This article was originally published in The Courier on 7th April 2018.
THE CITY & THE
CITY: Friday,
BBC Two
KISS ME FIRST: Monday, Channel 4
If
you’ve ever wondered what a cross between Blade
Runner and DCI Banks might look
like, then look no further than THE CITY
& THE CITY, a four-part adaptation of the weird fiction novel by fantasy
author China Mieville.
Reeking
of cheap cigars and pound shop leather, a hirsute David Morrissey stars as
extreme crime specialist Inspector Borlu from the fictional European city of
Beszel. This dystopian police state occupies the same geographical space as the
affluent city of Ul Qoma, but they’re divided by a sort of temporal wall which
must never be breached. Citizens are trained from birth to automatically ignore
– or un-see – everything in their neighbouring city.
Episode
one did a halfway decent job of building this imaginative world, but it was so
preoccupied with establishing the central concept it forgot to introduce a compelling
storyline.
I’m
all in favour of television that demands our undivided attention, and The City & The City deserves some
credit for refusing to explain itself in instantly digestible terms, but once
you’ve got to grips with its overarching thrust, all you’re left with is a
semi-parodic police procedural where ideas and surface style take precedence
over emotional depth. There’s a gaping hole where its heart should be.
The
retro-futurist art direction is undeniably impressive. Beszel, a blatant avatar
for East Berlin and Brexit Britain, is steeped in off-kilter Cold War
iconography and analogue grime. It’s been brought to life with careful
attention to detail. If only they’d spent as much time on everything else, the
stuff that really matters.
Bring
on your sombre socio-political allegory by all means – when living in an urban
climate of fear and paranoia, human beings tend to employ wilful ignorance as a
selfish survival mechanism – but don’t forget to say something more substantial
than “Hmm, do you see?!”
Judging
The City & The City on the basis
of one episode is difficult, and perhaps that’s testament to its lack of
compromise. It’s an ambitious piece of sci-fi, a bluntly allegorical statement
about the far-reaching perils of ignoring the societal injustice that exists all
around us, but so far I’m finding it difficult to care about the characters and
their plight.
I
haven’t read the novel, it possibly has more depth. This adaptation may well
reveal those depths as it unfolds, but first impressions count. I don’t think I
can summon the willpower to withstand three more hours of a standard-issue
troubled cop with a standard-issue dead (or possibly missing) love interest
moping his way through an uninviting conspiracy thriller.
Another
adaptation of a science-fiction novel, KISS
ME FIRST is more arresting than The
City & The City. The latter is waterlogged with arch, self-conscious
loftiness, whereas the former – so far at least – explores its theme of
post-adolescent alienation with a relatively subtler touch.
Judiciously
scheduled to coincide with the release of Spielberg’s nominally similar Ready Player One, it focuses on Leila, a
shy, sheltered, lonely young woman who only feels alive when she’s immersed in
a virtual reality video game.
One
day she unwittingly gains access to a secret off-map section of this world,
where she meets a mysterious gang of similarly dysfunctional (if unrealistically good-looking) outcasts who’ve
been monitoring her from afar. Gradually, their fantasy selves intersect with
real life to intriguing and sinister effect.
Unlike
episode one of The City & The City,
this intriguing drama appears to have some soul. The photo-realistic computer-generated
scenes are more than mere exercises in gimmicky style, they’re seamlessly
blended and integral to the plot.
This
is, potentially, a thoughtful and timely series about the quadruple-edged
benefits of building an online community of remote access friends; loneliness,
21st century style.
It’s
been adapted by Bryan Elsley, co-creator of risible youth drama Skins, so I’ve lowered my expectations
accordingly. Everyone deserves a second chance, however. I hope it lives up to
its promise.
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