Wolf Hall Preview

Last Saturday afternoon at the Castro Theatre, KQED hosted a free preview of the 1st episode of Wolf Hall, the TV serialization of Hilary Mantel's historical novel about the court of Henry VIII. The screening was introduced by Bud Gundy, who reassured us that this was not a pledge break. The show looks like what one would expect of a Masterpiece Theatre drama & is filled with authoritative acting & opulent period costumes & settings. Mark Rylance is a chilly but benign Thomas Cromwell. His character is at the center of every scene, a hand-held camera often following him in & out. Damian Lewis portrays a fit Henry VIII, as opposed to an obese sybarite wielding a turkey leg.

Older females made up the majority of the audience, & my movie companion suggested that Wolf Hall was Game of Thrones for public television. He also admitted that he tried to read the novel but couldn't get through it, though seeing this inspired him to try again. It was nice to hear the Castro's organ before the show, but none of the selections appeared to be from the Tudor period.

§ KQED presents MASTERPIECE: Wolf Hall starring Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis
Wolf Hall Preview
Saturday, March 28 at 1pm
The Castro Theatre

§ Upcoming Broadcasts:
KQED 9: Sun, Apr 5, 2015
KQED 9: Mon, Apr 6, 2015
KQED Life: Tue, Apr 7, 2015
KQED Life: Wed, Apr 8, 2015

HBO: The Normal Heart

Thursday night I was a friend's plus-one at a preview of HBO's TV movie version of The Normal Heart, presented at the Castro Theatre. The event was scheduled to start at 7p, but my friend was eager to get in line by 6p, & we joined another friend who had been in line since 5:40p. We were all there to be shills for HBO & create advance buzz for the film, which will be broadcast Sunday evening. The screening was introduced by Frances Wallace, Frameline's Acting Executive Director, & then Tara Grace, Vice President of HBO Films, & Dante Di Loreto, the film's producer, who both got emotional when they told the audience how much the film meant to them personally.

I've never seen the original Larry Kramer play, which is now 30 years old & depicts the early days of the AIDS crisis & the internal battles of the newly-formed Gay Men's Health Crisis. Every situation is a confrontation for Ned, the play's protagonist & Mr. Kramer's stand-in. Many scenes end with him shouting, & the character is exhausting.

The production is luxurious. The ensemble cast boasts many well-known faces who all communicate a fierce sense of commitment. Jim Parsons gives a strikingly precise physical performance as an early activist. The film does not avoid graphic depictions of full-blown AIDS, & we see the progression of the disease on actor Matt Bomer's body in horrendous detail. The Castro audience was of the same generation as the movie's characters, & people sobbed openly during the screening.

§ The Normal Heart
Director: Ryan Murphy
USA, 2014, 133 mins.