The English

The first thing that occurred to me when I finished the six episodes of The English was to watch them again.

This show is an absolute tour de force and works on every level. A fabulous script (Hugo Blick) with deft ducking and weaving and some clever conceals and reveals, a great sound-track and music (Federico Jusid), phenomenal cinematography (Arnau Valls Colomer), and some extraordinarily sensitive and carefully paced acting from a great cast of actors, with Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer taking the lead. The supporting cast also offers real depth and some delightful performances. Every word spoken and minor action adds to the dramatic tension and exposition - and the camera catches a lot of subtlety along the way. It all adds up to truly top shelf direction and production (Blick and Blick & Blunt respectively).

Having said all of that, the story will be difficult for some people to stomach. It has found a poetics (which is heart wrenching) in its difficult subject matter and much of the violence occurs off-screen, but it is still covering matters that are uncomfortable and confronting to think about and witness.. On the other hand The English offers a realistic and pragmatic encounter with these harsh realities - realities that the native American Indian population are still struggling with to this day - a tragedy when one considers their deep wisdom and connection with the land. The stories also make it clear that for settlers in the new land the reality was also harsh and brutal - but it's much harder to find sympathy there.

The English leaves one in no doubt that America was founded and built upon blood and violence and life threatening struggle - and that 'the land of the free' is a sentiment that some citizens are probably yet to experience.

On the other hand, The English is not sentimental. Its main characters endure their 'lot' with a resigned pragmatism and with little resentment - saving their revenge for those who truly deserve it, and otherwise only handing out justice when left with little other choice.

I can't quite believe this is a TV show as opposed to a movie such is its depth and quality.

2022 has been a treat full of some really good television shows and The English deserves to be right up there amongst those judged as the very best of the crop.

It's a very solid 9.5 stars, and I can see why some reviewers have given 10.

Exceptional TV!

The English is a pretty good western that's absolutely worth watching. It does start a little slow but by the end of episode 2 it picks up. Each episode just gets better and better. You really come to care for these characters by how well written and acted they are. I'd be shocked if Emily Blunt wasn't nominated for some awards for her job in this. She's that good in this. As is the vastly underrated Chaske Spencer, who's good in just about everything I've ever seen him in. It's a beautifully shot series that captures the reality of the old West. It's a mini series that's only six episodes long so it won't take long to binge it and it's worth every second?

I have to admit, I wasn't going to buy into Emily Blunt as a lead in a western. But it turned out to be thoroughly enjoyable show you didn't know you had to watch. The cinematography is beautiful, as is the theme music. It feels like it's been a while since a western was made of this quality (I'm thinking, maybe Unforgiven?). Like great westerns in the past, the story need not be overly complicated. And it's got sweeping panoramas of the West, capturing the freedom, cruelty and brutality that was the Wild West.

Blunt and Spencer dazzles. What may have sounded like a contrived story to place some Brits in late 19th century American West, ends up weaving a deep, moving tale of a woman who risks it all to seek vengeance upon a man who wronged her, whom she blames for the death of her son. In the beginning scenes, you may think it makes little sense, but there is much more to her journey and objective. Blunt does a superb job as the story develops and reveals its secrets.

Spencer, whom I've never seen on screen before, really impresses. Although he portrays a Pawnee who was raised by a white man and served in the Union army, his seemingly indifferent attitude to the plight of the people of other tribes is but a façade that eventually gives way to the long suppressed pain, anger and pride of native Americans. Spencer does an amazing job of giving his character good depth, when more often than not, native American actors tend to play to one-dimensional stereotypes.

Perhaps a small nit is that the climax feels a little rushed; some may find it a tiny bit anti-climatic. An extra episode or two might have tidied up a few things here and there.

Very sad it's a mini-series and ends after a short but satisfying six episodes, but it's better to think of it as a very long movie!

Emily Blunt is magnificent and she carries this show, adding sense and grace to a series that has a bit too much nonsense dialogue (shades of Deadwood?) and disgraceful white males who are at times cartoonish in their villainous bigotry and psychopathy. Chaske Spencer also cuts a fine hero as the noble Pawnee who is astride two worlds having served in the US Army and bystander to some of their atrocities.

There were a number of parallels to 'Godless' which I rated a 10 such as the romantic duo that are thrust together on a Western adventure fighting injustice, and the heroine's skill with horses and weaponry. Unfortunately there were a few drawbacks to this one as well, starting with the aforementioned dialogue that got a bit too poetic for my taste, and the seemingly endless supply of Snidely Whiplash types without an ounce of empathy for natives that just seemed a bit over the top in the effort to drive home the race relations point.

Beyond that there were some truly awful uses of green screen that seemed terribly out of place when so much of it was shot with beautiful on-location vistas (shot in Spain, but you'd never know it wasn't the American West). There were a lot of characters that came and went that got to be confusing at times, and one in particular that seemed crucial to the story that died off-screen with a very random explanation that made it seem like they left his real ending on the cutting room floor.

The plot twist reveal in the final episode was certainly a surprise yet earned through some clues along the way, but also felt like it really changed the type of story being told and required a bunch of audience exposition that seemed out of place that late in the game.

Even with all that it was a compelling show that I enjoyed watching for the most part so I gave it a 7. It seems most reviewers thought more highly of it than I did which I respect. They can make another Western with Emily Blunt anytime and I will surely watch it.

Leave aside for a moment, the superb writing, casting, acting and direction. Other reviews deal with that. Take note that everything about this series, from the artwork of the opening credits, to the unique use of sound, to the tight closeups in the action scenes, is an homage to one of the greatest directors of all time, yet unfortunately a director almost lost to history. Because other auteurs love to copy him, but never credit him. Even Eastwood, who was rescued from obscurity (after Rawhide concluded) by Leone, never publicly acknowledged Leone's contributions to the medium. Leone is mentioned several times in my IMDb list of all time greatest films of the last century. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))