The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses

“The Wars of Roses” contains three discs with the adaptations of four History Plays, i.e., “Henry VI” (Part 1, 2, and 3) and “Richard III”. This production is a sequel to the BBC previous series “The Hollow Crown”. Let’s recall that Shakespeare used the History Plays to illustrate England as a being who goes through seven stages of transformation towards the development of true “kinghood”. Each stage is associated with one of the seven kings, i.e., King John, Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Richard III, and Henry VIII. “The Wars of Roses” and “The Hollow Crown”, therefore, contain nearly the entire transformation cycle illustrated in the History Plays, except for the first (“King John”) and the last (“Henry VIII”) episodes.Shakespeare’s plays have been designed in such a way as to have a specific impact on the human mind. Shakespeare alluded to the function of his plays in Hamlet’s stage instructions to the players. He divided his audience into two groups, i.e., “the unskillful” and “the judicious”. In Shakespeare’s language, “the unskillful” refers to the ordinary mind which is driven by ordinary intellectual and emotional reflexes. “The judicious” indicates specific latent faculties of a person’s mind. Man may reach a higher state of humanity, or true “kinghood”, through the activation of these particular faculties. In other words, the playwright’s aim was to stimulate and activate these more subtle layers of the mind that form the basis for transformation of man into a truly human being. (Harold Bloom referred to Shakespeare’s canon as “The Invention of the Human”; it seems, however, that Shakespeare rather provided a recipe for how a man may become truly human).By compiling four plays into 6 hours of filming time, the director of “The Wars of Roses” faced quite a challenge. Namely, which scenes were to be cut-off and which were to be modified? It was these decisions that would determine the outcome of his undertaking. Any modifications of the plays are risky but not because Shakespeare’s canon is supposed to be treated as sacrosanct. Randomly cutting-off scenes or modifying the plots destroys the plays’ intended impact on the audience. The plays should remain “sacrosanct” as long as their impact is not fully grasped. However, when their function is well understood, the plays cease to be sacrosanct, because then they may be modified in such a way that their intended impact is preserved. Therefore, Shakespeare’s adaptations may be evaluated by their effectiveness in preserving the original function of the plays.The History Plays illustrate the various challenges and difficulties associated with the gradual activation of the latent faculties of the mind. “Henry VI, Part 1” is particularly interesting for it describes the first signs of the manifestation of these faculties. In this play, the overall inner state of England is manifested by a mix of reactions driven by greed, jealousy, fear, revenge, desires, treachery, fickle loyalties, and a whole spectrum of crude attachments. It may seem that the outcome is determined by chance and accidental events. It may seem like that - till one notices that the overall flow of events is subtly but nevertheless effectively modulated by the gradual development of these above-mentioned faculties. As in all Shakespeare’s plays, the overriding template is discreetly marked by a series of rather odd episodes. This is why it may be easily overlooked. In “The Wars of the Roses”, the working of such a template is marked by the appearance of the character of Joan La Pucelle in “Henry VI, Part 1”. It is important to notice that her appearance is a result of Prince Harry’s personal efforts described in the previous episodes of the History Plays, i.e., in “Henry IV” and “Henry V”(“with Henry’s death the English circle ends ... ; now am I like that proud insulting ship”). Joan symbolically represents a subtle faculty that is capable of breaking through the limitations of time and space. This is why she refers symbolically to her origin as “issued from the progeny of kings”. It is this faculty that allows foreseeing and even influencing certain future events. In her first appearance, Joan describes how a vision appeared to her (I.2). This figure showed itself in all its glory; the divine rays brought her beauty. Joan realizes that she was given an extraordinary power that she can exercise. In order to function effectively, however, this particular faculty requires a specific environment with a certain degree of balance and harmony. Otherwise, its premature or untimely activation could be disturbing and may lead to its corruption and withdrawal. And this is the case of Joan. The unbalanced and disharmonious state of England which is driven by very basic and crude reactions does not allow Joan to discharge her constructive function. This is shown in a later episode in which Joan encounters her invisible agents (V.3). Previously, Joan described them as carriers of glorious rays. Now, because of her corrupted state, she sees them as “fiends”. The demons