‘The Pillars of the Earth’ epic miniseries premieres July 23 on Starz
Matthew Macfadyen of "The Pillars of the Earth" - Starz Photo
Ken Follett’s 1989 bestselling novel “The Pillars of the Earth” becomes an 8-hour miniseries on Starz beginning July 23.
“The Pillars of the Earth” is an epic story involving a secret disrupting the succession to the English crown.
At the start of the miniseries, King Henry’s daughter and nephew compete for the throne.
King Henry is played by Clive Wood (“Dr. Who”), while Alison Pill (“In Treatment”) is his daughter Maud and nephew Stephen is played by Tony Curran (“24″).
Due to church politics, Philip (Matthew Macfadyen, “Pride and Prejudice”), a monk, becomes indebted to Deacon Waleran (Ian McShane, “Deadwood”) after being elected the new prior of Kingsbridge.
Tom Builder (Rufus Sewell, “Eleventh Hour”) and his family are looking for work. Builder, a mason, ends up rebuilding Kingsbridge Cathedral for food and lodging. His wife has recently died, and a healer and her son have joined Tom’s family, but the healer is accused of being a witch.
Natalia Wörner (“Four Seasons”) plays Ellen the healer, and Eddie Redmayne (“Tess of the D’Urbervilles”) plays her son Jack.
Meanwhile, William, who aspires to become the Earl of Shiring, attacks Aliena and Richard, the daughter and son of Bartholomew, who is the Earl of Shiring and a strong supporter of Maud’s right to the throne.
David Oakes (“Trinity”) is William, while Donald Sutherland (“Dirty Sexy Money”) plays Bartholomew. His daughter and son are played by Hayley Atwell (“The Prisoner”) and Sam Claflin (“Any Human Heart”).
Bartholomew’s conspiracy against Stephen’s commandeering of the throne causes his downfall as well as his children’s.
And that’s just the beginning.
As you can tell, there’s a whole lot going on in this story.
If you are a huge fan of sagas, especially ones relating to royalty and religion, you’ll probably like this one.
I’m not such a devotee, however, and though it kept my interest up to a point, I wasn’t enthused by it.
Just overall a bit too overwhelming and I thought a scene involving accused witch Ellen was offensive (and I don’t usually have a weak stomach when it comes to what I view.)
Despite that, the majority of the acting is enjoyable, particularly Matthew Mcfadyen and Donald Sutherland, and it moves along at a steady pace as it concentrates on the various plot points.
If you’re a fan of the book, or this kind of tale, give it a try, otherwise you might not be able to stick with the entire miniseries.
– Melissa Hayer
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Comments
The miniseries is (or was) good, but the ending was frankly mediocre. They rushed to conclude the series, they took many liberties with the story (not necessarily a bad thing in itself, but in this case a total disaster) and they betrayed the very spirit of the novel (insulting the intelligence of the admirers of the book in the process). I planned to buy the DVD, but changed my mind after watching the finale.
I am very interested in purchasing the DVD of the mini series Pillars of the Earth. Can anyone help me? Thanks