Mark Rylance plays Thomas Cromwell in “Wolf Hall.” Courtesy of Giles Keyte/Playground & Company Pictures for MASTERPIECE/BBC
the six-hour adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. on RMPBS. Gorgeous, high-minded, beautifully acted and sluggish, it may be a stretch for those more accustomed to the Olivia Pope-Doug Stamper-Ray Donovan versions of fixers.
The historical drama provides a portrait of Thomas Cromwell, the enigmatic consigliere to King Henry VIII, who cleverly worked the angles in the Tudor court always thinking a few steps ahead. Nothing viewers have seen the murderous modern TV fixers do was beyond his reach.
Mark Rylance, the Tony Award-winner rarely seen on American TV, portrays Cromwell as a tortured soul, survivor of an abusive father who tragically lost his family to the plague, who dedicates himself to king and country. Damian Lewis (“Homeland”) plays King Henry VIII, obsessed with producing a male heir to the throne. Claire Foy (“Little Dorrit”) plays the future queen Anne Boleyn.
Running Sundays through May 10, it’s all about intrigue and backroom dealings with the Protestant reformation as a backdrop in what “Masterpiece” bills as an “unromanticized retelling.”
Fans of Mantel’s Booker Prize-winning novels will rave, those who appreciate costume drama, attention to detail, beautiful cinematography (true to the period, using only natural light) and world-renowned actors will be enthralled. Those who find entertainment value in the “Scandal”/”House of Cards”/”Ray Donovan” versions of power plays and conquests may find “Wolf Hall” a tad slow going.