refuse to help her. Joan cannot survive without the support of these invisible agents. This particular faculty is deactivated.It is very difficult, or even impossible, to understand the play without being familiar with the methodology of the developmental process. Joan alludes to it in her comment: “you judge it straight a thing impossible to compass wonders but by help of devils”. The next sign of manifestation of this subtle faculty is marked in the episode with the raising of a spirit by a wizard named Bolingbrook (“Henry VI, Part 2”, I.4). At that time, the overall state of England is still far away from being balanced or harmonious. This is why the subtle faculty, symbolically represented by a spirit, is only partially operational. The “spirit” is capable of delivering quite a precise prediction of the fate of King Henry, the Duke of York, the Duke of Suffolk, and the Duke of Somerset. It is incapable, however, of warning Bolingbrook and his assistants against an imminent danger that they are faced with at this very moment. As indicated later on by Clarence’s dream (“Richard III”, I.4), the limitations imposed by crude attachments did not allow this “spirit” to soar to a more lofty state (“the envious flood kept in my soul, and would not let it forth to seek the empty, vast and wandering air”). In other words, this faculty is still not developed enough to influence the overall situation according to its potential. Shakespeare contrasted Bolingbrook’s episode with a fake miracle at St. Alban (“Henry VI, Part 2”, II.1). In this way he emphasized the difference between an imperfect but a genuine manifestation of an extraordinary perception and the staging of a fake miracle by a wicked person in order to abuse the ignorant.The removal of Joan creates a void that encourages the most mischievous aspects of England to exercise their villainy with even greater intensity. At the same time, these wicked aspects start to serve as a magnet for other destructive and corrupted members. They all agglomerate around their leaders and, in this way, are gradually sorted out from others. This provides room for brief flashes of realization of what the nature of the true kinghood is. While wandering in the wilderness, King Henry alludes to it in his comment: “My crown is in my heart, not on my head”. In the next phase of this cleansing operation, the destructive aspects cannot help but turn against their own weaker members. When they are weakened by this self-induced destruction, they can be diminished more effectively. It is then that the remaining members get support through the re-appearance of invisible agents. The invisible agents are symbolically illustrated by the eleven Ghosts in the final act of “Richard III” (V.3). It is only at this point that these invisible agents are capable of influencing the overall situation in a constructive way. This scene with the Ghosts providing their support to Richmond is a confirmation of Joan’s previous comment about the nature of the invisible forces. The most wicked and corrupted aspects of England are eliminated. England is cleansed and ready to enter onto the next stage of the process. This next stage is presented in “Henry VIII”, i.e., the final play of the History Plays. In other words, the events presented in “The Wars of Roses” are an illustration of a cleansing operation. The entire process is executed through a sequence of seemingly odd episodes that include (i) the appearance of Joan, (ii) Joan’s encounter with the fiends, (iii) the raising of a spirit by Bolingbrook, and (iv) the intervention of the Ghosts. It is this sequence that has to be preserved and correlated with all other events -if the originally intended impact of the plays is to be preserved. So, let’s take a look at how the BBC production dealt with this template.Making the Duke of Somerset instead of the Earl of Suffolk a lover of Queen Margaret does not affect the inner template of the plays. Neither removing the subplot with Cade’s rebellion affects the overall sequence. However, reducing the character of Joan into a delusional psychopath seriously corrupts Shakespeare’s narrative. Joan’s lines in which she describes the circumstances of her transformation are cut-off. The scene where she encounters the fiends is also removed. So is the episode with Bolingbrook. Instead, the scenes with the raising of the spirit and the fake miracle at St. Alban are substituted by an invented episode where the Duchess of Gloucester attempts to perform a sort of voodoo ritual by piercing a doll with a pin. The scene with the Ghosts delivering their support to Richmond is deleted. In other words, the entire inner fabric of the plays is removed. Shakespeare’s History Plays are reduced to a sort of “Game of Thrones”, i.e., a sterile entertainment without developmental content. “The unskillful” takes over “the judicious”. But let’s leave it up to the audiences to decide whether sexed-up scenes, graphic horror, screams of tortured prisoners, plenty of severed and bloody body parts - are enough to compensate for the lost opportunity to exercise the judicious layers of their minds.

