Escape master
It is undoubtedly worth looking forward to watching the legal dramas filmed by the British. After all, Britain is the birthplace of modern law. It takes a long time to think, and the things brewed will be more interesting. One of the "interesting things" is Escape from the Artist, a suspense legal mini-drama, which was broadcast on BBC One last month.
The three episodes of the whole drama are equivalent to the length of a movie, and the rhythm technique is more inclined to the movie than the TV series. The Independent described it as "the BBC's best TV series, because it is aimed at Achilles' heel in the law that British people are proud of".
Everyone deserves to be defended?
In Prison Break Master, Will Burton, played by David tennant, is a criminal barrister who has just risen to the top of the lawyer list. At the beginning of the play, Burton went to his son's kindergarten to introduce his career to the children, and made it clear at the beginning: "Even if a person really commits a crime, a powerful lawyer can help him get rid of it by attacking the loopholes in witnesses/evidence." Will Burton is not a black and white man. He firmly believes that "everyone deserves to be defended." The screenwriter also questioned the children's mouths. "If I really stole the apple, will you defend me?"
Unlike ordinary lawyers who pursue fame and fortune, Burton defends guilty people because his firm does not allow him to choose cases. Burton has his own values under the court. Whether the court shakes hands with customers after sentencing reflects Burton's real thoughts on whether customers are "guilty". After taking over the case of Liam foyle (Toby Kebbell), Burton once again excused foyle with his excellent professional skills. But this victory is the beginning of a nightmare.
Burton has a wife and a son, and life not only looks happy, but also the warmth in the play subverts the audience's fixed thinking that "the happiness of the rich is just an act", making the series still warm in the cold tone of the English drama.
However, if the audience relaxes their vigilance and thinks that this is a story that happened in court, and the family just embellishes the secondary line, it is all wet. After being released by the court, foyle began to wander around Burton's house, watching Burton's wife Kate take a bath, and complained to the Bar Association about Burton. A few weeks later, Burton's wife was killed and his son escaped in a wooden box. Burton looked up with his wife's body and saw foyle standing outside the window.
As the only witness, the gold medal lawyer Burton could not convict foyle with the law as a weapon. Fortunately, he has the support of the whole law firm, and he accidentally found the decisive evidence-the DNA of the crime scene. Foyle finds Maggie Gardner (Sophie O 'Connor), the defense lawyer after Burton. Gardner and Burton have been competing with each other since they were students, and Gardner is always inferior. She is very competitive. Although she was scared to death of foyle, she defended foyle and got him off the hook for the second time, regardless of her conscience and morality and her friendship with the Burton couple for many years.
Burton decided to give up the law and take revenge alone. David tennant deserves to be regarded as the best actor on British TV screen. The pale face on the road of revenge makes people almost see that every pore of him is sweating. The neat shooting technique reproduces his revenge plan one by one.
Not just the law.
If we look closely at the names of the two protagonists, we will find that Will and Liam are one, which happens to be William. Earlier, foyle also said to Burton: "We are very similar." In fact, in the idea of screenwriter David Wall Si Tong Croft, there are similarities between two barristers and perverted killers-both barristers abide by professional rules and are proud of it, while foyle also has his own sense of honor and survival criteria, and hates being despised.
In an interview with the BBC, Walston Croft commented on these three characters: "foyle's ruthlessness in controlling Elaine Morris and the animal-trapped state when he found key evidence are chilling. I wanted these scenes to be as dark as possible, but he (Toby Kebbell) locked us directly in the basement without lights. Gardner, played by Sophie O 'Connor, is neurotically eager for success, but still has a trace of humanity, which is the key for her to become a good lawyer. As for our hero, he is a master of the English legal system. Before writing this story, I had many court experiences in Britain and the United States, which often made me angry like a trapped animal, so I hope to put these on Burton, a barrister. "
Walston Croft said: "Literary works related to law always tend to focus on the contest of intelligence, but ignore the trend of emotion. I hope this drama can jump out of the law and tell a different story. "
Unlike the powerful screenwriter team usually found in American TV series, Walston Croft plays a leading role in the role creation of The Master Escaped. "When writing this play, I hid in the corner as usual, waiting for inspiration. After writing part of it, Will is like an old acquaintance to me. He always tells me what will happen next. "
Of course, a play will not be perfect. The Independent criticized the play. "This once again fell into the stereotype that men kill women. When will the crime drama jump out of this strange circle and attract the audience? " The Huffington Post pointed out that "the protagonist and his colleagues fought back because they were victims for the first time, but the play forgot to investigate what it was like for them to get rid of other guilty people as defense lawyers."
If this is an American TV series, the screenwriter will probably arrange a more "reasonable" ending for Burton at the end, so as to question the legal system positively. In other words, no matter how deviant American dramas are, they will never be too far away from the main theme. English drama is different. There is no absolute "right" direction inside and outside the law. British screenwriters rely more on the real laws of the world and the kindness of the people. Just like Downton Abbey, the more you look back, you will find that the writers just follow the trend, and the only constant is the bond between the characters and the manor.
It's not just what happens in court and in the dark that is creepy, but also what these things do to your screen.