Darker, more chaotic ‘Camelot’
A darker, grittier interpretation of the Arthurian legends, the series “Camelot” focuses on the trials of a young King Arthur, who must replace his recently deceased father Uther and fend off attacking usurpers. Familiar characters are made more human and cast into a more treacherous and chaotic world, which may make viewers forget the mythic figures’ predestined roles from time to time.
It tweaks the common mythology: the cruel King Uther (Sebastian Koch) was poisoned by his vengeful daughter Morgan (Eva Green), whom he exiled to a distant nunnery when she was a child. But another heir to the throne is revealed and retrieved by the king’s sorcerer Merlin (Joseph Fiennes). Raised by commoners, the carefree Arthur (Jamie Campbell Bower) is baffled by the revelation, but eventually accepts it and accompanies Merlin to a partly ruined stronghold. The structure was built by the ancient Romans, and is now known as Camelot.
Arthur is declared king in the nearly uninhabitable fortress. He is challenged by his half-sister Morgan, but after failing to take the throne by force, she resorts to sorcery and duplicity while guided by her scheming nun mentor, Sybil (Sinead Cusack). Arthur begins carving his own legend, marshaling forces loyal to his father and winning over skeptics after uprooting the enchanted “Sword of Mars.”
The 10-episode series has very few similarities with the ongoing fantasy show “Merlin,” which mostly offers more escapist fare. “Camelot” is often dreary and discomfiting, primarily because of its depictions of more violent situations. But the characters are still imbued with unpredictability despite countless prior reinterpretations. Merlin, for example, is portrayed as perplexingly moody and flawed. In one episode, careless mistakes he made during his acquisition of the sword Excalibur ends in tragedy.
Some slow-developing subplots require patience, but there are noteworthy portrayals. Claire Forlani surprises with her sexy turn as the kind and impassioned widow Queen Igraine. Scene-stealing Eva Green’s disgruntled Morgan ultimately makes watching the show rewarding; she’s deliciously over-the-top as the commanding coup plotter, but amazingly subtle when showing her vulnerable side. Among all the “Camelot” characters, Morgan is rightly the most imposing, her dark but intriguing revenge story a crucial contrast to Arthur’s more “ordinary” tale of transformation.
“Camelot” airs Tuesdays, 9 p.m. on AXN Beyond.
News citations
GMA News and Public Affairs was honored at the recent 2011 Comguild Awards with three major citations: best news program award, “24 Oras”; best entertainment talk show host, Arnold Clavio (for GMA News TV Channel 11’s “Tonight With Arnold Clavio”); and best male field reporter of the year, Jiggy Manicad.
Organized by the Comguild Center for Journalism, the Comguild Awards is composed of judges from college deans, chairs of mass communication departments and members of the academe from universities.
Master animator
CNN’s Anna Coren meets master animator Hayao Miyazaki in Tokyo and travels with him to the earthquake and tsunami-ravaged north of Japan for a very special screening of his latest film.
Regarded as the world’s greatest living animator, Miyazaki opens up to “Talk Asia” about surviving World War II, shares his thoughts on his son following in his footsteps and explains how, ultimately, he wants his films to touch the hearts of his audience.
Miyazaki not only created the Academy Award-winning film “Spirited Away” but was also the creative force behind animation hits such as “Princess Mononoke,” “Howls Moving Castle” and “Ponyo.” Stars who have lent their voices to the English-language versions of his films include Cate Blanchett, Lauren Bacall, Liam Neeson, Matt Damon and Claire Danes.
The program airs Monday at 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Waterless barangay
Jay Taruc and his team document what it’s like to fight for every drop of water in “Uhaw,” a special episode to mark the 12th anniversary of “I-Witness” Monday night after “Saksi,” on GMA-7.
Taruc goes to Oliva in Camarines Norte, a waterless barangay (village) where at least a thousand people rely on a hilltop well as the main source of clean water. But the well is fast drying up, forcing people to make do with unsafe drinking water.
Historical turn
Premiering this month on History is an all-new season of “Mega Disasters.”
On August 18 at 8 p.m., “Glow Train” delves deep into a deathly incident involving a freight train carrying 1 million pounds of propane that goes off like a bomb, followed by a train tunnel fire that unleashes clouds of hydrochloric acid.
On August 25 at 8 p.m., viewers can take a closer look at a volcanic disaster that supposedly wiped out the entire island of Thera and the advanced civilization of Atlantis in “Atlantis Apocalypse.”
A historical turn down the road with the two-part TV special “Ottomans vs. Christians” airing August 21 and 28 at 8 p.m.
The second season of “Swamp People” airs Thursdays at 11 p.m. starting August 25. The show kicks off with Gator Gauntlet chronicling an exciting gator hunt taking place in Southern Louisiana.
The all-new series “American Restoration,” which premieres August 26, airs Fridays at 9 p.m. Pilot episode “Hopalong Rick” starts off the story of Las Vegas-based family business owner Rick as he attempts to restore a three-wheeled Marketeer Golf Cart and a rare, 1950s Hopalong Cassidy bicycle.
