Wolf Hall - Season 2 - The Mirror & the Light

I still can't take it seriously with it's so called 'colour blind casting'. Rylance can actually his socks off but I still find myself noticing huge discrepancies like Jane Seymour's apparently Indian sister and other more obvious woke casting.
I know I'll be jumped on for saying this but it's undermining a serious attempt to illustrate Mantel's book and the historical situation at the time.

Last night was superb. The acting is on such a high level as I found myself actually feeling sorry for Cromwell.

Henry is quite scary in a menacing way.

Great production, but has anyone noticed that only very small pieces of food are eaten? Forks had not arrived, so food was cut up, but I can’t believe that larger pieces of food did not make their way to Tudor bellies.
It may be a filming device, to spare us, and I’m not expecting a Charles Laughton scenario, throwing chicken legs around, but there is so much picking going on.

I don’t believe the portraits by Holbein are flatteries. He probably used a camera obscura for the wonderful drawings and to me, they are the photographs of the day, truly realistic.

The background music is a lute, correct to the period, not an acoustic guitar as mentioned, if I am correct.

There is a painting of Cromwell by Holbein. Very similar clothing as used in the series, but Cromwell is fleshier, more brutal looking .

I'm enjoying watching Damian Lewis as Henry V111 although he's far too slim.

Obvs Rylance is a really good actor but when I read the books I imagined a more sturdy and powerful figure.

Calendargirl

^The painting of Norfolk looks like Charles Dance to me^

Having an off day.

Have you seen Charles Dance recently? He’s in The Day Of The Jackal and looks ancient.

Another stellar performance by Rylance Ep.4

I find myself drawn into the atmosphere of Cromwells presence each episode, he is a superb actor.

Aveline

I'm reading Rory Stewart's book about his time in Parliament and it all sounds very like the machinations going on in Wolf Hall but without the beheadings etc

Yes, scary, and I thought the same reading it

A 'Mark Rylance' is 'liking' posts all over Facebook. So is a 'Keanu Reeves'.

I agree he's an exceptional actor, portraying HM's version of Cromwell very well but in reality he was just as ruthless as the rest of them.

I found it a hard watch purely and simply because he can feel he’s approaching the end game, especially now that Gardiner is back at court. There was a point last night where you could see all his frailties written in his eyes. Mark Rylance is an exceptional actor.

I also found last night's episode a bit confusing. I had to look up Rafe who was Thomas's secretary and lost 10 minutes or so reading about him. He lived to be 79 and had 7 children which is really old for Tudor times.

I don't know what to make of Mark Rylance's take on Cromwell. Was he really so taciturn in real life? I realise Mark is a brilliant actor but I find myself wanting to give Cromwell a shake at times.

I'm finding it quite depressing - just as I did the book - because you can feel the way everything is unravelling and Cromwell is beginning to lose control of events. But what a change it is to sit in silence for a few moments, just watching someone who is also sitting in silence. So different from the constant shouting that seems to constitute "Drama" today! Feeling very smug today because Mark Rylance has liked a comment I made on Facebook!

mamaa

Did anyone else find tonight’s episode a hard watch, as in quite confusing?
I really needed to concentrate but enjoyed it all the same.

I can never follow plots of any kind so this is no exception. There was a very informative documentary on catchup the other night; I tend to have to watch things like that to understand what is going on. I was getting confused about his daughter in law and now his newly discovered daughter! Along with Wolseys daughter the other week. Henry’s leg healed very quickly, didn’t it! Still loving it, though. Who’s the man in prison who tried to kill himself?

Did anyone else find tonight’s episode a hard watch, as in quite confusing?
I really needed to concentrate but enjoyed it all the same.

I’m a devout coward. I’d have been looking for a feasible way out!

😅😅 Me too. I would have been grovelling very hard .... and probably throwing you to the dogs if that's what was required to keep away from the scaffold 😅

I had a friend from a well-off family who always used think it would have been romantic to have been part of a Tudor family. My other friend and I used to say 'Well we wouldn't have seen a silk dress, we would have been up to our knees in mud on the farm or possibly been the village barmaid' ... if we were lucky.

That's a fair point, easybee.

If I was living in Tudor times I'd avoid the court if I possibly could.

So less scary Aveline! You’d literally be frightened for your life in Tudor times wouldn’t you?

Oh yes Clawdy how utterly gruesome. I imagine. HM researched her subject matter forensically. That’s what made her novels so engrossing. The little snippets of fact weaved into the storyline.

I'm reading Rory Stewart's book about his time in Parliament and it all sounds very like the machinations going on in Wolf Hall but without the beheadings etc

Very good episode again last night. That description of John Bellowe 's horrific death!

Isn’t the acoustic guitar just perfect and used to great effect?

I’ve just watched ‘Defiance’. (Ep.3)
Wonderful.

The machinations within the Court must have been so anxiety inducing! Pacts made between factions then discarded when not advantageous.

Honestly Cromwell. Prostrate yourself before Henry. Tell him you are not in good health and ask for his blessing in your request for an early retirement. Give him some very expensive gifts and retire yourself to a country house.

I would’ve.
But then you didn’t (I know).

I’m a devout coward. I’d have been looking for a feasible way out!