlines and seasoned with a splash of
fantasy.
Based on the first book in the series “A Song of Fire and Ice” by
Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, an imaginary land that bears some
resemblance in geography, technology and population to King Arthur’s
and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. The climate appears vaguely
supernatural — there is much talk of generation-long winters — and
though the dragons and demonic White Walkers of yore are now believed
extinct, the northern border is still protected by a great wall on
which men of the Night’s Watch stand guard against Wildings and other
fell creatures.
The Seven Kingdoms are ruled by one king, which, as
you can imagine, is not working out terribly well. The action begins in
the North, where members of the Watch encounter what they believe are
White Walkers, but it quickly moves to the city of Winterfell and the
true realm of terror: the scheming and desperate hearts of ambitious
men and women.
Winterfell is ruled by Lord
But all is not tranquil in the state of Winterfell — the presence of Ned’s illegitimate son,
creates enough tension that the young man eventually leaves to join the
Night’s Watch, and the Starks receive an unwelcome visit from dissolute
King Robert Baratheon (
Robert and Ned once fought together, and the king
remains a friend of the Starks’, though the same can not be said of his
wife, Queen Cersei Lannister (
Meanwhile, in another part of the kingdom, the son of the previous king plots his revenge. Viserys Targaryen (
The forces of war assemble, as forces of war
inevitably do, but it is revelation of character rather than the clank
of broadsword or the tumult of hooves that makes “Game of Thrones” epic
television. Though Bean’s Ned is the strong and brooding headliner of
the series, he is quickly surrounded by a wild and bewitching garden of
characters and performances. The women are particularly good — Queen
Cersei is both evil and sympathetic,
But in many ways, “Game of Thrones” belongs to
Dinklage, who made his mark in “The Station Agent.” So well acquainted
with the workings of the world he can hardly bear it, the Imp is this
tale’s non-magical Merlin — debauched, perhaps, but a truth-teller
nonetheless, fighting for his own survival with as much mercy as he can
spare. If the man doesn’t win an Emmy, heads should certainly roll.
By keeping viewers’ eyes firmly fixed on the characters, the writers (and
who directs the first two episodes) not only pull in those not familiar
with the books, they keep us from asking too many questions about the
intricate back story and plotlines, which can sometimes appear crucial
in one episode only to vanish for the next two or three.
Though some of the visual cues will be very familiar
to fans of “Lord of the Rings” or even “The Tudors,” “Game of Thrones”
quickly finds that rare alchemy of action, motivation and explanation,
proving, once again, that the epic mythology remains the Holy Grail of
almost any medium.
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GAME OF THRONES
9 and
HBO
Rating: TV-MA (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 17)
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