180 replies to this topic

[archangel9]

Just finished watching episode 1 on iPlayer and to those who had trouble with the sound it is perfect on iPlayer with headphones. I'm not a crtitic and certainly no TV drama expert but I thought it was pulchritudinous in the extreme. Well done to the Beeb and looking forward to next Sunday night!

John

[anneca]

.........and now for a moan from one who rarely moans!  I watched Birdsong with my husband after recording it.  I thought the sets for the war scenes were really convincing but it took me a while to work out that the men deployed down the tunnel were actually there to guard the diggers against attacks by German tunnellers.  However I did think the tunnel scenes were very realistic and brilliant.  Wraysford on the other hand was bland, showing no facial expression or emotion at all, and the whole thing was so slow I felt like winding it up like a clockwork toy at times.  When HE WHO MUST HAVE CONTROL OF THE PANEL AT ALL TIMES decided to fast forward on all but the scenes at the front I had no objection at all.  Doubt whether HWMHCOTPAAT or I will watch the next episode as we also found the quality of the sound deploring even though we have a new plasma!

I think Welshdoc in post No. 32 summed it up well. (Message for Welshdoc:  don't go buying a 500ft Plasma for the next episode - it's not worth it!)

[Steven Broomfield]

archangel9, on 24 January 2012 - 02:50 PM, said:

pulchritudinous
John

Is he allowed to say that?

[Siege Gunner]

Steven Broomfield, on 24 January 2012 - 03:17 PM, said:

Is he allowed to say that?

Yes, but only about Clémence Poésy's heroic couplet ...  

[Roger H]

anneca, on 24 January 2012 - 03:06 PM, said:

Wraysford on the other hand was bland, showing no facial expression or emotion at all, and the whole thing was so slow

I must have been watching a different programme - no emotion?

Roger

[Paul Granger]

re anneca's point about poor sound, despite a new telly, this might actually be the fault of the telly itself.  I bougnht a new flatscreen t'other week, not as big, mind, and the sound is not as good as my old set. This been commented on by Which?, and it's due to the thinness of new TVs , meaning decent speakers can't be fitted. The answer is spend more money on a soundbar or home cinema system. *throws cash into another bottomless money pit*

[Steven Broomfield]

Paul Granger, on 24 January 2012 - 03:34 PM, said:

*throws cash into another bottomless money pit*

I think you'll find that's called "A Daughter".

[anneca]

Well, there was emotion in the sexually explicit scenes but I was speaking about the lack of emotion and facial expression of the actor generally.

Roger H, on 24 January 2012 - 03:32 PM, said:

I must have been watching a different programme - no emotion?

Roger

[ianw]

Paul Granger, on 24 January 2012 - 03:34 PM, said:

The answer is spend more money on a soundbar or home cinema system.

Quite so. They can be had very cheaply now if you shop around and the sound you can get especially with a sub-woofer included is great.

Of course, my wife hates the new telly sound and tells me to turn it off whenever she gets the chance!

[MrEd]

The caving society I belong to, Wealden Cave and Mine Society, was involved in the sound recording of the underground tunnels scenes. The beeb had us dragging sandbags around and walking towards and away from the mic etc etc

[Neil Mackenzie]

SFayers, on 23 January 2012 - 01:10 PM, said:

They did depict, what I assumed to be, the leisurely boat trip on the Ancre though (I seem to recall this being described in the book - but then it's years since I read it!); but if you hadn't read the book to know where they were there's no way the connection of their locality with regard to 'future events' could be made.
cheers
Steve

Steve

I think at one point they stopped and fished by a sign that said 'River Somme - no fishing' (or something like that).

Neil

[BillyH]

I'm not trying to cause a controversy, or upset people, but having started this topic off several weeks ago may I just add a comment that in true British "Mary Whitehouse" fashion the only people who didn't seem to enjoy Birdsong were not watching it properly - either posting to this Forum while the programme was actually being screened, or fast forwarding what they thought were going to be the boring bits!
But hey, it's only half time and I for one am really looking forward to next weeks final part.
I don't claim to be a literary critic but I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and am now finding the BBC version really good too.
Well done the BBC.

