We decided to take a break from watching the interminable (and at this point, rather depressing) Midsomer Murders. From a starkly realistic point of view, the mythical English Midsomer must be about as dangerous as Cabot Cove, with regular citizens regularly dropping off their various perches, to the tune of lashings of blackmail, family grudges, illicit relationships, financial fraud, and outright criminality among the lush gardens and even lusher cozy cottages. It got to the point where we were playing “spot the actor” or “what had we seen this guest star in before?” Anyway, we needed a break, and the choice fell on the latest TV series adaptation of Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn & Chee mystery novels, Dark Winds … which turns out to be surprisingly good, although some elements from the books have been combined, and the lead characters various backgrounds tweaked a little.
It is produced by Robert Redford and (shocker) George RR Martin. Apparently, both were fans of Hillerman’s novels, and GRRM was even a personal friend of Tony Hillerman back in the day – so the project is a labor of love for both. The series is filmed on various locations in New Mexico – and the visuals are just stunning. It seems that the major actors, most of the supporting actors, production crew, and writers are Native Americans, or what used to be called Indians – and OMG, does the authenticity show! The one Hollywood media story I read about this was all blah-blah-blah-diversity-uber-alles rah-rah-f**king rah, but given the setting, the regional culture and the source novels, it all works very well. Apparently, the production company is based on a little rez-owned facility outside Santa Fe; the local tribe has decided to go into movie/TV production rather than casinos, and good for them. There ought to be more regional-based media production like this, with more genuinely diversified talent in front of the camera and behind it, as well as scenery. We might get better series and movies out of it all, if this concept takes hold.
By the bye, Hillerman’s Leaphorn and Chee mysteries are a kick in the teeth to every wokist who has ever whined at an earsplitting level about cultural appropriation. Tony Hillerman lived for decades adjacent to tribal territories, was completely immersed as a local newspaper reporter, and had a deep and abiding interest in and knowledge of Native American (read ‘Indian’) cultures of various tribal entities. Sometimes, it is to a writer’s advantage to be that involved outsider. You can more readily spot the intriguing differences.
After all, fish are not aware of water.
Another aspect I noted in Dark Winds – how the period of the 1970s is so subtly indicated; the various sets, the costuming, details of interiors, vehicles, background music, and general “look” are unobtrusive. Of course, uniforms of various organizations, traditional costumes and men’s tailoring really don’t change all that much from decade to decade. In so-called flyover country, most people hold on to their cars and trucks for years, and never change much about their homes’ interiors after they initially set up housekeeping. Not everyone is a serial redecorator or dedicated fashionista. The interior of the Leaphorn house is absolutely precious and dead-on for the household of a working cop married to a nurse. They have an avocado-green refrigerator, and a harvest-gold painted wall, plus a lot of yarn wall-hangings, framed family photographs and workaday furniture of no particular note or value. It was just like the interiors of my married enlisted friends’ houses back in the day.
These aspects of period and interiors reminded me of several otherwise dissimilar movies: No Country For Old Men, A Christmas Story and the original Goldie Hawn version of Overboard. I think I had watched most of No Country before I realized that it was also set in the early 1970s: the dusty roads, aging houses, and the aging and dusty vehicles in back-country and semi-rural Texas read as completely normal and contemporary to me. Jeans, chinos, cowboy boots and work shirts haven’t changed all that much, and single-wide trailers haven’t, either. The house interiors in A Christmas Story looked very like my grandparents’ various residences. Their tastes in household fittings was solidified sometime early in the 20th Century, leavened with older articles handed down from family … and stayed that way for the rest of the century.
Overboard was a silly romantic and unlikely fribble – but I’ll give credit to the set designer and whoever fitted out the house that the characters lived in for creating something which actually looked like a working-class residence, owned by people who might have heard of the concept of interior decorating, but didn’t actually believe in it. Inexpensive, serviceable bits of battered furniture, dime-store decorative elements and kitchenware which had never had better days to boast of. In the early scenes, it was a household sunk in the degree of squalor which most (but not all) male-exclusive households are liable to achieve. In the later scenes, after Goldie Hawn’s character had taken control – the interiors weren’t House Beautiful ready – but they were neat, tidy and comfortable, with inexpensive and readily-available elements. The set designers and set dressers must have bought out every thrift store and second-hand outlet in a twenty-mile radius. The very ordinariness of the house was a grace note in fluff of a rom-com.
I know; this post is itself silly and frivolous. But honestly – perhaps we need a silly and frivolous diversion from the gravity of dull, griding, serious reality.
Comment as you wish.
I read the original Hillerman novels in the 80s/90s and really enjoyed them. One of the most striking things to me was that the main characters are Navajo, with the distinct culture that implies, rather than some generic Native American tribe as you see in most film/TV works. There are also interactions with other tribes and the cultural stories about those relationships in all their ugly reality. That’s long enough that I remember the characters well enough but not the story lines, and the TV show’s “additions” to the novels just blend in with the gaps in my memory. The show captures the novels well, with some modernization of the story, but not enough to be annoying. I’m a sucker for modern period pieces as well, and love the set and prop details.
Zahn McLarnon, who plays Leaphorn also appeared as a Reservation cop in the series Longmire – set in Wyoming with a mainly Anglo cast but including interactions with the local reservation, which I enjoyed for the first season or so before it went off the rails (IMHO). He also played the character Akecheta in Westworld season 2.
