kiloran wrote:We finally got around to watching the final episode last night.
I found it too slow and long, though I guess that was to build up the suspense.
The continuous flipping back and forth over time really bugged me. Probably made worse by my face-blindness so I wasn't sure if I was watching Emma or Jane.
99% of the dialogue was in a mumbled whisper. I know my hearing isn't perfect but I don't want to wind the sound up and then get deafened when someone talks normally. A failing of all-to-many programmes these days, I don't know if it's the fault of the actors with poor diction, the director, or the sound engineer.
--kiloran
Emma or Jane was quite difficult, but it was part of the story (and the architect's hang up about his wife) that they should all be very similar. After a while, one could tell them apart, except in certain scenes, but that was all part of the fun for me. In that way, I think the casting was brilliantly done. Emma was slightly rounder faced, bigger eyes slightly softer: Jane a little longer faced and no-nonsense looking. Emma more compact of stature: Jane longer, slimmer. Both lookers!
As for chopping back and forth: this is a modern trend in novels. My wife hates it - she like a story which flows through on a consistent timeline. Personally, I found it confusing when I first encountered the technique in the Girl on the Train, but I can adapt to it.
Oddly enough, the sound didn't bother me too much on this one, probably because all the actors spoke "proper" at a slow pace and sounded their consonants. Although my new Bose soundbar helps - when desparate, I can still resort to subtitles.
And thinking of the slow pace. Yes, it was, but not excessively, in my view. Many of the nordic noir things are like this, where one has "less is more" acting and a slow unfolding of the story. However, I too, find programs stretch things out (especially in old epic films), so maybe I have been infected by the byte sized modern age requirements. Brian Cox, The Universe, was an intolerable example, on which I gave up!
Arb.