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| Beautifully designed poster for Daniel Knauf's Carnivàle |
QUICK REVIEW:
This huge and impressive 1930s period production begins outstandingly in Milfay (1), in which the main characters are introduced:
Ben Hawkins (Nick Stahl (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)), who SPOILER buries his mother and father and leaves a dessert storm to join the carnival; its leader Samson (Michael J. Anderson (Twin Peaks (1990-91)), and the mysterious Brother Justin (Clancy Brown (Homefront (2013)), who can get coins to flow from a woman's mouth.
Later other characters are presented, like the confounding 'executive' leader 'Management', the bearded lady and Professor Lodz, Rita Sue, the girl (Clea DuVall (Girl, Interrupted (1999)) and the mother who communicate telepathically etc. etc.
The structure of the series leaves something to be wished for: It appears that a final goal has been set up, (it indeed had by series creator Daniel Knauf (Dracula (2013-14), who had mapped out 6 (!) seasons for the show) and that each episode is to serve the overall story. The problem is that each episode becomes thinner and thinner, plot- and theme-wise, although there's no shortage of blood and sex, (in-line with HBO's general crops.) Carnivàle at some point reaches a place where it feels totally without direction, simply wallowing in its own mysticism.
Brown is good as the Methodist preacher, who goes through so much: SPOILER His church (with 6 kids in it) gets burned down by his sister; his escape, suicide attempt; his visions of his own derelict childhood as a Russian refugee, his getting placed in a mental hospital and, finally, his exposure as a demon!
The Hawkins drifter character, on the other hand, stands for good. At the end, SPOILER he saves the dead snake-woman by killing the unpopular Lodz.
The Carnivàle-production is handsome and highly unusual. The product in itself is problematic.
It got a second season, before its benefactor-financier HBO canceled it due to high production costs and dwindling ratings, to the outcries of many thousands of fans.
The first season's 12 episodes (averaging 54 minutes each) are directed by 8 talented directors behind shows like The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, Hannibal, LOST and True Blood. Columbian Rodrigo Garcia (Six Feet Under (2001-05), the most used of them, directed 4 episodes of the first season.
Knauf has been active in several TV-series since Carnivàle, both as writer and producer.
Best episode:
1. Milfay
Story, universe and character introductions
Watch the season 1 trailer here
Cost: Reportedly 4 mil. $ per episode, totaling a whopping 36 mil. $
Box office: None
= Unknown
What do you think of Carnivàle?
Stories about the production or your experience of the show are welcomed
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