Comments on: It Takes The Village: A Review of AMC’s The Prisoner http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2009/11/17/it-takes-the-village-a-review-of-amc%e2%80%99s-the-prisoner/ Conservative and Libertarian Intellectual Philosophy and Politics Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:00:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Mountain Man http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2009/11/17/it-takes-the-village-a-review-of-amc%e2%80%99s-the-prisoner/comment-page-1/#comment-80278 Mountain Man Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:39:17 +0000 http://www.intellectualconservative.com/?p=7062#comment-80278 Well, the jury's in. Waste of time, nothing was explained, the reason for the show ever being filmed is a mystery. Stupid. Well, the jury’s in. Waste of time, nothing was explained, the reason for the show ever being filmed is a mystery.

Stupid.

]]> By: Steven D. Laib http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2009/11/17/it-takes-the-village-a-review-of-amc%e2%80%99s-the-prisoner/comment-page-1/#comment-80276 Steven D. Laib Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:00:18 +0000 http://www.intellectualconservative.com/?p=7062#comment-80276 As one who saw the original "The Prisoner" on several occasions and engaged in some abortive writing projects on the series, now lost, I found that its strongest point was Patrick McGoohan. One of the hallmarks of his acting career was the intensity that he brought to his roles, which made him a natural for the role of #6. In the "Chiming of Big Ben" #2 suggests that he doesn't bend a little which is why he will break eventually. However, he turns out to be stronger than anyone expected. While I have not had a chance to see the new series, I expect that it would be impossible to recreate it without completely recreating its most important character as he existed in the original. But that would be impossible. McGoohan was a one of a kind personality. I don't believe that he was as well appreciated here in the US as he was in the UK. Rather a shame. Perhaps I'll get a look at the new #6, but I am expecting to be disappointed. As one who saw the original “The Prisoner” on several occasions and engaged in some abortive writing projects on the series, now lost, I found that its strongest point was Patrick McGoohan.

One of the hallmarks of his acting career was the intensity that he brought to his roles, which made him a natural for the role of #6. In the “Chiming of Big Ben” #2 suggests that he doesn’t bend a little which is why he will break eventually. However, he turns out to be stronger than anyone expected.

While I have not had a chance to see the new series, I expect that it would be impossible to recreate it without completely recreating its most important character as he existed in the original. But that would be impossible. McGoohan was a one of a kind personality. I don’t believe that he was as well appreciated here in the US as he was in the UK. Rather a shame.

Perhaps I’ll get a look at the new #6, but I am expecting to be disappointed.

]]> By: Mountain Man http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2009/11/17/it-takes-the-village-a-review-of-amc%e2%80%99s-the-prisoner/comment-page-1/#comment-80274 Mountain Man Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:57:02 +0000 http://www.intellectualconservative.com/?p=7062#comment-80274 I have watched the first two installments without having the author's background information. Nor have I seen the original. To me, The Prisoner is a jumble of images making no sense at all. Mysteries and odd occurences are piled one on top of another unmercifully and without the slightest hint of what they mean. A good mystery gives you clues that allow you to formulate possible explanations. But The Prisoner does not do that. It seems content to offer one odd event after another, often just a piece of a scene, in a strange, emotionless presentation that gives the viewer no connection to anything. Here is a list of unconnected, seemingly irrelevant snippets of mysteries: 1) the two towers 2) the hole in the ground 3) the luminous 10 foot beach balls 4) the railroad tracks in the sand 5) the unconscious wife of #2 6) the blindness of #6's fiance 7) why #2 employes #6 in spying on people 8) how people can get out of town so easy when #93 was tacked down by gunman 9) the scene in the tunnel where #2 finds several people that he knows then suddenly wakes up in bed. 10) why he's a bus driver one day and standing in front of a class the next. I could go on and on, and I'm sure there is some sort of explanation (hopefully), but the endless parade of unexplainable events is fast becoming frustrating. I have watched the first two installments without having the author’s background information. Nor have I seen the original.

To me, The Prisoner is a jumble of images making no sense at all. Mysteries and odd occurences are piled one on top of another unmercifully and without the slightest hint of what they mean.

A good mystery gives you clues that allow you to formulate possible explanations. But The Prisoner does not do that. It seems content to offer one odd event after another, often just a piece of a scene, in a strange, emotionless presentation that gives the viewer no connection to anything.

Here is a list of unconnected, seemingly irrelevant snippets of mysteries:

1) the two towers
2) the hole in the ground
3) the luminous 10 foot beach balls
4) the railroad tracks in the sand
5) the unconscious wife of #2
6) the blindness of #6′s fiance
7) why #2 employes #6 in spying on people
8) how people can get out of town so easy when #93 was tacked down by gunman
9) the scene in the tunnel where #2 finds several people that he knows then suddenly wakes up in bed.
10) why he’s a bus driver one day and standing in front of a class the next.

I could go on and on, and I’m sure there is some sort of explanation (hopefully), but the endless parade of unexplainable events is fast becoming frustrating.

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