Noble House

I still remember looking forward anxiously to seeing this miniseries when it first aired -- I had considered "Noble House" James Clavell's masterpiece, even greater than "Shogun." I had come away from reading the book with the sense of knowing the characters as if they were real people, and missing them when the book was finished.

In some cases, the characterizations in the miniseries hit the mark. Pierce Brosnan does an excellent job as the supremely self-confident Ian Dunross, John Rhys-Davies gives a truly inspired performance of charming villainy as Quillan Gornt, Burt Kwouk is very convincing as the compradore of the Noble House, and Gordon Jackson did a fine turn as the committed, conflicted Superintendent Armstrong. I also thought Julia Nickson Soul really heated up the screen; she was much better than a young Tia Carrere (in her pre-"Wayne's World" days).

Unfortunately, I thought the American performances were weak. Deborah Raffin was OK as K.C. Tcholok, but I would have preferred it if they had stuck to the story and not had her wind up romantically involved with Ian Dunross. The weakest in my opinion, though, was Ben Masters as Linc Bartlett. While Mr. Masters may be a good actor, I didn't think he carried this role off very well. In the book, Bartlett is a cool, calculating, and yet personable man who comes across as opportunistic but respectful of Hong Kong business and cultural traditions. Clavell wrote him as a friendly, likable man who moves easily into the circles of power in the Colony but who is an unknown, unpredictable quantity to all of the vying factions. I thought that Mr. Masters overplayed the part as too cocky, too brash, and too shallow to be a likable or sympathetic figure. In the novel, I thought Bartlett was an intriguing character on a par with Dunross. In the miniseries, I generally thought he was just a jerk.

That aside, while the miniseries has to trim a lot of the interesting sub-plots in the interest of time, it does a good job of remaining true to the spirit of Clavell's novel. I'd agree with the observation that you should watch the miniseries, then read the novel to see what the story was REALLY about.

The film (mini-series) ia very creditable attempt to capture the essence of Clavell's masterful book. John Rhys-Davies is the epitomy of Quillan Gornt and Pierce Brosnan doesn't do too badly either, but I can't imagine why he would fall for Deborah Raffin as K C Cholok who is bland, colourless and does not come across as a tough-negotiating business woman. The film sticks closely to the book and only omits non-central to the story items - russian spies etc. Nancy Kwan is still gorgeous and Julia Nickson is lovely (pity her acting lets her down though). The film is well worth a look even with a few failings.

As I said in the beginning, I think this mini-series is actually quite okay. But pitched against the novel, it doesn't stand a chance since I think the book was Clavell's greatest and I really loved it. But how could a TV-mini-series ever compete with a book that is so complex and has so many important story lines?

The producers decided to half-sacrifice the espionage plot, but I thought that's acceptable. The only thing I didn't like was the fact Casey doesn't seem to be in love with Linc (she seems rather concerned about his friendship and the business matters) but goes for Ian instead. This is a huge deviation from the book since that complicated love story between Casey and Linc is just brilliant and explains their characters. Also Ian is being made a widower in order to accommodate Casey without adultery. And why's Peter Marlowe out?

Put that aside, you have a really entertaining TV-Mini-Series that's able to go almost the same pace as the book, and actually captures quite well the basic essence of the novel. Shouldn't probably be too surprised at the good outcome since Clavell himself worked closely on the series. I rated it 8 / 10 and think that it's impossible to do any better with a novel like this.

Produced and aired at the end of the 1980s, Noble House would be one of the last in a line of lengthy and epic miniseries. Based on James Clavell's thousand plus page novel (and move forward two decades in time to the then present day), Noble House features a wealth of location filming, dozens of characters and multiple plot lines across four parts and more than six hours of screen time. So how does it hold up a quarter of a century later?

