February 2015 – Fan Fun with Damian Lewis

Play Dress Up with Henry!

Wolf Hall is one of the best things that has ever happened to TV. And, as much as it fascinates us with its wonderful writing, directing and acting, it also mesmerizes us with its visuals, lighting, set designs and particularly, in my case, the costumes! I am in awe of the fabrics and designs, but also the research the costume team did to create the most authentic dresses possible for the production.

I heard this wonderful interview with theWolf Hall costume designer Joanna Eatwell the other day where she shares her 30 years of experience in costume design and talks about her work in Wolf Hall. Continue reading “Play Dress Up with Henry!”

Wolf Hall Episode 6: Master of Phantoms

Henry never says good-bye…

Once he sees Wolsey is not able to fix a new wife for him… Henry never sees him again.

Once he realizes Katherine will not let him go, Henry leaves one morning without a good-bye, and never sees her again.

Once he takes back the chain of office from Thomas More as he resigns from his post as the Lord Chancellor in a protest against “new bills”… Henry never sees him again.

Finally… Once he leaves Anne at the jousting tournament at Greenwich, and rides back to Whitehall… Henry never sees her again. Continue reading “Wolf Hall Episode 6: Master of Phantoms”

Wolf Hall is TIMELESS

I have constantly been writing about Wolf Hall for several weeks now — about all aspects of it that have fascinated me… And, I have kept one that TOPS it all for me until now…

That is the TIMELESSNESS of Wolf Hall.

Hilary Mantel’s writing and Peter Straughan’s wonderfully condensed script open a beautiful window to the intrigue and manipulation in the court of Henry VIII in the 16^th century. Wolf Hall is such a dark, political animal that it is inevitable to chew on a little bit about its politics. Besides, both the book and the drama help us understand history through a contemporary perspective, and does it through its politics and in particular, through the contemporary conversations its characters have all the time. Continue reading “Wolf Hall is TIMELESS”

THAT Vanity Fair bit with Damian Lewis & Michelle Dockery GOT me thinking…

Vanity Fair has a series of videos and a special March issue about how the British actors have invaded — and maybe even conquered — Hollywood.

Well, Hollywood has always, and rightly so, admired and respected great British actors, say Jeremy Irons, Judi Dench, or Michael Kaine. But the on-going invasion is mostly done by a new generation of Brits who have now become “household names” in the US — some more than the others in my household 🙂 They sometimes fascinate us in British movies and TV shows, and sometimes play Americans in American movies and TV shows. And, thanks to their perfect American accents, some fans may actually find out much later that they are, in fact, British!

Just to drop a few names… some of them may be surprising! Let’s start with our own boy, Damian Lewis, but also Dominic West, Idris Elba, James Purefoy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Eddie Redmayne, Dan Stevens, James McAvoy, Tom Hiddleston… And, the ladies… Keira Knightley, Michelle Dockery, Amy Adams, Felicity Jones, Rosamund Pike, and many, many others. Continue reading “THAT Vanity Fair bit with Damian Lewis & Michelle Dockery GOT me thinking…”

Holbein in Wolf Hall

We earlier discussed here the authenticity of the costumes in Wolf Hall as well as how much the series costume designer Joanna Eatwell values Hans Holbein the Younger’s work in achieving this authenticity.

It turns out that Eatwell digged into the paintings of Holbein for research. From Lucy Worsley’s interview with Eatwell:

‘He’s a genius – all the information is in his paintings,’ she says.

‘He not only painted members of the court, he also painted merchants and even some of Henry’s courtiers and staff, so we have a complete cross-section which is incredibly important for a piece like this.’

Eatwell argues, in an audio interview with the BBC Academy, Holbein is a “master in his craft” and his paintings are realistic but also propaganda. The paintings make a statement about the person in the painting — she calls it the “photoshop” of the times.

Continue reading “Holbein in Wolf Hall”

Share the FUN 🙂

Share the FUN 🙂

Share the FUN 🙂

Share the FUN 🙂

Share the FUN 🙂