I was recently asked about my blog. Someone wanted to know the significance of the title, "The Village." Given one of AMC's current filming projects, it seems more relevant than ever to provide the answer.
Anyone with a working knowledge of 1960's science fiction knows of "The Prisoner," a British miniseries starring Patrick McGoohan as "Number Six," a former secret agent who, after resigning, is kidnapped and whisked away to a secret location, which seems to run independent of everything, from which there is no escape, and which truly is a society unto itself. This location, where people have no names--only numbers--is called "The Village." Viewers of the TV show learned at the end that it was filmed at the Portmeirion resort in Wales. (Each episode includes a "Number Two, a societal supervisor of sorts, played by a different actor in each episode; one actor, a brilliant Leo McKern, reprised the role for the finale after doing the second or third episode.)
The "remake" of this miniseries is filming right now in Africa. It's gonna be a bit updated, it's gonna be a little retro, and early reports from those in the know say the scripts are pretty good. [A lot of people have been waiting a very long time for this; it was going to be a movie at one point, then it was going to be a TV movie, but it's now a miniseries.] Number Six will be played by James Caviezel, which could be hit or miss; Number Two, however, will be played by Ian McKellen. (And the angels sang.)
Anyway, in the original miniseries, Number Six refuses to "settle" in the Village, repeatedly speaking out in favor of his individuality and non-conformity to society. The storylines actually have a lot of cat-and-mouse to them, though I must admit a passion for the pilot episode: it's not easy to do the exposition on this series, but it seems to work out. In some episodes, Number Six is bent on escape; in others, he tries to help people in need. The entire thing is an allegory, and as it goes on (and eventually and surrealistically ends) it become more and more difficult to translate.
And that's what my blog is named after--a society in which I express my individuality, whether I'm free to or not.
Observations, rants, and plausible
deniability from a person who refuses
to be a prisoner of his own world.
deniability from a person who refuses
to be a prisoner of his own world.
The Village
I AM WRITING!
My Screenplay -- Draft Three
I'm currently reading:
On my Kindle 2
I'm listening to:
iTunes Radio
I'm driving:
The Honda FCX Clarity
