epic fantasy overload

I just finished a nearly 20-hour marathon of epic fantasy overload courtesy of HBO’s biggest TV series to date, Game of Thrones.  In a spread of 4 days I finished all 20 episodes of Seasons 1 and 2 (meron na palang Season 3 pero hahanapin ko pa sa internet).  At eto lang ang masasabi ko: Maganda... sana! 

Let me tell you first kung bakit nagandahan ako.  It’s because of the theme – medieval culture.  Kings and queens, lords and ladies, knights and warriors, kingdoms and castles...  I must be a reincarnation of someone from the royal house of whatever.  Maitim man ang balat ko at singkit ang mata ko ngayon, I really suspect descendant ako ng mga taong ito na nabuhay noong mga panahong yon.  Otherwise I really can’t explain my fascination with their lives and stories. Kaya bentang-benta sa akin itong GOT.

It has a huge storyline which basically intertwines three plots.  First is the scramble for the Iron Throne (thus the title) which deals with greed, deception, cunning, carnage, and anything that is required to grab power.  Then there’s the story of the Nightwalkers which has the element of supernatural dahil may mga blue-eyed zombies. And third is the story of a deposed heir to the Iron Throne planning to regain their lost glory with the help of three dragons. 

If there’s one thing obvious sa GOT, ito ay ang malaking budget.  Halata mo kasi na ginastusan talaga ang production kaya lumalabas na authentic medieval world ang pinapanood mo, may kasama pang touches of fantasy na kung titipirin ang budget ay lalabas na kakatawa.  At a cost of 60$ million for Season 1 and Season 2 on a bigger budget, kitang-kita mo ang production values noong series.

Cast pa lang ang dami-dami na.  As I started the first episode of Season 1, I tried counting the main characters pero habang natatapos ko each episode, hindi na ako nagbilang.  There’s just too many of them kaya mawawala ang focus ko sa story kung magbibilang ako.

Malaking budget sigurado ang naubos sa location. According to Wiki, it was shot daw in different places including Northern Ireland, Croatia, Malta, Morocco, Iceland and a few more others.  Kaya para kang nagta-travel habang nanonood.  One scene you’ll be in the middle of snow-capped mountains.  Tapos biglang nasa loob ka ng isang castle.  Tapos mapupunta ka sa isang desert where a nomadic tribe lives.  Balik sa sibilisasyon ng isang city.  Crypts, courts, chambers, dungeons, marketplace, bedroom,  brothel, farm, forest...  ang ganda ng mga setting.  Breathtaking ang wide shots ng snow-covered The Wall, the creepy yet majestic Veil Kingdom, ng bustling city of King’s Landing, ng mga disyertong dinadaanan ng mga Dothrakis, the eerily beautiful castle in the Iron Island at marami pang shots na talagang dadalhin ka far from where you are sitting at that moment.

Equally impressive din ang costumes.  Very royal ang suot ng King, Queen, prince and princesses, Lords and Ladies, The court council and even the non-royal but wealthy family like the Lannisters.  Very peasant ang suot ng mahihirap, you can see and almost smell the filth in their ragged and tatted clothes.  Bulky and black ang mga Night’s Watchmen dahil frozen planet ang location nila.  Ang ganda ng mga body armor ng mga warriors.  Skimpy and filthy rin ang mga Dothrakis. At mas skimpy ang mga whores na aagaw ng attention mo dahil ang nipis ng mga suot na ang daling hubarin para sa kanilang trabaho (I’ll tell you more about this later).

Sa laki nitong GOT, ang daming directors na humawak.  At least ito nabilang ko.  Season 1 started with Tim Van Patten who directed the first two episodes.  Then Brian Kirk did ep 3, 4 and 5.  Daniel Minahan did ep 6, 7 and 8.  Alan Taylor did ep  9 and 10. Balik si Alan Taylor sa Season 2 dahil sya ang nag-direct ng first two episodes.  Then Alik Sakharov on ep 3 na hindi yata nagustuhan ng HBO dahil biglang si David Petrarca na ang nag-direct ng ep 4 and 5. David Nutter took on ep 6 and 7.  Balik si Alan Taylor sa ep 8.  Neil Marshall on ep 9 at one shot din sya tulad ni Sakharov dahil dyarannn... Alan Taylor ulit ang finale sa ep 10.

