Big Little Lies
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| German title | Big Little Lies |
| Original title | Big Little Lies |
 | |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Year (s) | 2017-2019 |
| Production company |
Blossom Films, David E. Kelley Productions, Pacific Standard |
| length | 51-59 minutes |
| Episodes | 14 in 2 seasons ( list ) |
| genre | Drama , comedy , crime thriller |
| Theme music | Cold Little Heart ( Michael Kiwanuka ) |
| Director | Jean-Marc Vallée (Season 1), Andrea Arnold (Season 2) |
| idea | David E. Kelley |
| script | David E. Kelley |
| camera | Yves Bélanger |
| First broadcast | February 19, 2017 (USA) on HBO |
| German-language first broadcast |
April 6, 2017 on Sky Atlantic HD |
| occupation | |
| |
Big Little Lies is a 2017 American television series that was originally designed as a miniseries . It is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Australian author Liane Moriarty (English title: A thousand little lies ) and was designed by producer and screenwriter David E. Kelley as a black- comedic and dramatic television multi - parter for the US broadcaster HBO . The original plot of the book was moved from a fictional small town on the east coast of Australia to Monterey , California : A mysterious death occurs at a fundraising gala in aid of the local elementary school. Involved in the possible murder are five mothers of first graders (played by Reese Witherspoon , Nicole Kidman , Shailene Woodley , Laura Dern and Zoë Kravitz ).
The plot of the first season unfolds in retrospect on all events that allegedly contributed to the death. The identity of the victim, one of the main characters, and the exact circumstances of the crime are only revealed in the style of a classic Whodunit in the last episode of the season. Interrupted the narrative of sections , advance diaphragm , not immediately recognizable dream sequences and sudden level change in scenes. Scraps of police interviews with parents and teachers at the elementary school in Monterey are interspersed. In addition to speculation about the course of events and motives, rivalries are uncovered that can be traced back to numerous lies and secrets. The second season, which deals with the events after the death, is told in a more linear fashion.
It was first broadcast by HBO in seven 51-59 minute episodes from February 19 to April 2, 2017. All episodes were directed by Jean-Marc Vallée , while the lead actresses Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman were executive producers on the series . The German-language first broadcast took place from April 6 to May 18, 2017 on the Sky Atlantic HD channel . The German free TV premiere of the first season will take place from July 15, 2020 on VOX ; the second season will follow on August 5th. The series received overwhelming praise from the professional critics, especially for the female cast. At the awarding of the American Emmy TV Prize and the Golden Globe Awards , u. a. Awards in the Best Miniseries categories and for the actors Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern and Alexander Skarsgård . Some critics referred to the broken melodrama of Big Little Lies on a certain " soap opera-like " and drew comparisons to the series Desperate Housewives . On December 8, 2017, the series was extended by HBO for a second season. All episodes of the second season were directed by British director Andrea Arnold , and the ensemble was expanded to include Meryl Streep .
season 1
In the affluent, coastal community of Monterey, California, a death occurs at the annual fundraiser gala to benefit the local elementary school. During the Audrey Hepburn and Elvis Presley costume party , a person fell down the stairs of the back shoulder race. While the identity of the victim and the perpetrator remains unclear for the viewer, the police investigations and testimony of the party guests focus mainly on the befriended mothers Jane Chapman, Madeline Mackenzie and Celeste Wright and the events in the weeks before:
Jane Chapman
Single mother Jane Chapman moved her son Ziggy from Santa Cruz to Monterey just a few weeks before the incident . She works part-time as an accountant and moves into a modest house with Ziggy, far from the beach. Your son is the result of rape . Jane has never reported the crime and is plagued by guilt and nightmares that she tries to combat with possession of a firearm. On the day Ziggy started school at the local elementary school, Jane met Madeline Mackenzie by chance. She stands by her when her son is accused of mistreating classmate Amabella, which Ziggy denies. Amabella's mother Renata Klein, a successful career woman and on the board of PayPal , then begins a guerrilla war against Jane and Madeline after her daughter is subjected to further abuse and remains silent about the perpetrator. Jane later confides in Madeline and they both try to track down their rapist. Jane also makes peace with Renata after tracking down the child that Amabella abused.
