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By
NICK ZEGARAC
Based on the sweeping family
saga spanning from the 1920s to 1962 and penned by
Colleen McCullough, "The Thorn Birds" has become
that pinnacle of masterful storytelling for all
small screen melodramas by which every subsequent
miniseries has been compared.
Daryl Duke directs an all-star cast including
Richard Chamberlain (Father Ralph), Rachel Ward
(Meggy) and Jean Simmons (Fiona), and the story --
just in case you weren't one of the millions who
tuned in -- revolves around rich widow, Mary
Carson's (Barbara Stanwyck) bittersweet lust for
Father Ralph de Bricassart. After rejecting Mary's
advances, Father Ralph's faith in God is put to
the test when, upon Mary's death, it is revealed
that she has bequeathed him her Australian outback
estate. Mary knows that if Ralph loves God as much
as he says he does then he will allow the estate
to revert to the Clearys, the family to whom it
rightfully belongs. If, however, as Mary has
predicted, Ralph desires the post of Cardinal more
than doing God's will, he will turn over the
estate to the Catholic diocese in order to procure
his seat in the Vatican. Ralph's faith is further
complicated by his bittersweet romance with the
passionate Meggy. Unable to choose between her and
servitude to the church, Ralph takes a temporary
leave of his duties, seduces and impregnates
Meggy, then returns to the false piety of his
calling. Meggy's bitterness toward Ralph's
rejection leads her to keep her pregnancy a
secret. Their son, Dane (Philip Anglim) grows up
and desires to become a priest. Though Meggy is
disappointed, she allows Ralph to re-enter Dane's
life, only as his spiritual guide. It is only
after Dane tragically drowns that Meggy feels
exonerated into exposing the truth to her one time
lover -- that Dane was actually his son.
Masterful performances and outstanding production
values made "The Thorn Birds" one of the greatest
and most watched television melodramas of the
1980s. Only ABC's miniseries, "North and South"
comes close to authenticating the visceral
emotions captured in this eight-hour plus
melodrama. Christopher Plummer, Richard Kiley,
Mare Winningham, Piper Laurie and Ken Howard also
costar.
The transfer is overall pleasing. A well-balanced
picture with somewhat dated colors and a bit of
haze greet the eye on this 2-disc edition. Flesh
tones are a tad pasty and age related artifacts
abound throughout. Blacks are solid and deep.
Contrast levels are generally good. Fine details
disappear during some of the darker scenes. It
should be noted that television film stock of this
vintage was generally not up to today's standards
and the resulting shortcomings in video quality on
this DVD presentation stem from those
shortcomings, not as a result of the mastering
effort put forth herein. The audio is dated but
nicely balanced.
Extras include an all too short documentary in
which several cast members reminisce about their
experiences while making the series. Frankly, the
interviews offer very little in the way of
interest and are presented as snippets rather than
in one cohesive narrative. |
