Archangel - BBC [DVD]

In 2005, a year before his James Bond debut Daniel Craig appeared in this three-part BBC adaptation of Robert Harris’s 1989 novel concerning the unearthing of a secret notebook belonging to Josef Stalin. Set in ‘contemporary’ Russia Craig plays a maverick English historian who becomes embroiled in a political conspiracy when investigating the possible existence of said notebook. Although the narrative continues apace, for me the intriguing aspect of this production was its reflection on the state of the nation of Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the muted depiction of this seemingly chaotic wild-East fledgling democratic-Capitalist country, the growing nostalgia for a ‘strong hand’ to stop it slipping back into another era of darkness and the re-awakening of the seeds of totalitarianism. The tightly written screenplay skilfully weaves its web of deception, betrayal, murder, intrigue and numerous chase scenes leading to a satisfying climax. The cinematography is outstanding, from the drab menacing grey of the Soviet flashbacks to the stark and stunning rural landscapes of northern Russia, while the acting is universally excellent from a predominantly eastern European cast. I would definitely watch this again.

I bought this thinking it was a full length film, not a three part series. Craig in a Bond like role but without the espionage angle and no back up, I assume his performance in this prompted his being cast for the Bond films. This is nothing like the helter, skelter, Kung Fu,flash bang action of the 007 movies, much more like the Le Carre Tinker, Tailor, etc style. Superb location action, very realistic.The BBC can produce come outstanding, on location, film work to rival anything from the USA or the Nordic Noir. A big shame that with all the criticism of the management for their shortcomings elsewhere that their strong points get overlooked and budgets are severely pruned. We watched all the episodes in one sitting as if it were a film and were in no way disappointed. It rivaled any of Michael Caine's Harry Palmer films in Russia.

This is a superb production with a fascinating, maybe even somewhat plausible, link to post communist Russia. The insights given into the contrast between modern and communist Russia are intriguing. Although it presents a familiar theme that Stalin was evil it also leaves me with the impression that he had a more vulnerable, gentle side even. For that I admire the productions sensitivity in terms of lack of too much bias. It shows much intuition into a very fascinating country with all its mystery and astonishing survivalism. This is a series well worth every minute of watching. The acting is absolutely amazing and the authenticity of the action is greatly enhanced by the way the 2 languages, English and Russian obviously, are used in the production. It is a dvd to be truly treasured.

I purchased this as a fan of Daniel Craig's acting and the DVD was well recommended. I was disappointed from the start, what seems like a good story is poorly executed and underwhelming. Would not recommend.

Wooden really poor acting, poor script and badly put together, but it does have reasonably loud Russian music in the end credits. When the bbc does things badly it really goes flat out for it. Could not be asked to watch the 3rd and final episode because I just was not interested in how it turned out or what happened to any of the so called characters.