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The Green Man
RRP: £15.99
Our Price: £10.30 (subject to change)
Quality UK Telly, Probably Overshadowed by Twin Peaks
Review date: 2008-01-26 Rating: 8 out of 10
I only found out about this after having read the Kingsley Amis book, which is superb. Looking back, it would appear that The Green Man was screened in October 1990, around the same time as the first UK screening of Twin Peaks. Both explored supernatural forces in local woodland, but it seems that The Green Man didn't captivate the critics in the same way. Twin Peaks is of course stunning and does take priority in TV history, but having watched The Green Man in hindsight, it is strange that no-one spotted the parallel themes. Albert Finney is superb, as ever, and there is an understated sense of grown-up British self-assuredness in the overall production and delivery. I remain fascinated by the manifestations of middle-class ennui that are prevalent in this production. On a more intense note, the appearance of the Supreme Being (plot spoiler!) is handled beautifully and has firm echoes of The Brothers Karamazov. The DVD is plain, not for the extras-junkies, but the core content contains very good, mature, wry and touching material. For the roadmap geeks, if one scans the OS map of the region of England referred to in the book and TV show, one will find a startling number of villages with the word "Green" in their name. Where there's smoke, there's fire!
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Reviews
A little bit disappointing
Review date: 2007-09-18 Rating: 6 out of 10
The Green Man isn't bad but it feels too much like you've skipped an episode somewhere. It builds up to an episode cliffhanger like the first appearance of the Green Man himself and then next episode it's as if nothing happened. It's more of a satire of middle age spread than a real ghost story and feels a bit like someone couldn't decide which way to go when writing the story. Finney is great and there are some good performances in the rest of the cast. It's just that the story needed a bit more kick.
Good ghost story
Review date: 2007-09-12 Rating: 10 out of 10
Finney plays a successful hotelier who seems to have modelled himself on Basil Fawtly, and he takes great delight in frightening customers with the tale of his hotel's ghost. But this bluff, life loving man soon gets to know his beloved ghost a litlle better than he would've liked. As a womanising alcoholic he has other demons too, and they sort of collide with this new, most frightening one to put his head in a bit of a spin. It does have special effects if you need them, but far better than this, it has Albert Finney in fine fettle (when isn't he?). Athough the episode ending and starting credits are not too intrusive, I still believe these things are best taken out. There are longer films made than this, so the length wouldn't have been a problem. When the BBC charge you sixteen quid for a drama shown nearly twenty years ago, the least they could do is pay a bit of attention to how it plays on the DVD. This oversight does not mark the film itself down, as annoying as this complacency can be.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Linda Marlowe
Albert Finney
Recording label: Cinema Club
Manufacturer: Cinema Club
EAN: 5014138306656
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2007-05-28
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 152 minutes
Language: English (Original Language)