May ilan akong nakitang episodes na iba ang sumulat pero ang principal writers ay sina David Benioff and DB Weiss.  Based daw ito sa series of fantasy novels ni George Martin na A Song of Ice and Fire na hindi ko naman nabasa kaya hindi ko pwedeng sabihin how faithful the tv adaptation was to the original material.

Marami man ang sumulat at nag-direct, HBO was successful in maintaining the entire look and feel of the whole thing.  May consistency sa treatment ng story kaya akala mo isang director lang ang gumawa.  Kaya siguro naging very successful ito dahil milyones daw ang tumutok sa HBO at naipalabas pa sa maraming countries, the Philippines included.  May mga nomination at award din daw itong napanalunan.  Which is not surprising because the technical aspect and the acting of some of the players were notable particularly Peter Dinklage whose character Tyrion Lannister was one of my favorites.

Pero... as I said at the start of this post, MAGANDA... SANA.

Sa development and presentation ng ilang characters at situations ako may nakitang sablay.  Ito yong lagi kong tinututukan dahil dito maraming sumasabit na directors at writers.  They tend to over-dramatize a few things para lang sa tinatawag nilang cinematic effect.  Pero ang dating sa akin, plain and simple katangahan.

Glaring and offensive ang pinag-gagawa ng character ni Lady Catelyn Stark.  She left her child in sickbed at kung saan-saan naglimayon.  Nagising na si anak, nagyera na at nasakop ang kanilang kingdom sa Winterfell, hindi pa rin sya umuuwi.  Her son Robb went to war dahil sa mga atraso ng mga Lannister sa kanilang pamilya.  And what did she do?  Undermine her son’s efforts by freeing their only pawn (Jamie Lannister) against their enemy.  If you (the writers and directors) wanted to present the picture of a powerful and respectful matriarch, don’t do these things to her.  Hindi ako nakaka-sympathize sa kanya.  Instead, I wanted to strangle her myself dahil sa katangahan nya.

You (again, writers and directors) gave Ned Stark to me as a man of courage and principles.  Bidang-bida sya sa tingin ko.  And what did you do?  Made him confess to treason na hinding-hindi dapat gawin ng isang tulad nya.  You should hear me shouting ‘serves you right’ when his head went off the chopping block!

I thought the Starks should be the heart of the entire story.  Pero bakit pati ang bastard son ni Ned, si John Snow, ay ginawa nyo ring engot?  Gigil na gigil syang maging ranger ng Night’s Watch.  But as soon as he gets the chance, he blew it big time.  Hindi mapatay ang kalaban all because she was a girl.  Instead, ang commander nya ang pinatay nya.  Bakeeettt?  Tinali nya ang babaeng bihag nya, naglakad sila ng naglakad habang daldalan ng daldalan.  Pampahaba?  Aysus ang haba na nga ng istorya nyo eh.

Eto pa.  Theon Greyjoy who went back to his father after 17 years of living with the Starks, was told by his father (Lord of Pyke) to seize Winterfell.  Ganda sana ng effect dahil ultimate treason ang ginawa ni Theon.  Ang pamilyang nagpalaki sa kanya at ang bayang kinalakihan nya eh sinakop nya. Pinagpapatay pa ang mga tao doon. Ang katangahan, nasakop na si Winterfell pero eto si Lord Greyjoy at biglang pinapauwi na lang si Theon.  Pull out na daw.  Watdaaaa?

