P.D. James - The Black Tower dvd movie.|
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List Price: $19.98 Features • Color • DVD-Video • Full Screen • NTSC In Theaters : 1985 DVD Release : 15 April, 2003 |
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P.D. James - The Black Tower description Actor Roy Marsden's fourth outing as mystery author P.D. James's recurring hero Inspector Dalgliesh is a very satisfying affair: an unorthodox whodunit in a surprisingly creepy setting, all wrapped in a psychologically complex story in which love, duty, and loyalty become corrupting prisons for myriad characters. Beneath it all is Dalgliesh's own crisis of confidence after a bullet injury. An old mentor from school, a kindly chaplain, seeks the recuperating Dalgliesh's assistance with a problem at Toynton Grange, a nursing home. When the detective arrives, he finds the chaplain dead, a rash of threatening letters anonymously sent to the residents, a disabled man possibly murdered, and a Grange director twisted by missionary zeal, bitter disappointment, and the loathing of his staff and clients. Dalgliesh slowly penetrates the Grange's peculiarly insulated culture, looking for a pattern to bizarre events. James's lengthy story is gripping, but the splendid cast is reason enough to see this miniseries. --Tom Keogh |
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| ♥♥♥♥♥ | Dalgliesh I hardly recognize you here |
| The Black Tower is one of my favorite PD James novels. I love the way that James uses dialogue by supporting characters to make one reflect on what Dalgliesh's inner thoughts and feelings might be. This novel has some particularly cutting commentary about disability and how that affects one's perception of oneself and relationships, and some discomforting reflections on the uncomfortability of the physically able in the presence of the disabled and their (the physically able) need to de-sexualize the disabled and aged. This is one of the novels where we see Dalgliesh at his most introspective. He is questioning himself and his profession and has resolved to leave the force and stop being a detective.
However, the ITV version of Black Tower loses all of this. It is only a detective story. Yes, it's good and entertaining. The supporting cast is generally good, and Pauline Collins is really excellent (I liked her performance here even more than in 'Shirley Valentine' where she was also great). I give it 3.5 stars on the merit of the film and the performances by themselves. But as an adaptation of the book, it really falls short. No doubt, it was the intention to focus on the detective story part of the book. But this is one PD James book that I wish would be remade with another actor giving a more introspective performance (for example Shaw who starred in the lastest PD James adaptations). Don't get me wrong; I've seen all the PD James adaptations with Marsden and I certainly enjoy watching him, but IMHO he never convincingly conveyed the poet aspect of the character. PD James herself has said as much in some of her interviews. This side of his character is at the core of this particular novel (unlike some of the others), and I barely see a similarity between the Dalgliesh being played in ITV adaptation versus the poet Dalgliesh who we get to see in the novel. |
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