Death and Nightingales

The scenery is probably the only element of this three-part series that isn't bleak and grim. Set in 1880s Northern Ireland, Beth lives with her wealthy, landowner/quarry owner stepfather, Billy, who is a depressed, occasionally violent, frequently drunk, lecherous and bitter man. She falls in love with Liam, a local Catholic tenant farmer and pro-Parnell Republican who convinces her to assist a plot to procure dynamite. Matthew Rhys as the bitter Billy delivers the most passionate, believable performance. Ann Skelly as Beth veers from wooden and expressionless to histrionic overacting with long, boring monologues. Jamie Dornan's Liam is mostly sour and cold-it's hard to work up much interest in his character. Would have preferred him to be more charming and seductive to believe that Beth, who is in her 20s and well educated, would want to do anything to be with him. He looks good, of course, but has absolutely no personality.

Skelly, Rhys and Dornan heavily invest in their formal Theater training for a deeply emotional rendition of Eugene McCabe's historical novel of the same name.

The agonizing dialogue will either put one off immediately or serve to capacitate an intense immersive process into the emotional auras of that time.

The plot is very plain. It was painfully slow and empty. I can't recommend it, but I gave 5 stars because the music, the picture and the scenery was quite enjoyable and the characters weren't black and white.

An excellent and captivating drama. A fascinating exploration of a young woman's plight at the hands of a tempestuous father and exploitative lover who only wishes to use Beth as a means to support Republicanist terror in England. Wonderful dialogue and haunting Irish music creates a chilling atmosphere. Beth is beautiful, vulnerable, brave and enduring and ultimately a symbol of judgement over the wickedness perpetrated by the men she encounters in her tragic life.

With so many first class actors (with the exception of the female lead who was pretty dire throughout and couldn't even manage a Northern Irish accent) this mini series should have been great, but sadly it failed due to too slow pacing and an unsympathetic and unfathomable main character (Beth).

Matthew Rhys and Jamie Dorman were excellent. The period detail was great. It was atmospheric and engaging - up to a point, but really this could easily have been condensed into 1 hour 30 minutes (instead of 3 long hours). Having the main character Beth talking aloud to herself to explain plot points/feelings was clumsy and lazy scriptwriting too, by the third episode the character had lost all believability. A real pity, as this could have succeeded with some major editing and a more skilled female lead.