In a new series of articles, I talk every week about which films and TV series have impressed me.
Let's start, perhaps, with "Northern Waters" — a dirty and bright series in the entourage of the XIX century. At first glance, it seems to be a historical movie, but in the future it incorporates elements of a thriller, a drama about survival, horror and even an existential parable.
An interesting story is told in 5 hour episodes — enough for a couple of evenings. Although I watched it in one night — it's too difficult to put "Northern Waters" on pause.
Perhaps it's the bright characters. What is worth at least Henry Drax, played by Colin Farrell . Always drunk, dirty, cruel — in fact, this is a pirate who was born too late, and therefore was forced to become a sailor. If you ask a neural network to draw evil in human form, you will get Henry Drax.
By the way, Colin Farrell's height is 178 centimeters, but he is filmed so that he looks like a two-meter bully. The last (and maybe the only) time Farrell was so scary in the second season of "True Detective", however, he didn't have a pickaxe there.
"Northern Waters" is also beautiful as a statement about violence. And if at first it is expressed in whaling, then it gradually spreads to the relationships of crew members (by the way, this series resembles an excellent novel "Terror" by Dan Simmons). But the main source of violence is nature, which punishes people. If you feel sorry for the whales, then turn on the series and watch the wild world take revenge.
I was also pleased with the realism. For example, if a character is hit on the head with a healthy stick, then he will not turn off for 5 minutes — his skull will be fractured. Because of such moments, the "cinematic quality" is erased, what is happening on the screen acquires a real nerve.
And "Northern Waters" has a very peculiar (and interesting) approach to the religious question. If you are interested in religions in a broad sense (or you also studied to be a religious scholar), then feel free to turn on the series. Christianity prevails in the UK and on the ship, but the further the crew sails, the more elements of paganism and shamanism are found on the screen. In order to survive, the characters are forced to perform a spiritual rebirth. Relatively speaking, it is useless to pray to the Christian god where pagans live — it is better to ask for help from the bear from the legends.
Movies and TV shows rarely resort to such a formula, it's easier to hang a cross on the hero. "Northern Waters" seems to say that you can wear a cross in Britain, but in the north, be kind — put someone's fang or paw on yourself.
