Brother Cadfael - The Devil's Novice
by Sebastian Graham Jones
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Derek Jacobi, Julian Firth, Mark Charnock, Michael Culver, Terrence HardimanDirector: Sebastian Graham Jones
Writer: Simon Burke
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: Pan & Scan, 1.33:1
Running Time: 75 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-08-29
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Acorn Media Publishing
Movie Reviews of Brother Cadfael - The Devil's Novice
Movie Review: Mostly in light of the faithfulness of the adaptation
Summary: 3 Stars
Screenwriter Christopher Russell also adapted A MORBID TASTE FOR BONES and THE ROSE RENT. Here Russell has left the main framework of the story intact, but the characterization has been watered down, and as in the above named adaptations potential motives of passion are blown out of proportion. Little changes have been made in many background details, such as renaming several characters and compressing/combining scenes (easier on the budget and on short attention spans, but oversimplifying the story). Since the characters and the subtleties of their relationships are the key to the novel's quality, the fact that the actual events of the story have been faithfully adapted isn't enough to carry the adaptation for me.
Rather than trimming the beginning of the story, Russell has added material, starting with Peter Clemence's arrival at "Ashby Manor" (Aspley in the book). Of the household, the father (Leoric) is interpreted fairly accurately, as is his younger son Meriet (soon to be the title character), although their stormy relationship is something we hear about rather than see. The elder son, "Tristan" (Nigel) looks too old for his part, and fails to convey the character's supposed charm. His betrothed, "Rosanna" (Roswitha) has been reinterpreted from a vain but harmless flirt to a mercenary seductress who went far past propriety with Clemence. "Isobel" (Isouda) isn't the clear-eyed pillar of strength of the novel, and the adaptation doesn't even try to convince us that she dismisses "Rosanna" as of no account. As for Janyn, "Rosanna"'s brother, he's actually present at the dinner, and he's later used to introduce the possibility that Clemence might have disappeared voluntarily.
Harald, the runaway serf-suspect, has an expanded role, now shown snooping about "Ashby" and an independent witness to Clemence's movements as the bishop's envoy to the earl of Chester spends an evening with the "Ashbys", distant relatives. As in the original, Clemence is something of a ladies' man, despite his priesthood. His annoying arrogance toward his country cousins can be justified from the book, although it's far less explicit there; he's well-played, apart from being too casual about his vows of chastity.
Soon after Clemence continues on his way to resume his diplomatic mission, Leoric brings Meriet to the abbey as a novice. Brother Paul, the perceptive novice master, has as usual been eliminated, as have the other novices and the secular students - along with the character development that in the novel gradually shows us Meriet's virtues together with his cross-grained nature, admirable but ill-suited to the cloister. A lot of scene compression takes place, so that Meriet's noisy nightmares and his outraged counterattack on Brother Jerome for burning his keepsake of "Rosanna" follow very closely on one another. (Meriet's punishment under the lash, of course, is shown on camera at the hands of a brother rather than off-camera via a lay servant, as in the book - Russell doesn't miss a trick that way for dramatic scenes.)
Clemence's superior, Canon Eluard, differs from the book on two important points: blatant immediate suspicion of Meriet's sudden vocation, and a desire to see a quick rather than correct resolution to the Clemence problem. As for the secular investigation, Beringar has been written out of the story apart from 1 scene at the beginning; Will Warden is in charge while Beringar's away at court. (Warden did indeed appear in the novel MONK'S-HOOD as a man too quick to jump to easy conclusions, but the adaptations over-use him; the novels have more respect for the brains on the side of the law.)
The adaptation moves much faster than the original story. Meriet's assignment to the leper hospital at St. Giles happens on the very day the corpse is found; he has no time to put his sufferings in perspective with those of the patients. (Since the adaptation uses Brother Oswin rather than Mark, Meriet lacks a perceptive mentor at St. Giles, of course.) Harald is arrested just as the body is found, over Cadfael's protests - and with Warden rather than Beringar in charge, the threat of an unjust conviction is much more serious than in the original story. (I grant that this strengthens the motivation of various honorable characters who finally begin producing testimony - I won't say how much is *true* testimony, though.)
The final confrontation's dramatic climax in the original story has been exchanged for a tidier tying up of loose ends, although it removes some of the necessary historical background that set the scene for the next novel, DEAD MAN'S RANSOM. However, the adaptations were not made in chronological order, so from that point of view continuity is less of an issue.
Broadly correct adaptation, but lacking the subtleties of the original novel, and moving at a faster pace removing some of the finer points of the puzzle.
Summary of Brother Cadfael - The Devil's Novice
Derek Jacobi's Brother Cadfael is a different kind of detective: a 12th-century monk, a healer and herbalist, and former soldier of fortune. His r?sum? gives him an interesting perspective on the puzzling murders that seem to plague the rural county of Shrewsbury. In "The Devil's Novice," from the second season of the television series, Cadfael defends the order's newest novice, an intense young man who harbors a haunting secret, against a murder charge. Once again he fights dogmatic superstition in the monastery's ranks and even battles the church hierarchy willing to sacrifice an innocent man to bring closure to the murder of a cleric. The generic mystery relies on familiar family melodramatics and romantic complications and even echoes elements of the more compelling Cadfael mystery "The Virgin in the Ice," but the backdrop of cloak-and-dagger intrigue and church politics infiltrating provincial Shrewsbury is compelling. Cadfael's mix of spiritual wisdom and worldly experience makes him a riveting character, and Jacobi invests him with empathy, passion, and a perceptive, clear-eyed vision of the secular world.The DVD also features a short audio-only interview with Derek Jacobi, a biography of author Ellis Peters (a pseudonym for Edith Pargeter), and a small stills gallery of production photos. --Sean Axmaker
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