Marami pang butas ang story but the biggest one for me is this:  all three of Queen Cersei’s children are fathered by her brother Jamie (oh yeah, incest is their game) na hindi man lang nalaman ni King Robert?  I could have swallowed that kung ginawa nyong baog si King Robert without him knowing it.  Pero hindi.  He fathered many bastards outside the palace na pinapatay ni Queen Cersei.  Bakeetttt?  Can’t mount his wife because of a long lost love pero nakakabuntis ng ibang babae?  If that is the case, hindi ba nagtaka si King kung bakit nabubuntis si Queen eh hindi naman nya nagagalaw?  Ginawa nyong tanga si King pero in the end, it is the viewers you’re taking for a fool.

At sa haba ng ginawa nila, may isang malaking scene na ini-expect ko pero hindi ko nakita.  Ang funeral rites ni King Robert where it could have been the best opportunity to present the Lords of the Seven Kingdoms.  Bakit wala?  Sinabi lang na may Seven Kingdoms pero hindi naman na-pakita ang mga rulers noon which is vital to the story.

Ang mga ganitong detalye ang hindi dapat pinapayagan because it kills the integrity of the characters and in the end, nakakawala ng interes.  Sa halip na gusto ko pang tutukan ang nangyayari doon sa character, I’m just wishing na mawala na lang sya sa eksena dahil wala na akong bilib sa character nya.

Aside from these ‘katangahan’, meron pa akong isang napansin.  Ang daming eksena ng daldalan.  Lenghty conversations na dapat sana ay ginawa mas concise to pull the whole story a lot tighter.  Yakyakan ng yakyakan ang pagkadami-daming character.  Even unimportant characters were given lengthy dialogs.  May mga instances nga na gusto ko ng i-fast forward yong pinapanood ko. 

I wish there were more scenes of actual battle.  Pero iisa ang talagang labanan and that was in episode 9 of the second season.  Yong mga battle ni Rob and the Lannisters, pinapakita lang that the army are preparing for war.  Next scene, tapos na ang gyera at mga patay na lang ang dinadaanan ng camera! Hayayayayyy!

If there’s one thing GOT has got plenty of, it’s blood.  Putulan ng ulo, saksakan, kamay na tinagpas, bitukang dinudukot, matang sinaksak ng espada, espadang tumagos sa bungo and so many other gory and graphic scenes.  I thought Centurion was ruthless pero wala sa kalahati ng dugo na sumirit dito sa GOT.  Ang dami sigurong catsup na naubos sa shooting!

But wait, it’s not only blood overflowing in GOT.  Pati laman.  Flesh.  Not the one being sliced, pierced and cut by the sword.  But the naked bodies of men and women so generously sprinkled all over the two seasons.  Women, especially the whores, drop their robes in an instant as cameras focus on boobs of different sizes and shapes.  Maraming babae ang nag-full frontal dito which I suspect were struggling actresses hoping for the big break na akala nila makukuha nila if they show everything on cam.  May ilang lalaki din ang nag-full monty particularly the not-so-handsome Theon Greyjoy.   Pero bakit naman pati yong nitwit na taga-buhat ni Lord Bran, pinag-bomba pa? Anong relevance?

Kailangan man sa eksena o hindi, wag ka ng magugulat kung biglang may hubaran na mangyayari.  Kaya dapat walang minors sa harap ng Tv pag nanonood ka nito.  I suspect HBO censored these scenes when it was shown here in the Philippines dahil siguradong mag-aalburoto ang mga manong at manang ng simbahan kung hindi nila ginawa. Though I would find it hard to cut some sex scenes dahil ginawang backdrop ng ilang importanteng conversation na kung puputulin ay mawawala ang continuity ng story. 

Hindi ko masasabing big favorite itong GOT unlike World Without End which I reviewed in previous post here in DS.  Mas malaki nga, mas epic at mas maganda sana itong GOT pero dahil nga may ilang flaws akong nakita, I still consider the tighter and more logical WWE better.

Ewan ko lang if Season 3 will change what I’ve said.  Wala pa kasing closure ang mga characters at stories dito sa Season 2.  At hindi ko rin alam kung hanggang ilang season paabutin ng HBO ang series.  But until the story is finally told, only then will I decide if I will encourage you to spend 20 or 30 hours of your time in front of the television!