Madeline Mackenzie
Madeline Mackenzie is married to computer specialist Ed for the second time. They live in a large beach house with their daughter Chloe and Madeline's older daughter Abigail, who comes from a previous marriage to Nathan Carlson. Madeline is a housewife and works part-time for the city theater. She is known in Monterey for taking care of other people's concerns. Together with the director Joseph, with whom she had a secret affair, she plans to bring the musical Avenue Q on stage, which causes controversy. Madeline is jealous of unconventional and fun-loving yoga teacher Bonnie, her ex-husband's new younger and attractive wife. Nathan and Bonnie have a daughter Chloe's age, Skye. At the same time, Madeline's pubescent older daughter, Abigail, feels more drawn to her birth father's family. A rivalry between Ed and Nathan also develops in the course of the series, while Madeline briefly resumes her affair with Joseph. This does not go unnoticed by Joseph's jealous wife.
Celeste Wright
Celeste Wright is married to Perry and is Madeline's best friend. The twin sons Max and Josh emerged from the marriage to the wealthy entrepreneur, who is often on business trips at home and abroad. The family lives in a luxurious bungalow on the coast. Her seemingly picture-book life and the fact that Celeste is older than her husband keep causing gossip among the residents of Monterey. In fact, Perry is prone to jealousy and violence. He becomes increasingly aggressive and violent when having sex together. The couple then consults a therapist. In the course of the series, Perry's excesses of violence increase after Celeste et al. a. briefly resumed her work as a lawyer against his will. He abuses Celeste, who only confides in her therapist. After an initial refusal, Celeste follows the advice of her therapist and secretly rents an apartment. She wants to leave Perry with her children. She is strengthened in her decision by the unsuspecting Jane who finds out that Celeste's son Max has abused little Amabella.
resolution
On the day of the fundraising gala, events come thick and fast. Perry discovered Celeste's plans by accident. He gets drunk at the costume party and tries unsuccessfully to persuade his wife to stay. Perry eventually loses control on the back terrace of the school grounds. He beats and kicks Celeste as if in a frenzy after Jane supposedly recognized him as her rapist. Jane, Madeline and Renata try unsuccessfully to separate Perry and Celeste from each other when the suddenly rushing Bonnie, secretly witness to the confrontation, pushes him down the stairs. The women talk to each other and later say that Perry's fall on the stairs was an accident.
The season ends with pictures of Jane, Madeline, Celeste, Renata and Bonnie, who spend a day at the beach together with their children, but also thoughtfully. The group is observed from a distance - presumably by the investigating police officer Adrienne Quinlan.
season 2
The second season takes place in the time after Perry's death, mainly the following fall, at the beginning of the next school year. The plot revolves again around the five main characters and how they deal with the consequences of death. The police are still trying to solve the problem and find someone to blame.
Renata Klein
Renata's husband, Gordon, is arrested for illegal securities transactions. The Kleins have to entrust all of their assets to a trustee who prioritizes the claims of creditors in bankruptcy proceedings. Renata, who has worked her way up from a poor background, is deeply humiliated and injured by the material and social crash, especially since the nanny Juliette, who wants compensation for sexual favors to Gordon, is among the creditors.
Madeline Mackenzie
Due to an indiscretion by their daughter Chloe, the children learn that Perry is the father of Ziggy Chapman and that Max and Josh are his half-brothers. Madeline's husband Ed sees a breach of trust in the fact that Madeline seems to share the secret of Ziggy's origins as well as her affair with Joseph with her children, but not with him. In the meantime, he turns away from her and a separation is in the air.
Bonnie Carlson
Bonnie is troubled by Perry's death. She is absent and showing signs of depression. Her husband Nathan calls on her mother Elizabeth for help. The relationship between mother and daughter is strained. When Bonnie's mother is in a coma after a stroke and Bonnie is watching by her side, Bonnie recalls the experiences of her childhood as the cause of their difficult relationship and clarifies for herself the relationship with her mother, who dies after another stroke. Bonnie decides to leave her life lies behind and breaks up with Nathan, whom she has never loved.
Jane Chapman
Jane found a job as a childcare worker in an adventure aquarium. There she meets Corey, a responsible, reflective young man who gets along well with Ziggy. She is very reluctant to enter into a relationship with Corey.
Celeste Wright
Celeste struggles with the trauma of her marriage and the death of her husband. She takes pills, goes to bed with bar acquaintances and causes a (harmless) car accident. Her mother-in-law Mary-Louise comes to support her. Mary-Louise tries to preserve an intact image of her son Perry, she carefully establishes contact with Jane and Ziggy, her unexpected other grandson. Mary-Louise goes to court to seek custody of Celeste's sons, Max and Josh, because she argues Celeste is too unstable to provide a safe home for them.
resolution
In a dramatic court scene, Mary-Louise's attorney exposes Harper Celeste's private and sex life - apparently Mary-Louise had her daughter-in-law monitored by private detectiveists for weeks. Celeste, still admitted to the bar in California, insists on interviewing Mary-Louise in reverse and confronts her on the witness stand about the death of her son Raymond, Perry's brother, in a car accident in which Mary-Louise was behind the wheel. She argues that the allegations Mary-Louise made her son Perry and the violence in upbringing were at the root of Perry's violent behavior. Celeste wins, the other four of the "Monterey Five" are there as spectators and experience how she can keep her custody. The burden of the many lies that Perry's death brought with it becomes too much especially for Bonnie, who wants to put an end to the lies. In the final scene you see the five going to the police station together, presumably to testify to the truth about Perry's death.
