"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Imagine: Series 22, Episode 6 – “Who’s Afraid of Machiavelli?” (2013)

 
We’ve moved from a fake TV special/documentary to a real one.  Imagine, from what I can tell, is a long-running BBC program that devotes itself to examining different works of art.  The focus for this episode is, naturally, Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince.
 
The work is explored from all angles.  Historical context is given for Machiavelli in general and The Prince in particular; for instance, there’s a segment on Cesare Borgia, who served as an inspiration for the piece.  The book’s principles are applied to recent and present-day politicians, entrepreneurs, and other powerful people.  Current popular works, such as Game of Thrones and House of Cards, are brought up as further examples of The Prince’s unscrupulous ideals at play in modern culture.
 
And just how does PC fit into all of this?  He’s featured throughout the episode, delivering excerpts from the book while hanging out in locales ranging from castles to skyscrapers.  I suppose his role as the highly Machiavellian Malcom Tucker made the producers choose him for the project?
 
Either way, he does well.  Performing recitations out of context can be hit-or-miss, and I’d imagine it’s even harder when your source material doesn’t actually give you a character or plot to work with.  Still, his segments are effectively delivered with a steely edge, explaining how a prince must be both a fox and lion, or musing on whether it’s better to be loved or feared.
 
Side note – I’m not familiar enough with The Prince to recognize specific lines from it, but I recalled that last bit from a very memorable pair of scenes in Kings.  Wouldn’t have thought it was possible, but that show just got a little more awesome.
 
Accent Watch
 
Light Scottish.
 
Recommend?
 
In General – Maybe, if you’re interested in Machiavelli.  As a documentary, it’s pretty well made and covers many topics touching its chief subject.
 
PC-wise – Not necessarily.  While his segments are good, they don’t add up to a ton of screentime, and it’s lower on the totem pole than a number of fine PC projects where he really gets to create characters.
 
Warnings
 
Some discussion of violence and general amoral attitudes/actions.

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