The Prisoner
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Prisoner |
| Original title | The prisoner |
 | |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| year | 2009 |
| Production company |
Granada International , ITV Productions |
| length | 45 minutes |
| Episodes | 6 in 1 season |
| genre | Drama , sci-fi , thriller |
| production | Michele Buck , Bill Gallagher |
| music | Rupert Gregson-Williams |
| First broadcast | November 15, 2009 ( USA ) on AMC TV |
| German-language first broadcast |
January 13, 2012 on ZDFneo |
| occupation | |
|
Main actor:
Supporting cast:
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The Prisoner - Der Gefangene (Original title: The Prisoner ) is a six-part mystery series that was first broadcast in November 2009 on the American cable broadcaster AMC in cooperation with the British broadcaster ITV . In Germany it was broadcast by ZDF neo . A suspected data analyst from an American software company is abducted to a mysterious place in the desert after his resignation and held there as number 6 . All the people in this place named Village have also been assigned numbers and can no longer remember a previous life. The head of the place is a man named number 2 . The basic idea of the series was filmed in series number 6 in the 1960s . The main roles are played by Ian McKellen and James Caviezel .
content
An unknown young man finds himself in the middle of a desert and observes a hunt for an old man who dies shortly afterwards. A little later, the young man discovers a city in which all the houses have the same tent-like shape, and a mysterious society lives whose head seems to be number 2 . All the people in town have a number; he himself is addressed as number 6 . Number 6 can only vaguely remember his previous life and realizes that he can no longer leave town. He then befriends taxi driver number 147 and doctor number 313 . Number 6 tries to understand the context of the apparently dictatorial society in which all residents are constantly monitored and manipulated and children are already trained to be informers. He also tries to leave the city as quickly as possible and to resist the constant manipulation by number 2 . The son of number 2 also begins to question the order in the village and to oppose his father.
Episodes and broadcast
The US premiere took place on November 15, 2009 on the cable broadcaster AMC-TV on three consecutive evenings of two hours each, the pay-TV broadcaster Canal + in France followed on February 15, 2010. In Great Britain, the television premiere took place on the 17th April 2010. The German television premiere on ZDFneo was on January 13, 2012. A repetition in the ZDF main program took place on July 16, 2012. Due to weak ratings, the series was removed from its broadcasting slot after two episodes at 11 p.m. and the other episodes were only broadcast after midnight out.
| No. | Episode title (German) | Episode title (original) | First broadcast in the USA | First broadcast in Germany ( ZDFneo ) |
| 1 | The arrival | Arrival | November 15, 2009 | January 13, 2012 |
| 2 | harmony | Harmony | November 15, 2009 | January 20, 2012 |
| 3 | anvil | Anvil | November 16, 2009 | January 27, 2012 |
| 4th | Soul mate | Darling | November 16, 2009 | 3rd February 2012 |
| 5 | schizophrenia | Schizoid | November 17, 2009 | February 10, 2012 |
| 6th | Checkmate | Checkmate | November 17, 2009 | 17th February 2012 |
criticism
In Germany the media response was very subdued and only a few reviews were published. In his review of the opening episode, Torben Gebhardt ( quotemeter.de ) mainly praised the original series number 6 , which saw itself as "groundbreaking for many genre series after it, regardless of whether from the point of view of pop culture or surreal staging". Not much is left of that in the reinterpretation. It is a “harmless and at the same time somewhat half-baked reinterpretation of the cult classic”, which is unnecessarily confusing due to its “exaggeratedly nested narrative”. Gebhardt also criticizes the actor in number 6 , "who acts rather pale and contourless".
In the US, the criticism was rather divided, the series achieved a Metascore of 46/100 on Metacritic , based on 21 reviews.
Linda Stasi wrote in the New York Post that one should stay out of the village. Above all, she criticized absurd peculiarities: There are computers in town, but only ancient televisions and radios that only played beach boys music. For unexplained reasons, residents are only allowed to eat wraps . She found the story of the woman of number 2 particularly unhappy , who is being kept in a comatose state.
