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| Starring: Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney, Stephen Dillane, Danny
Huston, David Morse, Sarah Polley, Tom Wilkinson, Rufus Sewell Directed by: Tom Hooper |
Theatrical release: 2008
DVD release: 2008
Released by: HBODolby Digital 5.0
Widescreen |
Whether they intend to or not, historians
write about the past through the filter of the present. David McCullough’s biography
of John Adams, on which this seven-part miniseries is based, follows Adams (Paul
Giamatti) as Vice President and then as President of the United States. Throughout, I
found myself inevitably reflecting on the present holders of those two offices. Americans
have an almost religious faith in their system of government, specifically that the three
branches keep functioning by checks and balances and by the dynamic tension between
federal and state constitutions. John Adams’ bold dedication to instituting that
system and protecting it against opponents at home and abroad is played out against a
background of the costs to himself and his family. All the Disney is taken out of this
version and so is any heart-swelling that might be induced by the patriotic chords of a
John Williams score. We learn that John Adams wasn’t necessarily a nice man, but he
was scrupulously patriotic, never used his office for gain, led the country into the
Revolutionary War, and cost himself re-election by holding it back from a popular but
pointless war abroad. He was a statesman, one of our first, and he set the bar too high
for most of his successors to reach.
| The Adams Chronicles  Even more ambitious a production for its
time was The Adams Chronicles, which debuted on public television in 13 episodes
during the American Bicentennial of 1976. It was recently reissued in an elaborately
packaged four-disc DVD set by Acorn Media. Based on the Adams family papers, it follows
the personal and public lives of four generations, from the American Revolution to the
Gilded Age. While the recent HBO series reaches for accurate local color and for honest
revelation of character in only one generation, the earlier series compresses a century
and a half of Adams family achievements. Watching these two series together will show you
how film production has advanced since the 1970s. George Grizzard as John Adams and Nancy
Coleman as Abigail in the original series are both deceased; the simple cinematography and
staging notwithstanding, the earlier production still has engaging vitality.
. . . Charlotte Meyer
charlottem@hometheatersound.com |
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Historic figures like Benjamin Franklin (Tom Wilkinson),
George Washington (David Morse), and Thomas Jefferson (Stephen Dillane) are realized by
script and actors in ways that humanize and demythologize them. In Paris, Adams barges
past a resisting butler and comes upon an unembarrassed, balding Ben Franklin in a bathtub
with a French lady of rank. Jefferson is played as remote and aloof, less engaged in
drafting the Declaration than his architectural plans for Monticello. Laura Linney plays
Abigail Adams as both the supportive wife and the resourceful countrywoman managing on her
own. Paul Giamatti’s John Adams is full of passion for his causes (I wish for more
nuance, truth be told) and exasperation at his failures as politician and father.
The production for this series is lavish. Every effort was
made to show the hardships of American life in the mid-18h century authentically. For
three years during the Revolutionary War, while Adams served as envoy to France, Abigail,
his beloved wife and confidant, remained behind working their farm with their five young
children, home-schooling them, mowing hay, milking, preserving food, and hand-making
clothing. Great attention was given to the accuracy of costumes and house interiors. Some
scenes of public life are harshly realistic, the tar-and-feathering of the hapless British
tea merchant by the mob at the Boston Tea Party, for example, or graphic scenes of the
suffering of the wounded during the Revolution.
The settings where Adams strides through the crowded
streets of Philadelphia or addresses a huge rally are believably built by layer on layer
of detailed CGI background. The Adams farm scenes were shot in Colonial Williamsburg, and
the scenes taking place in Paris were shot in Budapest. The CGI realizations are discussed
in detail in the production featurette included on the third disc. Also provided for the
entire series is a feature called "Facts are Stubborn Things," pop-up screens
that give historical facts pertinent to the action on screen. Also on the third disc is Painting
with Words, a 40-minute documentary on the work of David McCullough, extolled
as a prize-winning author who really makes history come to life through his words and
observations. If those aren’t sufficient extras, HBO has prepared an elaborate
website for the series that’s fun to use and chocked with information.
The camera performs all sorts of feats not only with CGI
backgrounds but with color. The palette throughout has an effectively muted quality,
giving it all an antique patina. Dialogue is clear, the central theme of the original
score is a jaunty military air, and the sounds of shouting mobs and booming cannons will
give your speakers all the exercise they need. The surrounds are also wisely used to
create scene ambience as in the opening winter scene when winds whip all around the
viewer.
Among the Founding Fathers, John Adams has been one of the
least celebrated, but this lovingly made series goes a long way to reverse that.
Let’s hope our current leaders take the time to watch it. |