Cast and dubbing
The German-language dubbing is done at Film- & Fernseh-Synchron under the dialogue direction of Erik Paulsen , who also writes the dialogue books together with Angelika Brötzmann .
| role | actor | Main role (episodes) |
Supporting role (episodes) |
Voice actor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madeline Martha Mackenzie | Reese Witherspoon | 1.01-2.07 | Manja Doering | |
| Celeste Wright | Nicole Kidman | 1.01-2.07 | Petra Barthel | |
| Jane Chapman | Shailene Woodley | 1.01-2.07 | Tanya Kahana | |
| Perry Wright | Alexander Skarsgård | 1.01-2.07 | Sascha Rotermund | |
| Ed Mackenzie | Adam Scott | 1.01-2.07 | Tobias Nath | |
| Bonnie Carlson | Zoë Kravitz | 1.01-2.07 | Anja Stadlober | |
| Nathan Carlson | James Tupper | 1.01-2.07 | Viktor Neumann | |
| Gordon Klein | Jeffrey Nordling | 1.01-2.07 |
Andreas Fröhlich (Season 1) , Thomas Schmuckert (Season 2) |
|
| Renata Klein | Laura Dern | 1.01-2.07 | Sabine Jaeger | |
| Ziggy Chapman | Iain Armitage | 2.01-2.07 | 1.01–1.07 | Carlo Clarén |
| Abigail Carlson | Kathryn Newton | 2.01-2.07 | 1.01–1.07 | Jodie Blank |
| Mary Louise Wright | Meryl Streep | 2.01-2.07 | Dagmar Dempe |
reception
Anglo-American area
After it was broadcast, the series received mostly good to very good reviews in the Anglo-American region. On the Rotten Tomatoes website , Big Little Lies currently (as of January 2018) has a rating of 92 percent, based on 98 English-language reviews and an average rating of 8.0 / 10. The bottom line is: "Bitingly funny and addicting, 'Big Little Lies' offers an exciting, enlightening ride with unexpected twists and turns, led by a top-class cast of actors." On Metacritic , the series received a 75 percent rating based on 42 evaluated reviews.
German-speaking area
Ulf Pape ( Spiegel Online ) understood “violence” (domestic violence, rape, bullying, extortion, murder) that takes place in front of children as the actual topic of Big Little Lies . In this way, the series advances “to a great narrative throw”: “The series [...] does not use violence as a shrill means of exaggerating the neglect of prosperity. Rather, it traces the conditions of the violence, the lies with which the violent are covered, or the trauma that violence results, ”says Pape. Also worth seeing are the subject of " overparenting " and the performance of Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley (after Pape, the figure that "holds together what is about to explode") and Laura Dern. “The series exposes the failure of parents, but also empathizes a concern that not only parents know: the concern that children will be spoiled. After all, it is a question of the common good that we do not raise monsters, ”says Pape.
Jürgen Schmieder ( Süddeutsche Zeitung ) counted Big Little Lies as part of the “Slow Burn TV” genre because of the slow, detailed narrative. The dark soap opera captivates with its fascinating female characters; there is no such thing as a personable figure. Schmieder praised the actresses Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley and Reese Witherspoon, whom he counted among the "best actresses in the world". He also praised the art of directing Jean-Marc Vallée, which helped over some lengthy script passages.
Anna-Maria Wallner ( Die Presse ) saw “one of the series highlights” in 2017 and “the more serious, more realistic counterpart to Desperate Housewives ”. "This social study in the rich milieu is (especially when Kidman's therapist visits) an excellently played entertainment with depth," said Wallner.
Ursula Scheer ( Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ) critically questioned which goal the broadcaster HBO is pursuing with the star-studded series, which thematically lies somewhere between Desperate Housewives , The Enemy in My Bed and The God of Carnage and "between crime, relationship drama, comedy and soap opera, those in the privileged white upper class “games. Director Jean-Marc Vallée gleefully tears up the beautiful surface with cuts, flashbacks , foresight , dream sequences that are not immediately recognizable, sudden changes of level in scenes and snippets of police interrogations. But Vallée's skillful technique creates lengths in the first four episodes; the characters' problems would appear too banal, the hints would leave the indications cold. The series is "also a victim of its format: too long for a concentrated drama, too short for gossip-addicting glimpses into the last biographical nooks and crannies, it just doesn't find its shape," said Scheer, who praised the leading actresses Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman voiced.