Robert Bianco attests that the series in USA Today does not do justice to the original from the 60s. For example, he criticizes that number 2 is embodied by only one person, but certifies that actor Ian McKellen is the only reason to watch the series at all. Bianco sees a major problem in the series in the changed framework conditions; the series does not fit into the present day.
Tim Goodman noted in the San Francisco Chronicle that the original series was something new and groundbreaking at the time. In the meantime, however, there are series such as Twin Peaks , Lost and the X-Files , and the idea of inspiring the viewer with a vague, ominous and bizarre representation is therefore outdated. However, Goodman sees the biggest problem in the fact that the series is not very tempting because it digresses too much.
Alexandra Stanley ( The New York Times ) certifies the series that it is exciting about the human condition, in contrast to the original, but only pays lip service and instead explores a power struggle between people.
synchronization
The dialogue book for the remake was written by Katrin Miclette . Jens Wawrczeck directed the dialogue . The dubbed version was produced by Studio Hamburg Synchron GmbH .
| role | Voice actor |
|---|---|
| Number 2 (Sir Ian McKellen) | Achim Schülke |
| Number 6 (James Caviezel) | Peter Lontzek |
| Number 313 (Ruth Wilson) | Marion von Stengel |
| Number 147 (Lennie James) | Erik Schäffler |
| M2 (Rachael Blake) | Traudel Sparrowhawk |
| 11-12 (Jamie Campbell Bower) | Jonas Nay |
| 14-15 / Lucy (Hayley Atwell) | Jennifer Bottcher |
| 909 (Vincent Regan) | Stephan Benson |
| 16 (Jeffrey R. Smith) | Martin Lohmann |
| 21-16 (Renate Stuurman) | Angela Quast |
DVD and Blu-ray releases
The DVDs and Blu-rays with all 6 episodes appeared in Germany in March 2012.
Trivia
- The place of action is no longer the "village" surrounded by forest, but the "city" surrounded by desert. Their logo is now a stylized hand instead of a penny farthing high wheel. Production designer Michael Pickwoad took the wedding tower in Darmstadt, built in 1908 during the Art Nouveau, as a model.
- There are some references in the series to series number 6 . In addition to the largely adopted idea, there are some references to the old series, for example a lava lamp is seen more often , as is the penny farthing penny farthing . The purchase of a map of the place was also taken from the original series.
- Rover - the white balloon and "watchdog" of the place - was taken from series number 6 . At the time, it was a solution to the problem of production engineering: After initial attempts with a mechanical vehicle had failed, they tried a weather balloon, which they had accidentally observed.
- In contrast to series number 6 , number 2 does not change in every episode, but is always embodied by Ian McKellen .
- The original titles all allude to titles of individual episodes from series number 6 . Three titles ( Arrival , Checkmate and Harmony ) were taken over directly, the remaining three in a shortened form ( Anvil instead of Hammer into Anvil , Darling instead of Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling and Shizoid instead of The Schizoid Man ). This allusion was also partly evident in the German titles ( Die Arrival , Schachmatt , Harmonie and Amboss ). The content of the episodes is completely different.
Web links
- The Prisoner - The Prisoner in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The new edition of the cult series . serienfans.tv. July 27, 2009. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
- ↑ ZDF postpones "The Prisoner" further into the night. In: quotenmeter.de. July 26, 2012, accessed March 21, 2015 .
- ^ The Critics: "The Prisoner - The Prisoner: Arrival" (1x01). In : quotemeter.de . January 12, 2012, accessed March 21, 2015 .
- ↑ The Prisoner: Season 1. Metacritic , accessed on November 17, 2010 (English).
- ^ Wrong "number". In: New York Post . November 12, 2009, accessed March 21, 2015 .
- ↑ AMC's 'Prisoner' remake does no justice to the original. In: USA Today . November 13, 2009, accessed March 21, 2015 .
- ↑ TV review: 'Prisoner' remake captive of past. In: San Francisco Chronicle . November 13, 2009, accessed March 21, 2015 .
- ^ Prisoner: Rethinking of a Number Between 1 and 10. In: The New York Times . November 13, 2009, accessed March 21, 2015 .
- ↑ The Prisoner. TV miniseries (2009). German synchronous file , accessed on February 17, 2012 .
- ^ Review of the series in the Los Angeles Times