Cheap Brother Cadfael - The Pilgrim of Hate (DVD) (Richard Stroud, Herbert Wise, Sebastian Graham Jones, Ken Grieve, Graham Theakston, Mary McMurray, Malcolm Mowbray) Price

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Customer Reviews of Brother Cadfael - The Pilgrim of Hate

Ellis Peters would turn in her grave!
For those of us who love the Ellis Peters books, this was an insult and an affront. Quite simply, the story was mutilated beyond all recognition. In fact, only the character names were consistent. Changing a few details for dramatisation is one thing, changing good characters into bad ones, and changing the whole crime is quite another. If the directors had wished to write a NEW sinister story, then they could have done exactly that. There was no need to ruin one of Peters' wonderful stories in the process.

Frankly, the delightful and gentle quality of the Peters' stories provides their unique charm. This engineered dark, brutal atmosphere is totally alien to the original works, and as such has no place in this series.

If you love the original books, do not buy this DVD. It will leave you irritated and annoyed.

What did I just watch?
Hm... I have been reading the (absolutely excellent) books, and then watching these episodes as I finish each respective book, and I sit here rather puzzled. There was only a tiny fraction of resemblance between this episode and the book on which it is supposedly based - the tiniest of fractions. And in fact, that's what I both enjoyed and lamented about it. Enjoyed, because I had no idea what was going on, and that's always fun with a mystery, but lamented because my expectations were not met in one very important regard.

This is, as the previous reviewer noted, much darker than the book, which is fine, it works well. The atmosphere was well sustained, and the characters (although NONE of them were what I expected) were all played well. The book took on powerful political significance, thrusting you right into the warring factions of Stephen and Maud and the delicate balance of the country, but it also had a lightness and joy and humor. In fact the plot of the book was so wide and multifaceted that I am not surprised that they did not attempt it within a 75-minute time frame. So, it appears, they wrote their own plot, with a twinge of inspiration from Ellis Peters. And a very intriguing plot it was.

But the disappointment was profound when I had expected to see Olivier de Bretagne - easily the highlight of the book - make an appearance, and realized somewhere in the middle that he was not going to. The plot did not allow for him, and for that I heave a great sigh of regret. Yes, it was good as it was, but if they had done the book instead of their own creation, it would have been much better. How can you write Olivier out of the plot? It is an affront to Cadfael, who very much deserves him.

Sir Derek Jacobi, as always, was nothing short of perfect. He alone makes any of this series worth watching, and I find myself now seeking his other works just to watch such a masterful actor. He has quite possibly surpassed Anthony Hopkins as my favorite actor of all time, and that is saying much. Very much.