The Fall of the House of Usher
When I first watched The Haunting of Hill House I realized that for the first time an adaptation got the source material. Not that it was actually a direct adaptation of Shirley Jackson's work. It was reinterpreted and remolded and what Mike Flanagan did was create a series that is in the spirit of the original and a loving tribute to it while being its own thing. It was the start of his Netflix empire, the Flanaverse. And the start of his "house" series. Because audiences adored The Haunting of Hill House and were demanding more. More of Mike Flanagan's unique take on classic literature. More spooky tales in amazing structures. They got their wish two years later with The Haunting of Bly Manor, an adaptation that actually made me no longer hate The Turn of the Screw. And that lead to speculation, what was next? He threw us for a loop when it turned out to be an original show followed by another adaptation without architecture but with amazing sets, but thankfully, he came to his senses and decided that after Shirley Jackson and Henry James he was bringing Edgar Allan Poe into the Flanaverse with The Fall of the House of Usher. And unlike The Haunting of Bly Manor he didn't even have to change the title! So he assembled his stable of actors, adding in Frank Langella, which turned out to be a massive mistake, and got to work. What I marvel at with this adaptation is how Mike Flanagan created a narrative that not only encompassed so many works by Poe but also was such a showcase for his actors with each of the six Usher children getting their own deadly tale. And yet, for all the Poe, this is something more, this is a story about greed, this is a story about the opioid crisis in America, this is a story that someone who doesn't know anything about Poe could watch and enjoy. Because while the "Poe" of it all is wonderful for the literary geeks out there hoping they'll do this or that, or in my case chanting for monkey carnage, this is more about a family falling apart because they made a deal with the devil. This show is, without doubt, based on the Sackler family. They owned Purdue Pharma and were a cornerstone if not the cornerstone of the opioid crisis we now face. There are so many films and television shows and documentaries on them, two, Painkiller and Pain Hustlers, also done by Netflix. Though Dopesick probably got the most attention and awards. These are all shows I avoided like the plague in "The Masque of the Red Death." I like escapism in my entertainment, not to wallow in human suffering. Even if I will admit it's very important shows like this are made. We need a record of what happened. But here, here we have the same evil told through a fantastical lens, and the fantasy aspects make the truth of what this family is doing all the more horrifying. But unlike lawsuits and the striping of a family's legacy, here we see them pay more viscerally for their crimes. The character of Verna, an anagram of Raven, has appeared to the Ushers because the time has come to pay the piper. And yes, that might just be "The Rains of Castamere" the piper is playing. Yet if you notice, for the "innocent" among the Ushers, she offers them a chance at redemption. Those who are not fully evil are given an out, a chance to not go there, and time and time again, they show that their greed, their villainy, is the true drive in their lives, and therefore they must die. This show is cathatic and wonderful and dark and perfectly encapsulates the human condition and as for Frank Langella? He couldn't have done what Bruce Greenwood does. Bruce Greenwood is Roderick Usher.
Post a Comment