Regards,   BillyH

[Deerhunter]

I agree, the scenery is convincing, the production is convincing, and the Wraysford character is as I understood him in the book.  I'm looking forward to next week's.

[Ken Santa Fe]

silkman3811, on 23 January 2012 - 09:02 PM, said:

I can't recall seeing a mainstream film about WW1 that was in colour!

Legends of the Fall?

The more I try and watch 'history' the more I'm happy we still have books. It won't stop me from watching Birdsong and every thing else I can click an active link to though it won't play in this zone yet.

[SFayers]

Neil Mackenzie, on 24 January 2012 - 06:26 PM, said:

Steve

I think at one point they stopped and fished by a sign that said 'River Somme - no fishing' (or something like that).

Neil

Thanks Neil,

I didn't notice that one! I seem to recall in the book it was the Ancre, but, as I say, it's years since I read the book and I'm sure I've lost a lot of grey cells since then!

cheers

Steve

[Michelle Young]

I watched it last night; didn't have a problem with the sound. I thought it was very well done, they have messed around with the book a fair bit, and it is a shame that the grandaughter researching Wraysford probably wont make an appearance. It is good they chose unkown actors for the principal roles too, and good attention to detail with the filthy hands and nails in the trenches.
Wraysford and Isabelle are not as I imagined them from reading the book, but hey ho, I'll certainly watch next weeks episode.

Michelle

[silkman3811]

Hmmm... you're probably right - though I vaguely remember seeing the trailer and thinking it looked like absolute pap!

You could also throw in Passchendaele and Galllipoli, but to be honest, I dont count them.

cheers
Steve

Ken Santa Fe, on 25 January 2012 - 01:31 AM, said:

Legends of the Fall?

The more I try and watch 'history' the more I'm happy we still have books. It won't stop me from watching Birdsong and every thing else I can click an active link to though it won't play in this zone yet.

[EAST YORKSHIRE]

Might just be me but the lead male character (Wraysford??) looks just  like Leslie Ash- Botox lips included!

[Ken Santa Fe]

silkman3811, on 25 January 2012 - 05:57 PM, said:

You could also throw in Passchendaele and Galllipoli, but to be honest, I dont count them.

Nor should you, you asked for American Film. Passchendaele is Canada's most or nearly most expensive film yet. Gallipolli is from Oz.

[Michelle Young]

EAST YORKSHIRE, on 25 January 2012 - 09:12 PM, said:

Might just be me but the lead male character (Wraysford??) looks just  like Leslie Ash- Botox lips included!

Agreed, apparrently he is a model as well as an actor.

Michelle

[LiamS]

Never read the book but kind of enjoyed the first episode. It was very slow and apart from the woman he falls for
I couldn't engage much with any of the other charachters.

[silkman3811]

Ken Santa Fe, on 25 January 2012 - 11:47 PM, said:

Nor should you, you asked for American Film. Passchendaele is Canada's most or nearly most expensive film yet. Gallipolli is from Oz.

I meant from the mainstream point of view rather than their origin...  The one I did forget and probably deserves a mention is Lawrence of Arabia .

cheers
Steve

[ph0ebus]

Found this article about the reality behind what is in Birdsong very interesting:

The heroic sewer rats of the Somme

I wonder who will ever find the lost tunnel, and given what happened to the cow, will anyone ever find them?

-Daniel

PS The BBC Player does not work in the States, so I will have to wait until this all becomes available on DVD before I can watch and weigh in.  

[J Banning]

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/ but failed to add any of the links to these sites which would have given the reader much more detail.

[slick63]

I thought the text seemed familiar, standard lazy journalism I`ve come to expect from newspapers these days. Maybe a call to their office is warranted ?