Reservation Dogs (Hulu) is another interesting TV effort, this one a young adult, teenagers struggling through high school type of story.
My wife and I watch an episode of Midsomer and one of Vera each week. Neil Dudgeon’s Barnaby can be a pain in the tail, particularly compared to John Nettle’s, but we’ve grown to like Annette Badland as the ME. Compared to Vera, Midsomer is lighthearted mayhem, and we do like playing “spot the actor”. Coming up on Kevin Whatley’s turn next week.
We have season 24 purchased and never seen, along with Vera season 11, and 12. #13 is supposed to arrive from Britain this week.
However sad a Vera episode can be, it’s lightyears more optimistic than Wallander. That show needs a suicide prevention center’s phone number in the closing credits.
One of these days, we’ll start with the Bones compilation. That should be fun. Mostly.
Responding to, “the local tribe has decided to go into movie/TV production rather than casinos, and good for them.” The Camel Rock Studios of Tesuque Pueblo, where the series was produced, is actually a converted casino. That space became available when the Pueblo built a brand new casino six miles closer to Santa Fe perched upon a hilltop. Meaning, the Tesuque Pueblo is pursuing gambling as well as TV/movie production (they can walk AND chew gum at the same time!). I make no judgment regarding the value of Indian gambling but think that the otherwise fine commentary in the essay should reflect reality.
And, FWIW, to the earlier comment regarding Longmire. Nearly that entire series was also filmed in central and northern NM, not in Wyoming. The town of Durant was filmed in Las Vegas, NM. Longmire’s beautiful homesite was in the Valles Caldera National Monument in the Jemez Mountains, NM, home to Los Alamos. Other shots were made throughout the Jemez as well as in Santa Fe and other Northern NM locations. Production facilities were at the Greer Garson Studios in Santa Fe.
I watched Foyle’s Wars back when it aired on PBS, I’m surprised Horowitz didn’t novelize these stories, some of his later work, like the Ryland chronicle seems kind of forced, and i’m not even getting into the ones where he shoe horns himself, into the story, yes the Midlands are a very dangerous place for all concerned, the Poirot and Marple stories suggest that,
I remember reading Lillian Jackson Braun’s “The Cat Who . . . ” mystery series written back in the 1960s-2000s. It was set in Pickaxe City, a small town of maybe 1500 people in a county with maybe 15,000, but probably less, It was described as 200 miles north of anywhere.
The series was fun at first, but after it ran long enough the death count in Pickaxe City grew to the point where it was simply unbelievable – maybe 2-5% of the total population. There were 30-odd books and at least two people got bumped off in each one. Pickaxe City was more dangerous than Chicago in the 2020s. You had a better chance of survival living in downtown Detroit during the 1980s.
It got to be so disconcerting I stopped reading the series in the early 1990s – or maybe the late 1980s.
I was reminded of the adaptation of Camillieri’s Inspector Montalbano series, he is a little Berlusconi deranged in the notes, but the portrayal was very engaging by the protagonist
there was also a bunch of other shows like Donna Leon’s Brunetti series but that was dubbed into German with subtitles,
Just as a side note, Longmire’s home town of Durant, Wyoming is VERY closely drawn from the town of Buffalo, Wyoming, near where Craig Johnson lives. Having been fans of the books, we spent a few days there some years ago. Had breakfast at the Busy Bee and walked the ground of his then most recent mystery. Great fun!
When we were watching our way through Midsomer Murders, we soon started each episode with guesses of how many bodies there would be in each one.
I never doubted that Barnaby would always be immune to the mayhem ’cause it was a series, but he seemed to be a carrier of whatever causes multitude murders as a norm. Part of the fun for many of the episodes was keeping count of the bodies and trying to decide when the quota had been reached. Apparently Barnaby had no superior officer because as the bodies piled up he seemed to be able to do his magic without upper level meddling, second guessing and politics. Vera seems to have the same uncommon autonomy. You really have to pick your criminals carefully so the coppers never get seriously hurt.
And how about Neil’s score of suicide preventions and hostage negotiations? I’m pretty sure the idea of substituting social workers for cops on routine calls to 911 in Chicago and other war zones (especially in domestic disturbances) came from seeing Neil do his mind melding. Just the thing for defunding police. Now instead of Criminal Justice, more cops in training can get degrees in Counseling or Studies (as in Black, Hispanic, GBTLQ+++, etc.)
By the way, recently noted that Second City Cop site is back.
Death6
tmiguel cervantes @ August 30, 2024 at 12:43
There was also a bunch of other shows like Donna Leon’s Brunetti series but that was dubbed into German with subtitles…
Actually, no, it was made by German TV with German actors speaking German. Leon wrote the novels in English (she is American) and will not allow them to be translated into Italian.
it was a household sunk in the degree of squalor which most (but not all) male-exclusive households are liable to achieve.
There’s a 1943 British film, Millions Lilke Us, about a family who are all caught up in the war effort: a widowed father and two daughters. The girls depart for war jobs (the ATS and building bombers), leaving Dad to his Home Guard duties. There’s a shot of the family home a year later – and it’s an utter pit.
Thanks i did not know that detail
Shes rather anti American in print which doesnt come through on the page
Richard Osmans cooper chase series is coming to Netflix with helen mirren pierce brosnan and ben kingsley