The performances hold up well. Pierce Brosnan is fascinating as Ian Dunross, Tai-Pan of the Hong Kong company Struan's, the Noble House of the title. Brosnan is convincing as the man in charge of a 150 year old company who struggles to deal not just with the crises of today but with the weight of legacy of the Noble House upon his shoulders as well. While Dunross is not above perhaps less than savory at times, Brosnan nevertheless makes clear that is a likable man with a strong sense of honor and duty no matter the cost. It is Brosnan as Dunross that ultimately ties in the various diverse plots together and, if his performance was anything less than what it is, I'm not sure Noble House would work as well as it does.

Moving on from Brosnan, there's a strong cast behind him. There's John Rhys-Davies as Quillan Gornt, the head of Struan's biggest rival and a man who seems to live for nothing but bringing it down. There's Deborah Raffin and Ben Masters as the heads of the American company Par-Con whose motives and actions are questionable throughout the entire miniseries. From there the cast of characters ranges from police Superintendent Robert Armstrong (Gordon Jackson) to Struan employees such as John Van Dreelen as Jacques DeVille, Michael Siberry as Linbar Struan and fellow Hong Kong businessmen such as Damien Thomas as Lando Mata. Rounding off the cast in two cameo roles are Denholm Elliott as outgoing Tai-Pan Alastair Struan in the first part and John Houseman as Hong Kong governor Sir Geoffrey Allison in the last part.

Where the cast, and indeed both the writing and the miniseries as a whole, runs into trouble is with its native characters. The writing (and as a result the performances) mean that they are often walking and talking clichés, especially Khigh Dhiegh as Four Finger Wu and Tia Carrere as Venus Poon as well as the less savory characters who figure in its first half. Even characters such as Burt Kwouk's Phillip Chen, the compradore of Struan's, fall into moments of cringe worthy dialogue that undermine them considerably. Somehow it seems a shame that the script couldn't treat these characters with the same respect, though how much of that is down to the original source material I'm not sure.

Despite that problem, Noble House otherwise makes excellent use of Hong Kong itself throughout. In fact the city and its surrounding areas (including Macao) are as much as a player in events as Brosnan's Dunross or anyone else. The large amount of location filming gives the various story lines a strong sense of verisimilitude.

The miniseries is also blessed both with a large amount of screen time and a script that makes the most use of it. Based on the massive novel by James Clavell, Noble House makes the most use of its six plus hours and four parts. There's everything from business dealings ranging from a deal between the Noble House and Par-Con to Gornt's trying bankrupt the Noble House, kidnapping, murder, romances, concerns over Hong Kong's return to China (which was still a few years off when the miniseries was made) and international intrigues as well. Behind all that is the characters and how they change and develop (or don't) as they face not just those events but disasters natural and man-made. As a result there's much going on as there are not only multiple plot lines but ones that intersect, often in the most unexpected ways. Whatever else can be said then, this miniseries is definitely not lacking in incident.

Across more than six hours, Noble House lays out a tale filled with business dealings, murder, romance, intrigues and much more. It is carried by its performances and a fascinating portrait of late 1980s Hong Kong and the people who inhabit it (despite some clichéd writing and performances). If nothing else, Noble House is a sprawling epic that makes for fascinating viewing a quarter century on.

I mainly gave this film an 8 out of ten because, at least in the VHS version, the film quality is not all one could wish for. But in the main the book was translated excellently into the six hour mini-series for television and had an excellent cast. Pierce Brosnan is excellent as the ever unflappable Ian Dunross, who weathers all storms and faces ruin with determination. Debra Raffin had the tough job of trying to be many things without knowing all that her character needed to know. JohnRhys-Davies is, as always, excellent. Whether he plays a villain or a hero, he does it with style. Denholm Elliot as Alistair Struan did not have enough screen time, as indeed was the case with his character in the book. Burt Kwouk and Nancy Kwan were also up to par as always. And this film also proves that the sun never sets on John Houseman, who plays the British Governor of Hong Kong with his usual petulant aplomb. Bring lots of snacks and plan several bathroom breaks to watch this one.