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In fine (and bloody) style, HBO’s Boardwalk Empire returns to 1920 when the ban on booze led to a syndicate of bootleggers and smugglers. Created by Sopranos scribe Terence Winter and coproduced by director Martin Scorsese, the story centers on Atlantic City treasurer Enoch “Nucky” Thompson (Steve Buscemi), who schemes in private while preaching temperance in public (Mark Wahlberg and Tim Van Patten also serve as producers). Jimmy (Michael Pitt, Buscemi’s Delirious costar), a war veteran, acts a
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Drama to Savour,
When I heard that HBO were going to do a period piece about gangsters set in the prohibition era, a kind of Sopranos in spats, it was one of those ideas that was so good you wonder why it hadn’t been done before.
Well the wait was worth it as this is adult entertainment at its finest. What you have is a multilayered sprawling epic about prohibition era Atlantic City. At the centre of the story is Steve Buscemi’s “Nucky” Thompson a corrupt politician (rather than gangster) who has his brother as the local sheriff and his fingers in all the city’s pies.
Nothing is perfect so if there’s one grumble the period detail is a little too perfect. Every room, even the run down ones, seem to be dressed to within an inch of their lives and I am not sure anywhere was quite that pristine outside of a lab.
This is a character piece so the emphasis is on characterisation rather than action but that’s not to say that there aren’t wonderful action set pieces too overall though it’s the three dimensional characters that makes it breath. There’s the ice cold boot legger Chalky White (Omar from the Wire) a terrifying prohibition officer Agent Nelson all fire, brimstone and a simmering self loathing of his own weaknesses.
There are also great female roles such Margaret Schroeder the Irish immigrant who discovers her own inner strengths at the same time the viewers do and Gillian the most complex grandmother you are likely to come across.
There is a veritable rogue’s gallery in the show who are all more unusual than the usual ciphers you get in the average TV shows.
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|Watch Ken Burns’ Prohibition,
This series started slowly for me. I was not sure if it was going to live up to expectations, as the characters were slow to bed into my consciousness. However, come episode four everything clicked. This is a vast , sprawling epic mixing real people with fascinating characters, fact with fiction. I was surprised by how much I did not know about this period and accepted that the plot lines were probably a bit too far fetched. However, I have since watched Ken Burns’ 4 hour documentary “Prohibition” which I cannot praise highly enough. Going back to “Boardwalk Empire” armed with a more extensive knowledge of the period, I see that it is not at all far fetched. The various plot strands weave a fascinating tapestry of that period in American history. Every detail of the documentary seems to be covered by this show, the temperance movement, women’s emancipation, the first world war, the corruption, the immigrants, the entertainment, the music. It is all there. Do yourself a favour get your hands on “Prohibition”
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|Yet another quality show,
HBO do the best shows on tv in my opinion. The Sopranos, The Wire, Band Of Brothers, The Pacific,Deadwood, Rome, True Blood all great shows and Boardwalk Empire is yet another one. It’s slow, the slow pace may put off some, but it’s a superbly made series. The pilot, directed by Martin Scorsese, while the legendary director has directed much better films, this is still a fine pilot episode and sets up the rest of the series. Performances are excellent, with Steve Buscemi being the standout as lead character Nucky Thompson while Steven Graham, (no relation to me!) is also superb as a young Al Capone. You always expect quality with the best american shows and HBO in particular and Boardwalk Empire is no exception. Magnificent.
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