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Reviews
Da Vinci's Inquest (1998)
One of the finest television series, ever, in my opinion.
This is one of the finest television series, ever, in my opinion. It has a poignancy, passion and nearly poetic dialog that US television can't match.
The episode where Da Vinci, while working feverishly at his coroner's job, keeps avoiding repeated phone calls from his mother only to find that he has missed being present at his own stone-cutter father's passing and, then, mimics his old man by chiseling the letters of the gravestone, breaks one's heart.
Watching it on WFSB in Hartford, another recent episode has a beautiful and moving speech delivered by a mother, fearful that her son has murdered her abusive boyfriend, in which she both describes her dilemma as a single mother and a helpless victim of the circumstances of a hard life, plus offers herself up as a more likely culprit in a transparent effort to protect the boy.
The program even featured Matt Frewer, star of probably my favorite television program, ever, Max Headroom, as a guest villain in a two part series.
It doesn't get much better than this.
Gettysburg (1993)
We saw a different film than listed here
My 90-year old mother and I saw the videotape of this film from our town library several months ago. We are now at the mid-point in the copy of Gods and Generals from the same library and I have commented numerous times that this or that scene had been in Gettysburg, as well. I told her I would research the matter overnight.
Judging largely from the cast list here, we saw a substantially different version than that listed here. It is bizarre to see the scenes with the Pickett character so easily exchanged with those of the Jackson character; for example the scene in the version we saw, also in Gods and Generals, with the Pickett/Jackson and the African-American cook praying and discussing the inhumane folly of slavery.
Maxwell must have re-cut this film relatively recently to include this material. I suspect the listing "Gettysburg (VG) 2001" should be about this version, but it came up a blank when I clicked on it.
The actress who plays Pickett/Jackson's wife is the key to my realization about the new version. She has no credit for Gettysburg, yet I clearly remember both she and the term "mi esposa" from it.
As I recall, we both enjoyed or, more precisely, we were both deeply moved by this film and would recommend it highly despite its length and the tediousness of some scenes. In point of fact, isn't war always long stretches of tedious boredom punctuated by flashes of terror, gore and gruesome death? The film uses its tedium to highlight this truth.
I am sure my Mom will be fascinated by what I have gleaned from your write-ups on both films, especially Duvall's heritage and his property's utilization.