Jericho
Southpaw
me.
Anne Staveley's suicide justification seems a bit weak. Okay, she was
carrying Richards' baby, but even so. He seemed a bit of a bastard, and she
did say she really liked Morse, who was obviously very keen. Of course, you
can make any suicide reasoning seem strong enough in fiction - you don't
have to justify it happening.
What exactly was Anne's relationship with Ned?
Why kill Jackson anyway? As Adele said, the blackmail no longer had much
point to it, and they know they didn't kill Anne.
@zonnet.nl Herman van der Woude
| Having now re-watched this twice in the last week, a few things are
| niggling me.
|
| Anne Staveley's suicide justification seems a bit weak. Okay, she was
| carrying Richards' baby, but even so. He seemed a bit of a bastard,
| and she did say she really liked Morse, who was obviously very keen.
| Of course, you can make any suicide reasoning seem strong enough in
| fiction - you don't have to justify it happening.
Poor Anne Staveley was a very sad, depressive woman. A dead husband, an
adopted son in some unknown part of the world, a lover who had no plans
whatsoever to marry her and she was pregnant. Now, as a piano teacher,
what future did she have? Maybe you are mentally much stronger, but for
her there were reasons enough to leave this world.
| What exactly was Anne's relationship with Ned?
There was hardly a relationship between Anne and Ned. Ned was an
unsuccessful student, a drug-addict, gay and he pretended to write music.
He was, more or less, maintained by Anne because of his composing talent.
For the movie viewer he is also the person who attracks all suspicion to
him - did he or didn't he have a relation with Anne, was he the father of
her unborn child, was he her son, who blinded himself. Did Anne commit
suicide because she was pregnant of her own son? That sort of questions.
| Why kill Jackson anyway? As Adele said, the blackmail no longer had
| much point to it, and they know they didn't kill Anne.
To put it in a rather cynical way: if he was not killed, there would
hardly have been a story, let alone a murder investigation.
Less cynical: from all the stories we all have read, from all the movies
we all watched, from all statements we all have heard from our
politicians: one never negociates with a blackmailer! Paying him once,
means rewarding him for his behavior and he is encouraged to ask (more)
money again, and again, and again. So, blackmailing must be stopped, in
'Jericho' by means of murder.
In this very first episode of Morse, we can see, that Chief Inspector
Bell (later Super Intendent Bell) and Sgt. Lewis were right, and Morse
was wrong about Anne. And it was only a stupid coincidence at the very
end of the movie that revealed the murdere of Jackson, not Morse's
brightness. Not a very good start of what would turn out as a brilliant
detective's career!
My verdict about this television adaption of Colin Dexter's novel is not
one of highest approval. The novel is far much better than the movie and
I can only encourage you to read the novel (if you haven't already done
so). The movie lives because of the views of Oxford and the portrayed
atmosphere of the town, not because of this very thin tale.
--
Herman van der Woude
mailto : hvdwoude @ zonnet.nl
(spaces added to avoid SPAM/spaties toegevoegd om SPAM te vermijden)
Southpaw
performances of the cast and the production values, otherwise it would
hardly have led to such a successful series. I was just somewhat surprised
at these little niggly bits, probably remembering it with rose-tinted
memories.
I do intend to read the books, probably in publication order. I have
Woodstock all ready to roll!
"Herman van der Woude" <hvdwoude @ zonnet.nl> wrote in message
news:bja0r3$go3gr$1...@ID-192409.news.uni-berlin.de...
cynara
>
Southpaw,
I liked the books because you get even more insight into the character
because it's hard to convey their thought processes on film.
I remember TRYING to start reading the books with The Jewel That Was
Ours. I thought it read like a film script. (later found out it was
based on the telly epi. He wrote it because he wanted to end it
differently than the screenwriter did.)
Anyway, the first book that got me really reading the series was Last
Seen Wearing. I didn't read Last Bus until I had read most of the
books. I thought it was all right. A little confusing with Morse's
crush and all, but okay.
May I share some trivia? I might have done already so forgive me if I
have. When he finished Last Bus, Dexter packaged it and sent it off
to two publishers. The first one wanted him to make some changes. He
passed on their offer. The second publisher didn't want to change a
thing. He went with their offer and stayed with MacMillan for his
entire writing career. They published the book
with no changes at all. Amazing.
CHEERS!
CYN
@zonnet.nl Herman van der Woude
Now I do hope, that Southpaw does understand, that Last Bus To Woodstock
is actually the first novel Dexter wrote. So, Southpaw, if you start
reading the Morse novels, I suggest, that you start with Last Bus.
I never understood why those television chaps started with Jericho in
stead of Last Bus, does anyone know? You, Cynara? Jericho is the fifth of
the thirteen Morse novels, and most certainly not the first one.
There's one book I can recommend to you, Southpaw, it is The Complete
Inspector Morse by David Bishop, published in 2002 by Reynolds & Hearn
Ltd, London (I hope it is still available). But you shouldn't buy it
before you have seen all Morse tapes and read all Morse novels. After
that - when you're addicted - it will be your 'Morse Bible'.
Southpaw
order, hence getting Woodstock first. From what I understand, the TV guys
just felt Jericho was a better story to launch their series with. Who knows
why? (at least I won't till I've read the books).
I have just bought David Bishop's book. I plan to consult it after watching
and reading the stories concerned. Though I have all the episodes on video,
watching them again with the new DVD series, magazines etc. puts them in a
somewhat different light.
"Herman van der Woude" <hvdwoude @ zonnet.nl> wrote in message
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