I am a Titanic enthusiast and have seen endless documentaries and read a lot of books, also before James movie - which I of course loved;-)
So I was quite excited about these series, showing in Denmark before many other countries. It just finished last Sunday. But after 12 Sundays and 12 hours of my life watching, I really do feel it all was a bit of an anticlimax.
There really is none of the romantic storytelling that otherwise is shown in Titanic movies and series. People are shown as they are, and as they probably was - and it is not very pretty. They are poor, angry, desperate and bitter. The management at White Star and Harland & Wulf are hung up with politics and money and although Lord Pirrie and Andrews comes off sort of sympathetic - they are also full of faults and not 100% likable. I always romanticized about Andrews being a good guy.
Not even Mark Muir, the main character, is 100% likable. He is suppose to be good hearted and with high morals - but I don't know if it is too much or if it is just his "non passionate" acting where he always seems stiff that makes you not really connect and really sympathize with him. For example you never really feel the love between him and Sofia. They talk stiffly and politely with each other all the time and there is nothing but troubles constantly. You can't figure out what he is thinking at any point or why he does what he does.
Also all the workers and other people around, they are just so bitter and complaining and there just does not seem to be any hope anywhere.
The only person I kind of liked was Lord Pirrie, but he also eventually gives up and goes down with exhaustion. So no hope there either.
So it was a bit hard to sympathize with any character in the series I thought. I kind of missed what you saw in James C Titanic - that they are poor and everything - yes - but they still have hope. And they find happiness in love or relationships or dreams. The ones going to America are more shown as "giving up on Belfast" then taking action for something better.
Also I never feel that Titanic is a character in the movie either. She does not seem to be portrayed as the ship of dreams or hope. She is just another ship and it all gets corrupted but politics and money. Some things are interesting historically - for example Andrews discussing the amount of lifeboats and if she should have a double hull and such. But there is not much of that. There is not much of the actual building and designing either. Why they did as they did, why they chose those restaurants etc. Mostly just some stuff about the steel which is a bit boring. For example in the last episode there is a 4 sec sequence about how the band ended up on the ship, why wasn't there more about that kind of things? Also the test run she did doesn't get any specific mention except some chattering between Andrews and the management. That seems to be an interesting thing to get excited about.
But the worst part was really after watching it all after all that time, and it ends up with Titanic just sailing off. And all the main characters are on board. And it really does feel like a slap in the face.
I get the point that you are probably suppose to think "all those people and their stories, all going off to a better life and it is all going to be destroyed". But it is just not enough. I just didn't feel that, I just thought it was super annoying. I didn't sympathize that much with them and just wanted to know for the record who the F died and what happened?
I think they should have given the last episode to the actual voyage and the series should have ended in New York at the statue of Liberty and you should have gotten to see who lived and who died. How Pirrie and Morgan reacted on the news, and what lessons where learned. And see in those peoples eyes how they just know that everything is going to change after this. That would have been a good ending.
So I was quite excited about these series, showing in Denmark before many other countries. It just finished last Sunday. But after 12 Sundays and 12 hours of my life watching, I really do feel it all was a bit of an anticlimax.
There really is none of the romantic storytelling that otherwise is shown in Titanic movies and series. People are shown as they are, and as they probably was - and it is not very pretty. They are poor, angry, desperate and bitter. The management at White Star and Harland & Wulf are hung up with politics and money and although Lord Pirrie and Andrews comes off sort of sympathetic - they are also full of faults and not 100% likable. I always romanticized about Andrews being a good guy.
Not even Mark Muir, the main character, is 100% likable. He is suppose to be good hearted and with high morals - but I don't know if it is too much or if it is just his "non passionate" acting where he always seems stiff that makes you not really connect and really sympathize with him. For example you never really feel the love between him and Sofia. They talk stiffly and politely with each other all the time and there is nothing but troubles constantly. You can't figure out what he is thinking at any point or why he does what he does.
Also all the workers and other people around, they are just so bitter and complaining and there just does not seem to be any hope anywhere.
The only person I kind of liked was Lord Pirrie, but he also eventually gives up and goes down with exhaustion. So no hope there either.
So it was a bit hard to sympathize with any character in the series I thought. I kind of missed what you saw in James C Titanic - that they are poor and everything - yes - but they still have hope. And they find happiness in love or relationships or dreams. The ones going to America are more shown as "giving up on Belfast" then taking action for something better.
Also I never feel that Titanic is a character in the movie either. She does not seem to be portrayed as the ship of dreams or hope. She is just another ship and it all gets corrupted but politics and money. Some things are interesting historically - for example Andrews discussing the amount of lifeboats and if she should have a double hull and such. But there is not much of that. There is not much of the actual building and designing either. Why they did as they did, why they chose those restaurants etc. Mostly just some stuff about the steel which is a bit boring. For example in the last episode there is a 4 sec sequence about how the band ended up on the ship, why wasn't there more about that kind of things? Also the test run she did doesn't get any specific mention except some chattering between Andrews and the management. That seems to be an interesting thing to get excited about.
But the worst part was really after watching it all after all that time, and it ends up with Titanic just sailing off. And all the main characters are on board. And it really does feel like a slap in the face.
I get the point that you are probably suppose to think "all those people and their stories, all going off to a better life and it is all going to be destroyed". But it is just not enough. I just didn't feel that, I just thought it was super annoying. I didn't sympathize that much with them and just wanted to know for the record who the F died and what happened?
I think they should have given the last episode to the actual voyage and the series should have ended in New York at the statue of Liberty and you should have gotten to see who lived and who died. How Pirrie and Morgan reacted on the news, and what lessons where learned. And see in those peoples eyes how they just know that everything is going to change after this. That would have been a good ending.