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New The Prisoner miniseries

Jade Jaguar

Jade Jaguar

Regular
Remakes have been discussed for years, so I won't hold my breath, but according to an article reprinted from the LA Times, the cable channel American Movie Classics (AMC) will be making a "reinterpreted...21st century" six ep version of The Prisoner, staring Jim Claviezel as number 6, to premier in 2009.

No mention of McGoohan involvement in the brief article I read. But, McGoohan originally meant for it to be ONLY 6 eps. J. Arthur Rank persuaded him otherwise, for syndication purposes.
 
Re: New [i]The Prisoner[/i] miniseries

Damn, I don't get AMC. I always seem to miss out on most of the best of this stuff. :vulcan:

The truth is: "The Prisoner" is quite an excellent subject for today's audience. Make Guantanamo Bay a place where mind control is used instead of torture, where ex-agents are sent there instead of suspected enemy combatants, and the whole setting of paranoia, fear, power playing in the name of security... I mean it's perfect for today, isn't it?

A good star alone won't make it work, this will really have to be excellently written. I would tend to trust Ian McKellan's judgement. He hardly needs the money or the work, so he must have liked the project.

They'll take away the surreal 60's feel, but I can see "The Prisoner" working quite well without it. To be honest, this is one remake I can dare to get excited about. :) Too bad (if it's good) that it'll be so short, but really a lot (most) of the original was filler. I'd always heard that McGoohan meant it to be a shorter series, but I had no idea he was aiming for ony 6 episodes. The story easily could be told in that time.

I wonder how they'll end it. :D
 
Re: New [i]The Prisoner[/i] miniseries

No, it won't be "60's surreal," but I believe it will still be surreal, perhaps even more so, as it seems that the denizens of the Village won't even be able to remember their past lives!

I agree, McKellan's assessment that it is "intelligent, witty, and disturbing" bodes very well. He doesn't need the work, especially in TV, so for him to sign on is a very good sign.

From reading everything I could find, it seems it will be shot in South Africa! And yes, updating to today's situation could work very well. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
 
Re: New [i]The Prisoner[/i] miniseries

Jade Jaguar said:
No, it won't be "60's surreal," but I believe it will still be surreal, perhaps even more so, as it seems that the denizens of the Village won't even be able to remember their past lives!
Click to expand...

Dollhouse! ;)
 
Re: New [i]The Prisoner[/i] miniseries

Could be cool.

Two issues come to mind:

1. The Cold War was a central backdrop to the original Prisoner. The audience assumed those who controlled the island were on of two sides of a global conflict between two equal superpowers. You can't have that today. On one side, the U.S., and on the other side.... China? Iran? "The Terrorists?" None would be believable. But whatever they do they'd have to keep it vague, because if they do something specific (like the afore-mentioned Guantanemo) it would totally ruin the whole point of The Prisoner.

2. I wonder if they'd feel the need to make it superficially "dark and gritty," like BSG or something. I'm kinda hoping we'd get a break from that for a while.
 
Re: New [i]The Prisoner[/i] miniseries

I think they can get the feel of Guantanamo-like torture, renditions, the sorts of nasties we are doing today, and still keep it ambiguous as to who, exactly, is behind it. It will be different than the cold war, but it could be updated very nicely, given our brutal and Kafkaesque times.
 
Re: New [i]The Prisoner[/i] miniseries

Exactly. I was thinking of "The Trial", by Franz Kafka. Personally, I think it works well as an ambiguous "search for justice" even without knowing what country or under what regime the main character is living. I was just thinking that we in the USA may have a new "appreciation" for just how far groups can be willing to go when feeling insecure.

I agree completely that a major and important aspect of The Prisoner is the unspecified group controlling everything. That is why I wonder how it will end. I don't think they can get away with the kind of ending The Prisoner originally had. Yet it would ruin it if they simply said "here is where he was, on this date, held captive by this group".

We shall see. :)
 
Re: New [i]The Prisoner[/i] miniseries

GKarsEye said:
2. I wonder if they'd feel the need to make it superficially "dark and gritty," like BSG or something. I'm kinda hoping we'd get a break from that for a while.
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Oh lordie, I hope not. For a long time I thought I was the only sci-fi fan who just didn't get into BSG. I'm not saying it isn't well done, or that I can't see how it is enormously popular. It just was never "my thing". And that is basically why.

