Gormenghast

Gormenghast

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Movie Reviews of Gormenghast

Movie Review: You have to see it to believe it!
Summary: 5 Stars

Where to start? Well, Gormenghast is a sprawling city/state presided over by the Groan dynasty. The royal house of Gormenghast is an ancient, decaying line stretching back into the dim recesses of time. The city and its monarchy are so old that no one remembers what any of the rituals of rule mean anymore. The current occupant of the throne is the doddering Lord Groan, a leader weary of the endless drudgery associated with his duties. Every minute of every day requires a host of arcane rites that saps his soul. But the birth of a new heir named Titus means that the lineage will continue through the veins of a new leader. All residents of Gormenghast must prepare for the eventual transfer of power; an amusing thing indeed considering the ascension of a new Groan will mean little overall change. Even as the new heir begins the long process of grooming, an ominous threat arises within the byzantine Gormenghast, a threat that, if unchecked, could well topple the Groans forever.

This threat to the very essence of Gormenghast is the wily Steerpike, a lowly soul who begins his climb to power as a lackey in the vast kitchens of the city. Through a combination of fawning subservience and ruthless calculation, Steerpike manages to move out of the kitchens into a series of increasingly important posts. As Titus Groan grows into a man Steerpike gets closer and closer to what he perceives is his true destiny: the destruction of the Groan dynasty and the installation of himself as ruler of the city. And not a soul will stand in his way, not the elder Lord Groan, not the conniving sisters Clarice and Cora Groan, and certainly not the man who keeps track of all of Gormenghast's various rituals. It is to this post that Steerpike eventually rises, a position only a few inches away from the seat of real power. Inevitably, a showdown between Titus Groan and Steerpike will decide the very fate of this ancient city as well as pave the way for Titus Groan to make his own decisions about what he wishes to do regarding his onerous heritage.

"Gormenghast" is stunning in every sense of the word. The set pieces, the costumes, the performances, the expansive plot, and the humor all contribute mightily to this majestic piece of entertainment. I don't know what I was expecting when I popped this DVD into my player, but it definitely wasn't the images that flowed across the screen. I had always heard Peake's novel delves into some very bleak and dark places. I also heard that the book emphasizes the idea of a monarchy in decline, thereby drawing--perhaps appropriately--parallels to the English royal family. "Gormenghast" the film is not moody and dark but rather a brightly lit, almost garish collection of odd buildings and just as odd characters. Moreover, the movie stresses class struggle between the thousands of employees toiling away in the city and the strange family that rules them, with Steerpike often speaking in language reminiscent of a Marxist rabble-rouser.

The best element of the movie isn't the issue of class or the lurid scenery; it is the warped characters and the actors who breathe life into them. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers turns the scheming Steerpike into one of cinema's great villains. You learn to loathe his character and cannot wait to see him get his comeuppance. Celia Imrie and Ian Richardson do wonderful turns as Lord and Lady Groan, Neve McIntosh marvels as the lovelorn Lady Fuschia, and Christopher Lee turns up in the crucial role of Flay, one of the household servants who sees Steerpike for what he is but can initially do little to stop him. My personal favorites, however, were John Sessions as the hilarious Dr. Prunesquallor, Fiona Shaw as his excitable wife Irma, and Stephen Fry as the absentminded Professor Bellgrove. I might as well just paste the entire cast list here, write "excellent" beside it, and leave it at that. Everyone here is that good. How does the BBC manage to put together such amazing casts? I may feel guilty about not reading the novel before watching the movie, but I think I will get over that sensation quite nicely!

Summary of Gormenghast

It is always tricky to film a book dear to the hearts of its admirers. Wilson and his design team achieve a look rather more pre-Raphaelite than Peake's own illustrations--shabby velvets, garish sunlight, and dank, stone passages. The score by Richard Rodney Bennett is full of attractive surprises--fanfares and waltzes and apotheoses--and John Tavener's choral additions are plausibly parts of the immemorial ritual of Gormenghast. --Roz Kaveney