Marietta Steinhart ( Zeit Online ) called Big Little Lies a "soapy melodrama" or "high-end soap opera" and cited it as another example of how the station HBO was losing importance. Director Jean-Marc Vallée was “neither a social study nor a socially critical thriller succeeded”, the series would most likely convince “if it exposed the dark side of its protagonists”, according to Steinhart. The critic preferred the similar series The Affair , which is more beautifully told and dramatically more exciting.
Awards
Big Little Lies received the Television Critics Association Award on August 5, 2017 in the category "Best TV Movie, Miniseries and Special".
At the Primetime Emmys ceremony on September 17, 2017, there were 16 nominations and wins in six categories, including for the best miniseries.
When the nominations for the Golden Globe Awards 2018 were announced , Big Little Lies received six nominations and leads the field of favorites in the television category. The miniseries, Dern, Kidman and Skarsgård won the awards. The series also received the most nominations (4 each) at the Screen Actors Guild Awards 2018 , along with GLOW and Stranger Things .
| price | category | Nominees | result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primetime Emmys 2017 | Best miniseries | Big Little Lies | Won |
| Best Director (Miniseries, TV Movie or Dramatic Special) |
Jean-Marc Vallée | Won | |
| Best Screenplay (Miniseries, TV Movie or Dramatic Special) |
David E. Kelley | Nominated | |
| Best Actress (Miniseries or TV Movie) |
Nicole Kidman | Won | |
| Reese Witherspoon | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actor (Miniseries or TV Movie) |
Alexander Skarsgård | Won | |
| Best Supporting Actress (Miniseries or TV Movie) |
Laura Dern | Won | |
| Shailene Woodley | Nominated | ||
| Best Camera (Miniseries or TV Movie) |
Yves Bélanger | Nominated | |
| Best Contemporary Costumes (Series, Miniseries, or TV Movie) |
Alix Friedberg, Risa Garcia, Patricia McLaughlin |
Won | |
| Best make-up (mini series or TV movie - non-prosthetic) |
Steve Artmont, Nicole Artmont, Angela Levin, Molly R. Stern, Claudia Humburg |
Nominated | |
| Best hair styling (mini series or TV movie) |
Michelle Ceglia, Nickole C. Jones, Lona Vigi, Frances Mathias, Jocelyn Mulhern |
Nominated | |
| Best single camera cut (miniseries or TV film) |
Veronique Barbe, David Berman, Justin LaChance, Maxime Lahaie, Sylvain Lebel, Jim Vega |
Nominated | |
| Best Sound (Miniseries or TV Movie) |
Gavin Fernandes, Louis Gignac, Brendan Beebe |
Nominated | |
| Best music supervision | Susan Jacobs | Won | |
| Best casting (mini series, TV film or special) |
David Rubin | Won | |
| TCA Awards 2017 | Best television program | Big Little Lies | Nominated |
| Best TV film, miniseries and special | Big Little Lies | Won | |
| Best Actress - Drama | Nicole Kidman | Nominated | |
| Golden Globe Awards 2018 | Miniseries or TV movies | Big Little Lies | Won |
| Best Actress (Miniseries or TV Movie) |
Nicole Kidman | Won | |
| Reese Witherspoon | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actor (Series, Miniseries, or TV Movie) |
Alexander Skarsgård | Won | |
| Best Supporting Actress (Series, Miniseries, or TV Movie) |
Laura Dern | Won | |
| Shailene Woodley | Nominated | ||
| Screen Actors Guild Awards 2018 | Best Actress (Miniseries or TV Movie) |
Laura Dern | Nominated |
| Nicole Kidman | Won | ||
| Reese Witherspoon | Nominated | ||
| Best Actor (Series, Miniseries, or TV Movie) |
Alexander Skarsgård | Won |
Episode list
season 1
| No. ( total ) |
No. ( St. ) |
German title | Original title | First broadcast in the USA | German language first broadcast (D) | Director | script | Odds (USA) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Welcome to Monterey | Somebody's Dead | 19th Feb 2017 | Apr 6, 2017 | Jean-Marc Vallée | David E. Kelley | 1.13 million |
| 2 | 2 | Mare bites | Serious mothering | Feb. 24, 2017 (online) Feb. 26, 2017 (HBO) |
13 Apr 2017 | Jean-Marc Vallée | David E. Kelley | 0.56 million |
