Dark Carnivale
Published December 07, 2003
Even as the first season has ended, Carnivale has not revealed much of what it is about. The look and feel has been mesmerizing, but we've barely scratched the surface of the storylines. There are strong indications that we are moving toward some sort of ultimate battle of good and evil. Ben and Brother Justin are clearly linked: they have identical nightmares involving each other, although they are not acquainted. Both reject evil and have solid influences in their lives towards good, but their powers place them in a position where even if they don't overtly commit evil acts for evil's sake, they may have to risk committing them in the pursuit of a greater good, or at least what is a greater good in their flawed, human judgment. And they may be on a collision course.
Or maybe not. Carnivale is in a precarious state, dramatically speaking. There is a wonderful opportunity to turn this into a coherent, original work that explores the intertwined nature of good and evil, where and how to draw the line of doing evil in the service of good, and how all that affects the players personally. Or it could fall into hopeless cliches like the standard issue evil preacher or the scary monster behind the curtain. Or it could stumble into confused stories, tenuously linked by little more than aesthetics (kind of like the last couple of seasons of the X-files). But the good news is that it's not TV, it's HBO, and given the track record of HBO original programming there's a good chance they'll succeed.
- Dark Carnivale
- Published: December 07, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: Horror, Video: Drama, Video: Television
- Writer: David Mazzotta
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- David Mazzotta's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
David,
If you find this show intriguing,then
you should search out the 1947 movie
"Nightmare Alley".It stars Tyrone Power
as a phony Psychic/Prophet traveling
with a seedy carnival who ascends to
fame and fortune via deception and his
ultimate decline into alcoholism and
circus geekdom.Having only seen one Ep.
of "Dark Carnivale" it was clear to me
that a small part of inspiration for this show was drawn from "N.A.".Enjoy!
"Nightmare Alley", that's what I was looking for! I've never seen the movie, but it is based on the novel, which I'd read years ago, and is even darker and more disturbing than Carnivale.
The novel is a noir classic. I was thinking of it, but couldn't recall the title while watching Carnivale.
Jim you're right,Nightmare Alley is a
classic piece of Roman Noir.I was going
to mention the book but just could not
remember the author.Still can't.The film
version of "N.A" is one of the few cases
of a great book making the transition to
great movie.As a point of interest the
movie was produced by Mr.Georgie Jessel!
The only production of his that I know
of.You should be able to find the film
online rather easily.I found mine years
ago.It's probably on DVD by now.
Jim - yes, that's the key, not using the fact that it's a supernatural based show to get you out of making good drama. I can't think of many fantasy/scifi shows that have done this other than for an episode or two at a time, nevermind a whole season or series. If they can pull it off it will be a remarkable acheivement.
More on Nightmare Alley: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/NightmareAlley-10001187/reviews.php
Nightmare Alley has also been adapted as a good graphic novel by former undergrounder Spain. A Blogcritics review can be found here.
The link didn't stick. That Nightmare Alley is at http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/02/09/175145.php.
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/10741)
I'm of a bunch of minds about Carnivale. While I like the grimness, unlike Six Feet Under, there are no laughs. And the magic schtick is, I expect, going to be used as a cheat to get the writers out of the corner they will paint themselves into.
Also, you'd think if'n you had to bury momma, a bulldozer would be powerful useful to achieve that end. But since Dirtboy can't even be bothered to get a new shirt, I guess practicality isn't among his virtues.
Carnivale is interesting, but with all the mystic mumbo-jumbo and making up the rules as they go along, I think it doesn't give its audience very much in return.
And would it be too much to ask to see Adrianne Barbeau's hooters?