A low budget is no excuse for a complete snooze fest.
This series is a drama about European monarchies leading up to World War I. This is not action, but drama. Does that excuse poor directing? No.
Three directors (four, if you include Burge), and three writers made this. That may partly account for the ineptness, since creativity cannot be made by committee. By definition, a committee cannot possibly generate any suspense or interest, because a committee will always be safe and predictable.
I have worked under dozens of stage directors who could bring life to dull pieces with no action. I have directed dramas that needed life brought to them. There are tricks and methods to enliven scenes. The onus is not on the writers Eliot, Holford, and Pulman (although their dialog was super boring, and they could have done much better), but ultimately the blame for this failure must lay on the shoulders of directors Cunliffe, Hays, Cartier, and Burge. They try to enhance one scene with a man shooting birds, but even that drags in pity.
And to top that off, the writing is so horribly done, that we cannot follow what is going on. There is only confusion. We have no idea what is going on, or what a single character is speaking about.
There is no way to stay awake for this series. And I am not speaking about the video game arcade audience. I am speaking about intelligent and educated people who love History and read nonfiction. I don't want mindless action, but you can't convey character and story just by delivering lines, either. I can't envision any person being able to sit through this horribly produced thud. I saw some comments that I couldn't believe. This series gives new meaning to the word "drag".
This series is a drama about European monarchies leading up to World War I. This is not action, but drama. Does that excuse poor directing? No.
Three directors (four, if you include Burge), and three writers made this. That may partly account for the ineptness, since creativity cannot be made by committee. By definition, a committee cannot possibly generate any suspense or interest, because a committee will always be safe and predictable.
I have worked under dozens of stage directors who could bring life to dull pieces with no action. I have directed dramas that needed life brought to them. There are tricks and methods to enliven scenes. The onus is not on the writers Eliot, Holford, and Pulman (although their dialog was super boring, and they could have done much better), but ultimately the blame for this failure must lay on the shoulders of directors Cunliffe, Hays, Cartier, and Burge. They try to enhance one scene with a man shooting birds, but even that drags in pity.
And to top that off, the writing is so horribly done, that we cannot follow what is going on. There is only confusion. We have no idea what is going on, or what a single character is speaking about.
There is no way to stay awake for this series. And I am not speaking about the video game arcade audience. I am speaking about intelligent and educated people who love History and read nonfiction. I don't want mindless action, but you can't convey character and story just by delivering lines, either. I can't envision any person being able to sit through this horribly produced thud. I saw some comments that I couldn't believe. This series gives new meaning to the word "drag".