| 3 | 3 | Broken dreams | Living the dream | March 5, 2017 | April 20, 2017 | Jean-Marc Vallée | David E. Kelley | 1.04 million |
| 4th | 4th | Hard on hard | Push comes to shove | March 12, 2017 | 27 Apr 2017 | Jean-Marc Vallée | David E. Kelley | 1.04 million |
| 5 | 5 | Burned children | Once asked | March 19, 2017 | 4th May 2017 | Jean-Marc Vallée | David E. Kelley | 1.17 million |
| 6th | 6th | Burning Love | Burning love | March 26, 2017 | May 11, 2017 | Jean-Marc Vallée | David E. Kelley | 1.39 million |
| 7th | 7th | Swan song | You Get What You Need | Apr 2, 2017 | 18th May 2017 | Jean-Marc Vallée | David E. Kelley | 1.86 million |
season 2
| No. ( total ) |
No. ( St. ) |
German title | Original title | First broadcast in the USA | German language first broadcast (D) | Director | script | Odds (USA) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8th | 1 | What have you done? | What Have They Done? | June 9, 2019 | June 10, 2019 | Andrea Arnold | David E. Kelley | 1.42 million |
| 9 | 2 | Treacherous hearts | Tell-Tale Hearts | June 16, 2019 | 17th June 2019 | Andrea Arnold | David E. Kelley | 1.47 million |
| 10 | 3 | The end of the world | The End of the World | June 23, 2019 | June 24, 2019 | Andrea Arnold | David E. Kelley | 1.62 million |
| 11 | 4th | Premonitions | She knows | June 30, 2019 | 1st July 2019 | Andrea Arnold | David E. Kelley | 1.61 million |
| 12 | 5 | Love-hate relationship | Kill Me Now | 7th July 2019 | July 8, 2019 | Andrea Arnold | David E. Kelley | 1.77 million |
| 13 | 6th | The bad mother | The Bad Mother | 14th July 2019 | 15th July 2019 | Andrea Arnold | David E. Kelley | 1.63 million |
| 14th | 7th | Now I want to know | I want to know | July 21, 2019 | July 22, 2019 | Andrea Arnold | David E. Kelley | 1.98 million |
literature
- Liane Moriarty: Big Little Lies . Penguin Books, London 2014, ISBN 978-1-4059-3156-4 .
- Liane Moriarty: A thousand little lies . Bastei Lübbe paperback, Cologne 2016, ISBN 978-3-404-17293-1 .
Web links
- Big Little Lies in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official website (English)
- Entry at serienjunkies.de
- Big Little Lies atRotten Tomatoes(English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b "Big Little Lies": Successful station in the life crisis . Zeit Online , February 2017; accessed on July 13, 2017.
- ↑ a b Scheer, Ursula: These mothers are not to be trifled with . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , February 21, 2017, No. 44, p. 13.
- ↑ Big Little Lies. Sky series; accessed on July 13, 2017.
- ↑ Big Little Lies. Retrieved July 9, 2020 .
- ↑ HBO series Big Little Lies: Among Helicopter Mothers . In: Der Tagesspiegel , Culture - Tagesspiegel; accessed on July 13, 2017.
- ↑ Big Little Lies gets a second season despite the story being closed . In: moviepilot.de . December 12, 2017 ( moviepilot.de [accessed December 13, 2017]).
- ↑ a b Big Little Lies . German dubbing index; accessed on July 13, 2017.
- ↑ Big Little Lies: Miniseries . In: Rotten Tomatoes; accessed on January 3, 2018.
- ↑ Big Little Lies - Season 1 Reviews . Metacritic; accessed on July 13, 2017.
- ↑ "Big Little Lies" with Nicole Kidman: Small Lies Among Enemies . Spiegel Online ; accessed on July 13, 2017.
- ↑ Jürgen Schmieder: It's always the other's fault . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , February 18, 2017, p. 32.
- ↑ Tears behind the wheel . DiePresse.com; accessed on July 13, 2017.
- ^ The Television Critics Association Announces 2017 TCA Awards Winners . Television Critics Association (n.d.); Retrieved August 15, 2017, from.
- ↑ Big Little Lies . IMDb ; accessed on September 18, 2017.
- ↑ Big Little Lies . Television Academy; accessed on September 18, 2017.
- ↑ Big Little Lies: Season One Ratings . In: TVSeriesFinale.com . April 4, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
- ↑ Big Little Lies: Season Two Ratings . In: TVSeriesFinale.com . July 23, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2020.