This is an awesome series with an amazing star cast. Great productions of Shakespeare's history plays!

I am a bit confused by some of the reviews...one claimed there was only two disc but I got three disc's. Some reviews complained of picture quality, while both picture & sound quality on my disc's are great! When translating Shakespeare to film you are bound to loose dialogue as " Willy" was the most prolific user of words of any author from his peer's to date. Even to the point of making up his own words. But this second installment into William Shakespeare's British Historical plays is top notch satisfying both the History buffs as well as Shakespeare fans. I have not seen such a gripping performance of the vile Richard the 3rd since Laurence Olivier's 1955 performance! As with any story the more you know about the times or the human condition such as king Richards spinal deformity the more meaning the dialogue takes on. Like in Romeo & Juliet it was not until I was studying sword fighting that I came to fully appreciate " Tibalt: The prince of Cats" when I learned that there is a strike you can perform with the thin bladed Rapier called a "scratch". This is where you swing the blade with great force stopping quickly which makes the blade whip around in a dramatic arc. This is how Tibalt was able to stab Marcucio with Romeo standing between the two combatants. The same goes' for the crippled king Richard who's armor would have helped support him although his condition would have made him tire more quickly than a healthy soldier, but on horseback he would have been more equal if not peerless realizing the advantage of being mounted he most certainly would have dedicated more training to combat from the saddle. Knowing this makes his pleads of " My Kingdom for a horse!!" have much more importance & impact. Some may consider this second installment of the hollow crown series to violent & graphic but this is the reality of what these medieval weapons did to the human body & war should never be minimized...just be glad we don't have smellovision T.V.'s!!! Being both a huge fan of history & Shakespeare I believe this series is a superb compromise giving us the best of both aspects. This series covers some of the most historically important battles from " The Hundred years Wars" The incredible battle of Agincourt which some claim marked the " End of chivalry" but ushered in the concept of " Brothers in Arms" & the civil battles & court intrigue of " The War of the Roses." The battle of " Tewksbury" where the "Bastard Sword" may have been at the height of its popularity. The costumes & props are beautiful as well as the cinematography & acting, this series has the look & feel of a Big screen production & while I don't rate movies on their budget but rather there ability to entertain when handling Shakespeare the bar is always set high & I feel this whole series delivers!!! After watching " The Hollow Crown" your expectations for " The Hollow Crown : War of the Roses" may be raised...but I think you will find it meets those expectations. Of course my expectations were never very high knowing this was done on a limited budget. I guess it just goes to show money doesn't equate to a great film, I think what made this series great came from the heart!

Las actuaciones, escenarios, guión, vestuario es exacto. Si te agradan las obras de William Shakespear, entonces, tienes que ver está miniserie.

2016年5月の第1週目週末に英BBCでオンエア。1ヶ月後の6月21日にはＤＶＤ販売開始。今日びＤＶＤ化も随分早くなったもンだ(オンエアしながら同時に配信も行っていますが）と思いながら6月18日に予約したら23日に到着した。まさかこんなに早く見れるとは思っていなかった。　シリーズ前作のリチャード二世、ヘンリー四世、ヘンリー5世に続き、薔薇戦争の中盤から終結までをドラマティックかつ原作にほぼ忠実に描かれた史実ドラマである。カンバｰバッジの他作品を余り見ていない私には上手い俳優だとしか言いようがないが、重々しさはなく、短髪のMisshapen Dickを軽妙に演じていたように見える。また前回のリチャード2世から毒気を抜いたようなヘンリー6世と嫌な女マーガレットの夫婦がもはや冗談のようで面白かった（←しかし事実）。全体的にやや駆け足的な展開で、前シリーズにあったような掘り下げるような深みや面白いカメラワークはないが、シェイクスピアに興味のない人にも十分見応えのある作品である。

Una excelentísima producción de BBC que cuenta con actores de primera como Dame Judi Dench y Sophie Okonedo agregando la perfecta interpretación de Benedict Cumberbatch como Ricardo III. La recomiendo ampliamente y vale la pena adquirirla.

Maravillosa. Te mantiene al filo del asiento de principio a fin. Grandes actores y una historia interesante. Recomendable. Buena ambientalizacion