Author Topic: London Spy: Ben Whishaw, dreamy lover/genius Ed Holcroft and sage Jim Broadbent  (Read 571533 times)

Offline CellarDweller

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Tell him when l come up to him and ask to play the record, l'm gonna say: ''Voulez-vous jouer ce disque?''
'Voulez-vous, will you kiss my dick?'
Will you play my record? One-track mind!

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Perfect. Thanks!

In London Spy, Episode 4, the character Scottie (actor Jim Broadbent) goes on a bender (he has good cause).

So I looked for 'London Spy Scottie drunk' on Google images, and I found:




which means our Cybernetic Overlords aren't quite there--yet.

 ::) :laugh:
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Perfect. Thanks!

In London Spy, Episode 4, the character Scottie (actor Jim Broadbent) goes on a bender (he has good cause).

So I looked for 'London Spy Scottie drunk' on Google images, and I found:




which means our Cybernetic Overlords aren't quite there--yet.

 ::) :laugh:




Oh NO! They ARE! This following photo was NOT there--and now suddenly--it is!


London Spy, Episode 4, the character Scottie (actor Jim Broadbent) goes on a bender:



Shudder! Then everything that happens in London Spy is real--

 :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o




"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline CellarDweller

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  • A city boy's mentality, with a cowboy's soul.
Oh NO! They ARE! This following photo was NOT there--and now suddenly--it is!


London Spy, Episode 4, the character Scottie (actor Jim Broadbent) goes on a bender:



Shudder! Then everything that happens in London Spy is real--

 :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o


Oh my!!!


Tell him when l come up to him and ask to play the record, l'm gonna say: ''Voulez-vous jouer ce disque?''
'Voulez-vous, will you kiss my dick?'
Will you play my record? One-track mind!

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Oh wow, this is a gorgeous, gorgeous thread! Thank you so much for all the reviews, images, scenes, fanarts and gifs.


Thank you, Michaela!  (And thank you for stopping by!)



I watched this show when it aired in Sweden (last episode aired two weeks ago.) And I must say it's been difficult to get it out of my mind since.


Exactly. I'm a bit on the obsessional side normally  ::)  but this is quite something--beyond.



The acting was phenomenal, - Ben Whishaw should win ALL the awards!


Yes. And so many moments--so hard to pick which are the best, but one on particular, in episode 5, when Danny is with Frances
in Alex's 'blackboard room' completely covered with equations--





Ben Whishaw/Danny is repeating/reciting something that we have already seen, in flashback, more than twice:
Alex said to Danny (and now Danny says to Frances): "I want to tell you a story--"

Look at Ben Whishaw's face when, speaking to Frances, he says, while remembering/reliving/reciting poor dead Alex's words:








Danny: And while he did everything to signal to the world that he wanted to be left alone--

Alex: More than anything, he hoped that someone passing would understand that what he really wanted was the exact opposite....and that this someone would sit next to him--

Danny: --and strike up a conversation.



And after those short words strike up a conversation--the pain in his face. Ben/Danny's face. Because it was Danny who was that
'Someone' who did strike up that conversation.

And, he realizes, in the end, striking up that conversation eventually meant--Alex's death.

Ben's face--or rather, Danny's face. Four or five seconds. Devastating. Just devastating.

Ok, one other moment. The tone, the pitch, the timbre, the catch in Ben/Danny's voice when, in episode 4, identically dressed, facing the literally surreal, shockingly bizarre Doppelganger/escort in the Southbank restaurant, Hixter, where, eight months prior, Danny had had his first date/meal with Alex:






Danny: Why did they hire you?

Doppelganger: I don't know, I don't care. It's just a job.

Danny: He's dead. Your job. He was murdered. You think you're not involved? Because you seem like a loose end to me.



"He's dead. Your job."  The voice. No change in volume, no change in speed, but--the catch in the voice. How does he do it? Simply amazing.


-- and the dark, depressing, enigmatic tones and nearly glacial plot movement in many scenes are strangely captivating even if frustrating. I realize I did believe 100% in the love story, but not in the insanely convoluted and complex secret plot set in motion against Alex and Danny - but I somehow didn't care about that. So captivating.


Glacial? What can I say, I like glacial. And yes, the love story. Oh my god Yes. The plot was less so--at first. It will take me quite some time to explain to anyone else that--well, what I first thought was over-the-top/jumping the shark is now, to me--completely believable. Those holes no longer look like holes.

Ok, maybe one hole--after his (fake/forced 'suicide') we learn that Scottie sent Danny's precious notebook to Claire (the president provost of the University of London!) with a note appended saying: 'Ambition, no conviction.' Really? How--how mean. Yes, he had said it to Danny himself (frankly but not meanly), but to say it/send it to Claire--hmmm. Yet--maybe *they* did it, and once again the holes start to close.

Perhaps it was Whishaw, Broadbent and Rampling's sheer talent, or Holcroft's beautiful face, but--now I *believe* the crazy plot (within the bounds of the story). In a world in which Alexander Litvinenko, Gareth Williams, Edward Snowden are real people, not characters in some crazy spy thriller--why not?



You've seen the whole show, I assume, John? The final episode was very tough to take, but I am firmly in the 'Alex's brilliant mind was too valuable to be wasted so he's alive under lock and key in the US' camp. One day Danny will find him. <3


First episode--I saw the first 40 minutes, until Danny rang the doorbuzzer at 71-80 Prince of Wales Drive, Battersea (yes, like other crazy people like me, I found the building with Google Maps/Street View) and then I STOPPED. Couldn't go any further. Saw the first 40 minutes over and over, maybe five times--then, a week later, watched the last 20 minutes. Like Danny, I have visited the attic Once only. Yet.

