Time to go to sleep – Weekend – Kommersant
[ad_1]
A meticulous film adaptation of The Sandman was released on the Netflix platform, which is inaccessible in Russia, following the first two comic books almost unchanged: without sleep, according to Neil Gaiman, this world would have lost its dreams and rest, left alone with terrible reality.
In the film “Assa”, created at the end of the stagnant haze in 1987, the boy Bananan, who was fond of rock music, proclaimed his way of existence as an escape from a reality that did not suit him: “I live in the reserved world of my dreams.” In 1989, on the wave “British Invasion”, Neil Gaiman resurrected the Sandman, or Lord of Dreams, for DC Comics – and it was a kind semi-divine entity in an attractive rock star guise – with slanting bangs and a camisole (drawn from the lead singer of the gothic rock band Bauhaus). Looking ahead, it is worth saying that for Gaiman, Death itself was the sister of Sleep and the entity was not at all evil. Keeping an eye on children and adults weary of reality, Son pours sand into their eyes and sends them to sleep. In the very first issue of the Sandman comic, Gaiman fantasized about what would happen if this world were deprived of sleep, and the film adaptation obediently plods along the heels of the now classic comic.
Half of the season is based on Preludes and Nocturnes, the first of ten books published between 1989 and 1996. In it, Dream (Tom Sturridge), one of the seven Eternals (the others being Death, Passion, Suffering, Madness, Fate, and Crush), is accidentally captured by a self-confident fool. This is the sorcerer Roderick Burges (Charles Dance), picked up from books of occult practices, but does not really know how to apply them. He wants to capture Death, but performs the ritual incorrectly, and her brother Son falls into a trap. In a glass cage, this sad gothic youth spends almost a century. And at this time, millions of people fall ill with “lethargic fever” – they fall asleep and forget to wake up. In addition, nightmares escape from the realm of dreams, three random dreams from the Major Arcana. One, the Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook), has two jagged mouths for eyes, and in reality becomes a serial killer so notorious that the Serials Convention is sure to want him as a guest of honor. Here is the first lesson from Gaiman: you do not need to imagine yourself smarter than the laws of being and try to resist its foundations, as a mediocre sorcerer did.
When Snu nevertheless manages to break free, his kingdom is devastated, and magical artifacts are gone. To regain his sandbag, beak mask, and magic ruby, he meets with famed exorcist John Constantine. Only in the series, in accordance with the latest feminist trends, did he turn into Joanna (Jenna Coleman), having lost half of his enthusiasm and all his bad habits: the real Constantine, as we remember, getting into hell, was glad that you could smoke there. Sleep, by the way, will also take a walk to hell to pick up his mask from there, and endure the duel with Lucifer. It’s funny to say, but now he is also her, a kind of Lucifer (Gwendolyn Christie), and it’s not even clear whether the creators of the series flattered the women or offended them. But the story of the return of magical artifacts to Snu is the second lesson from Gaiman: you should not deprive a professional of his tools, take away a scalpel and painkiller from a doctor, and water from firefighters. And who, if not an exorcist, should know this – and in hell everyone, in general, is aware of it.
Only a madman can balk here – and there is one. The son of a stupid magician, John Dee (David Thewlis), takes possession of the magical ruby of Sleep – with his help, he dreams of changing the world. The third lesson from Gaiman is a mistaken idea. This world was not invented by you – it is not for you to rule it. The best episode of the series, standing apart from the main story, is about how John Dee forces the world to give up lies: what will happen if, even within the same eatery, people start telling only the truth, we will see (in short, a bloody guignol will happen). Another very special series is dedicated to Hob Gadling (Ferdinand Kingsley), a soldier who fought in the Hundred Years War, who considers death to be just a bad habit of mankind. He manages to beg Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) – in Gaiman this creature is gentle and wise! – give him a reprieve until he gets tired of living. And from now on, once every hundred years, Hob and Son meet in the same tavern to discuss, for example, a new avant-garde production of King Lear. “The idiots gave him a happy ending!” Hob complains. “Nothing, great stories always return to their original form over time,” Son replies.
Knowing this, Gaiman does not hesitate to twist the mythology himself: Cain and Abel raise gargoyles together (when Abel is resurrected once again after fratricide), Passion and Contrition are intriguing to prove that their possessions are more important than the kingdom of Sleep – walking metaphors are all around, carefully collected in a cozy geek’s cabinet of curiosities. Critics complain that the film adaptation came out too cautious and timid, and Son is no longer a real rock star, but as if painted on canvas. But we have enough shocks already: where else to hide from the terrible reality, if not in the reserved world of your own or other people’s dreams?
Subscribe to Weekend channel in Telegram
[ad_2]
Source link