There's got to be something between Red Dwarf and Battlestar Gallactica, eh? Not that I'd mind Red Dwarf so much.... :p
 
You think so? What I was trying to say earlier was I think it might even be more timely now than it was in the 60's, for Americans at least. Timely in that we can imagine a government or group of some kind which is so paranoid it would go to the extent of creating something like the villiage. That and the incredible fear some people have (say 'hello, Arizonans' for one) of a "One World Government" where we have no "real" control (like we do now, eh?) over our government may make the show even more of this time than of the 60's.

Of course, I'm not really aware from a first-hand point of view what the fears were in the 60's. Being 5 or under in that decade, I can't say I was aware of much.
 
What I was trying to say earlier was I think it might even be more timely now than it was in the 60's, for Americans at least. Timely in that we can imagine a government or group of some kind which is so paranoid it would go to the extent of creating something like the villiage.
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I don't think anything can ever beat the Cold War for that kind of paranoia.
However, the idea of oppressive, controlling powers is and always will be timely.

I wasn't referring to the socio-political subtext when I said The Prisoner was "of its time." I was actually talking about the style of the show itself- the fact that so much can be abstracted, impressionistic, and on TV. That kind of bold, painting-with-broad brushstrokes approach to story-telling just isn't in right now.

However, it's only 6 episodes and on an obscure channel, so maybe they'll just go nuts and make something totally wild- because a "tame" Prisoner would suck.
 
Oh, I get what you're driving at, now. Yea, I'd much rather have no remake than a "tamed down" one. But I'd also hate to see them basically copy the style of the original: I mean, what's the point in remaking something if you're going to remake it exactly like the original, only shorter? Back in the old days remakes that were virtual carbon-copies might have made sense: it was before home recording/playback devices and syndication and that whole scene. But today, if you're going to remake something you'd better do something different or whatever you end up with has no hope but be a pale imitation of "the real thing".

And, as you say, abstract just isn't in style right now. I just hope I get a chance to see the thing. There are some things I love about our cable service, and others I hate. The lack of certain stations is one of the biggest gripes I have.
 
They have said that it will be "reimagined" for today's fears. So, they won't be trying to redo the 60s thing.

Hyp, I'm really surprised you don't have AMC. AMC and TCM are pretty much standard to anything above basic service, on most cable systems.
 
Tell me about it. :rolleyes: Whenever I visit someone in another town I am reminded of that fact. But here it's TCM only. Even in the little town to the north of us there are both on their cable plan. Just not here. :wtf:
 
During World War 2 the British sabotage organisation "Special Operations Executive" built a camp to house their agents who had come back from the Continent and whose loyalty was suspect. It will not have been anywhere as luxurious as the Village.

I can imagine a modern camp being built to house Muslim mullahs whose sermons were a little extreme but not actually illegal. However a more competent bunch of leaders will be needed that Britain and the USA have had recently.
 
I'd prefer not to make this a political thread, AMS, but if they haven't said anything "actually illegal" then they can't actually be detained anywhere.
 
KoshFan said:
I'd prefer not to make this a political thread, AMS, but if they haven't said anything "actually illegal" then they can't actually be detained anywhere.
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A major point about The Village is that no one in it had been convicted. The same applies to the SOE camp and Camp X-ray in Guantánamo Bay.
 
A fair point... but the constitutionality of such activities is in serious question. Me, I lean towards "innocent until proven guilty."
 
What does that have to do with "the Prisoner"? Part of the premise of the show was that no one KNEW about The Villiage. (By "no one" I mean the general population.) It actually is a fair comparison to say it's a bit like a Guantanamo bay, only the general public is unaware of its existence, it's populated by former agents, and psychological methods are used a opposed to "cruder" methods.

Innocent until proven guilty just doesn't apply to a secret organization. And though it should apply to Guantanamo bay, how much do the inmates really care about that? Until they find themselves with actual legal representation and charged with crimes formally, it doesn't really make a difference does it? If "The Bay" weren't known about, the courts would never have ruled on the case, and the inmates there would likely have lived out the rest of their days there.
 
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