Last episode, same thing. When once again, that same fated night, Danny walks up to the door, with his small rucksack/backpack on his shoulder, knowing that he and Alex will soon be leaving for their planned weekend in the country--and then, for the first time, we see Frances is waiting in a car across the street, and I just--STOP. I know everything, I've read everything, I know what happens, but I just CAN'T. I thought I could watch it tonight, but I still can't.  I will. But.
 
Re: (as poor Scottie once blithely said) "possibilities and dreams"--there was a Fanart cartoon that I saw at least twice and thought I could easily find it again before saving, but now seems lost--I think it was made by one of those lovely/completely bonkers Korean girl/artists--it showed the happiest of scenarios: Alex, confused and uncomprehending, sitting in a half-opened packing crate (NOT that tragic trunk), and Danny, knowing and happy, trundling up with his wheeled carryall case with USA visa/passport in hand. Wishful Sigh (Found it! see next page in this thread, Page 12, Reply 112.)



Different cartoon--
not the one I'm still hoping
to find, unfortunately:
The missing cartoon
might have been done
by this artist--it had
that same tone/feeling--
very optimistic!

« Last Edit: March 11, 2016, 12:12:24 am by Aloysius J. Gleek »
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Time for more
LONDONSPYFANART








Someone has rendered my
conceit as Poor Danny/Orpheus
and his beloved Alex/Eurydice




http://wilberia.tistory.com/m/post/17


Oops! More Korean--and I cannot bother a very, very busy friend who has to
then ask his colleague for a translation--yet.

(Looks like another schizoid conversation with two of Ben Whishaw's characters,
fictional character Danny Holt of London Spy and real historical poet John Keats of Bright Star)


Late addition:


« Last Edit: March 11, 2016, 07:14:59 am by Aloysius J. Gleek »
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Mikaela

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Oh, thank you so much for this long and thoughtful reply!  :)


Glacial? What can I say, I like glacial. And yes, the love story. Oh my god Yes. The plot was less so--at first. It will take me quite some time to explain to anyone else that--well, what I first thought was over-the-top/jumping the shark is now, to me--completely believable. Those holes no longer look like holes.

Maybe glacial was the wrong word. Challenging might be better. The slow pace and the riddles within riddles require something of the viewers. You don't get to follow this story lightly while your mind is partly on other things... At any rate, I came to appreciate the pace, even as it was frustrating because I am. Conditioned by so many shows and stories to wanting All The Answers Now!!

Quote
Perhaps it was Whishaw, Broadbent and Rampling's sheer talent, or Holcroft's beautiful face, but--now I *believe* the crazy plot (within the bounds of the story). In a world in which Alexander Litvinenko, Gareth Williams, Edward Snowden are real people, not characters in some crazy spy thriller--why not?

This is the most compelling argument I've seen! Yes, the spy world moves in mysterious ways, and yet - if Danny posed such a treath, I do think there would be "easier" (for them) and more permanent ways to deal with him than the conspiracy they inveigled him in. This does not in any way detract from my appreciation of the story, though. It creates a world of its own.

I have more to say but will have to continue later.


But before I go... You are aware that Ben Whishaw is coming to NYC to perform on stage this spring, I assume? Are you going to see the crucible?

Offline CellarDweller

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I'm really liking the fan art!


Tell him when l come up to him and ask to play the record, l'm gonna say: ''Voulez-vous jouer ce disque?''
'Voulez-vous, will you kiss my dick?'
Will you play my record? One-track mind!

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Oh, thank you so much for this long and thoughtful reply!  :)


 ;) :-*



Maybe glacial was the wrong word. Challenging might be better. The slow pace and the riddles within riddles require something of the viewers. You don't get to follow this story lightly while your mind is partly on other things... At any rate, I came to appreciate the pace, even as it was frustrating because I am. Conditioned by so many shows and stories to wanting All The Answers Now!!


As an aphasic, I like a slow pace. I don't want "the answer" to come too quickly because it might just whiz by and I won't have time to process it. When there are frustrations, I am much more likely to find relief by seeking extracurricular info like MAPS and TIME LINES--thank you, Google! (If only the now out-of-date words "Don't be Evil" were true when, unfortunately, Google is more likely one of *them*--)



This is the most compelling argument I've seen! Yes, the spy world moves in mysterious ways, and yet - if Danny posed such a threat, I do think there would be "easier" (for them) and more permanent ways to deal with him than the conspiracy they inveigled him in. This does not in any way detract from my appreciation of the story, though. It creates a world of its own.


The Nearly Omniscient and Clever may not (almost certainly not!) be 'logical'. *They* can be mean, or whimsical, or--jealous.

Or occasionally--helpful?

After the confusing return to London from the 'visit with the Parents' in Oxfordshire, that very short, chilling scene on the river with "the American" who so frightened poor Danny--and the malign sign (or--benign warning??) of the HIV medication inside the practically glowing, enrobed blood-red sweet--something the Evil Queen could have conjured up--all mixed up with the Wachowskis' Matrix--a Blue Pill inside the Red Pill--how crazy was that?? (Actor Clarke Peters was terrific in those few minutes!)







Like Scottie, we love Danny because he is foolishly brave--







But before I go... You are aware that Ben Whishaw is coming to NYC to perform on stage this spring, I assume? Are you going to see the crucible?


I know this will sound stupid, but--I can't watch John Proctor/Ben Whishaw/Danny Holt be hanged next week--the previews start March 1. Too much, too soon!

 ::) ::) ::)


« Last Edit: February 22, 2016, 10:40:07 pm by Aloysius J. Gleek »
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"