Whoever said that all the plots have been written may have been right in the strictest sense of the word, however, the statement does a gross injustice to the inventiveness of writers. A decade or so ago, we saw fairy tale fiction get re-opened and re-examined in a new way with reboots like Wicked and Pretty Woman taking their cues from time-honored stories like The Wizard of Oz and Cinderella. That tradition is alive and well today with the many sequels, prequels, and re-tellings (myself included in that crowd with a sci-fi series that explores the Arthurian mythos through allegory).
At the center of Da Vinci's Demons is the tale of Leonardo Da Vinci, a man that many believe could possibly be the smartest man to have ever lived. I for one have seen the traveling exhibition that has turned many if not all of Leonardo Da Vinci's art pieces into actual working models through a grant from IBM. I was impressed to learn that he created things like a spyglass, an odometer, an aqualung, and various weapons that the city state of Florence (in the television series) uses to great effect to defend itself and warn off enemies. So how could a fictionalized dramatic series be made of Da Vinci's life when we already know all about him? I'll tell you how. There's a five year gap in what people know of Da Vinci as a young man, and the series is taking liberties to explore that five-year gap with an incredible search for a thing called The Book of Leaves.
Additionally, there's another series on television that also explores holes in stories that I previously didn't think existed. Hannibal on NBC is based on the Thomas Harris novels, of which I've read all three. Red Dragon shall always be my favorite, but Silence of the Lambs comes in a close second. The actual book, Hannibal, was "meh." I could tell Thomas Harris didn't have his heart in it, but gave us a book anyway to try and "tie up" some things that some thought needed "tying up" I suppose.
So where could they possibly go with Hannibal? Well, in Red Dragon he's already in prison and it's through him that we get to know Will Graham who is the person that caught Hannibal and put him into Dr. Chilton's institute. If you'd have asked me, I would have said "that story is done." But I'm wrong and have been very impressed with how NBC is bringing this story to light. Below, I've embedded the title sequence because I think it's brilliant. It sums up everything about the character using wine (Hannibal is quite cultured) that looks like blood.
I also like that we are seeing the evolution of the character in Will Graham. He's equally as fascinating as Clarice, yet kind of took a backseat to the character played by Jodi Foster in the film adaptation when it struck such commercial gold in 1990 via Jonathan Demme's production that crushed every Oscar category of note.
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| Leonardo DaVinci on the left and Count Riario on the right. They are enemies in the story played out in Starz' DaVinci's Demons. |
Recently though, I've been impressed with how writers are exploring "holes" in tales that we previously thought were done. For example, Da Vinci's Demons just ended it's first season on Starz. At first, I was turned off by the immediate killing of a molested boy in the Vatican because he had overheard plans between the Pope (the one molesting him) and Count Riario (who is the Pope's most trusted agent). But I talked with my friend Dezmond at the Hollywood Spy, and he convinced me to give it another go. So I did, and thank you Dezmond.
At the center of Da Vinci's Demons is the tale of Leonardo Da Vinci, a man that many believe could possibly be the smartest man to have ever lived. I for one have seen the traveling exhibition that has turned many if not all of Leonardo Da Vinci's art pieces into actual working models through a grant from IBM. I was impressed to learn that he created things like a spyglass, an odometer, an aqualung, and various weapons that the city state of Florence (in the television series) uses to great effect to defend itself and warn off enemies. So how could a fictionalized dramatic series be made of Da Vinci's life when we already know all about him? I'll tell you how. There's a five year gap in what people know of Da Vinci as a young man, and the series is taking liberties to explore that five-year gap with an incredible search for a thing called The Book of Leaves.
This is the title sequence from Da Vinci's Demons. I love the music, and if
you watch it, you'll see how many of his inventions are brought to life with
special effects that pay homage to the sketches from that time period.
The first season took us through the Vatican to the mysterious archives where we saw the Spear of Longinus and a sword in the stone among many other wonders. It's absolutely captivating to see Leonardo's inventions brought to life in a speculative fiction way as the young Leonardo is forced to create and use these devices to get him out of some very sticky situations. In the backdrop of course is all the political maneuvering of the era (Florence and the Medici family versus the Catholic Church) and it has all the machinations and plot hooks of a Dan Brown novel.
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| The tree of political influence, or "Da Vinci's demons." All of these characters play a part in the Starz series in manipulating, controlling, and steering young Leonardo's destiny. Will he ever find The Book of Leaves? I hope so. Click to EMBIGGEN and examine in more detail. |
We all know that Hannibal is eventually captured. That of course will play out in the series finale at some point in the future bringing us full circle and back to the first book, Red Dragon. The series explores Hannibal's life as a successful psychiatrist and boy, it does not hold back on the gore. In the first season we've seen skin torn from limbs like a rubber glove, human body parts arranged on a totem pole stuck in the sand of a beach, and Gillian Anderson of X-Files fame as a guest star as Hannibal's own psychiatrist. It's an homage I suppose since her character in Dana Sculley was created after the character of Clarice Starling.
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| Mads Mikkelson is a great Hannibal. He has no problem filling shoes previously donned by Anthony Hopkins. |
So a question to my readers: did you watch Da Vinci's Demons, and if so, what did you think of the liberties they take of the historical real-life character? Are you watching Hannibal?
Anyway, I want to end by saying Da Vinci's Demons and Hannibal are perfect examples of source material that has yet to exhaust itself. It kind of begs the question: is any story truly over? What do you think?
I look forward to reading your comments.
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