User blog comment:Eikakou/Anne (2017) episode 1 - Your Will Shall Decide Your Destiny review/@comment-4934571-20170322153454

I am using this wonderful opportunity (my boring history lecture) to organize my thoughts. It is practically the first time I wrote down notes during watching – solely for the purposes of a review. And I took it very seriously, I have two pages of notes! So... let's get started! (This review contains spoilers!)





This episode covers the events from chapters 1–14, keeping almost everything the way it is in the book. There is one significant timeline change: in the book Anne goes to the Sunday school (already in a new dress, I think), then she meets Diana, wants to go to the Sunday school picnic and the brooch goes missing (after it is found, Anne is allowed to go). In this episode Anne hasn't been to Sunday school yet and she wears her new dress for the first time when they pay visit to the Barrys. Therefore... without the Sunday school and the picnic, Marilla's condtion is slightly different: "confess of you will be sent back to the orphanage".





To sum up the events from this episode, here's a "brief" timeline: The episode starts with Marilla and Matthew preparing for the boy's arrival. Matthew rides to Bright River and is noticed by Rachel Lynde who immediately visits Marilla. Anne is on the train with Mrs. Spencer (they apparently travel without Lily Jones because she cannot be seen and I don't think she and her adoption were even mentioned) and remembers her life with the Hammonds. The first flashback shows Mrs. Hammond slapping Anne and insulting her for not doing one of her chores (she was taking care of one of the children I think, that's why she couldn't do the chore).

Matthew comes to the station, meets the Stationmaster and finds out that Anne is the child he is supposed to take to Green Gables. Anne names his mare (Belle) and they set off to Avonlea, passing by the Avenue and Barry's pond on their way (they are renamed to the White Way of Delight and Lake of Shining Waters). We see another flashback to Anne's past – she is being punished by Mr. Hammond and whipped with his belt. While beating her, he is shown to have troubles with his heart and it is implied he has a heart attack and dies some time after it.

After they arrive to Green Gables, Marilla is visibly shocked and Anne feels it is the greatest tragedy in her life. Yet, she tries to negotiate with Marilla and wants to be given a chance to prove she is capable of doing the farm work properly even though she's not a boy. The three of them have a dinner, Anne spends her first night sobbing and in the morning she admires the parlour decorated with several family photos of the Cuthberts before she and Marilla drive to Mrs. Spencer's house. (It is probably in White Sands, but I am not certain if they actually mentioned it.)

There is the third flashback, Anne remembers her arrival to the orphanage and Mrs. Hammond mentioning that she is of no use to her anymore. Anne tells Marilla about her past (the backstory is the same as in the book, Anne's parents are Walter and Bertha and they died of fever when she was three months old) and Marilla starts to bond with Anne – she worries about her after Anne fells off the buggy. They pay visit to Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Blewett and Marilla realizes she cannot leave Anne with the latter. When they come back to Green Gables, she decides to give Anne a week-long trial and teaches her how to pray.

In the morning, Anne goes missing and Marilla believes she escaped. However, Anne is already outside helping around the house and learning the prayer. Marilla wants to make her a new dress (without puff sleeves) and asks Anne to take her only dress off. Suddenly, Rachel Lynde shows up and has some non-flattering comments on Anne's appearance. Anne insults her and runs away through the field and to the cliffs only in her underthings. She returns some time later to Matthew and Marilla's relief and even though she is sorry, she doesn't want to apologize to Mrs. Lynde. Matthew stops by in her room and convinces her that it is the right thing to do. Anne then dramatically apologizes and Mrs. Lynde forgives her. When they come back to Green Gables, Anne meets Jerry Baynard, a boy from a big family hired by Matthew to help him around the farm. Anne is unfriendly and hostile as she believes Jerry is her competition and wants to steal her place. Matthew then assures her that she will be needed around the house too because Marilla is getting older as well.

Right after that, Mr. Barry passes by on his horse and invites Marilla and Anne to come over to their house – they want to make sure that Anne wouldn't corrupt their girls. Marilla quickly finishes Anne's new dress and Anne is happy she will meet a friend. In another flashback, she recalls her time at the orphanage where she was (practically) tortured by other girls (a dead mouse incident). Anne and Marilla visit the Barrys and the former becomes friends with Diana. The meeting is successful, but Marilla finds out that her (grandmother's) brooch is missing and believes that Anne took it. She gives her the aforementioned condition – Anne should confess, otherwise she will be sent back to the orphanage. Anne makes up a confession that she indeed lost the brooch, but is still sent away as we see that someone taking her to the train station. Marilla and Matthew stay at Green Gables and both are quiet and sad. After Marilla finds her brooch, she realizes her mistake and Matthew rides on horseback along the shore to catch the train. The episode ends with Anne being already on the train and Matthew finding out he didn't make it on time.





Now it's time for miscellaneous comments, they probably won't form any narrative, but I'll try not to make a chaotic flow of my thoughts.

The opening sequence is SO. EFFING. GREAT! The visual and animation are just a work of art, I'd even say a masterpiece. Speaking of masterpieces... the cinematography is flawless and stunning, every frame is a painting. The shots of landscape and Prince Edward Island are beautiful, completely unlike the weird stock footage and even still pictures (!) used in the 2016 film. I am a big fan of good cinematography and it is one of the things I always notice while watching films/TV series. Bobby Shore immediately became one of my favourites after seeing this episode. The (violin) music nicely accompanies Shore's visual concert.

<p class="MsoNormal">When it comes to the acting, this series has three winners – Amybeth, Geraldine and R.H. Each of them is perfect as their respective character. R.H.'s Matthew is not a simple man and I would say he is rather sad than shy. He seems to be a bit tired of his life, looks like he remembers some unhappy moments from his past. Even though Marilla does the talking in the family, he has his own opinion, but usually is quiet. He doesn't talk much not because of his shyness, but because he himself doesn't feel the urge to say anything. As Eikakou has already mentioned, Geraldine IS Marilla. She is talkative, energetic, strong-minded and often reminded me of Colleen. I wouldn't say Geradine copies Colleen's style and portrayal, but somehow they both exactly understood who Marilla is and captured her spirit in a similar way. (She also sometimes reminded me of Rufus Sewell's John Smith from The Man in the High Castle – I don't know why.)

<p class="MsoNormal">And Amybeth... dear Amybeth! I think she became my favourite! She is brilliant! I didn't know what to expect when they announced her name, I was curious when we had all the behind the scenes pictures and sneak peeks. And now... I am blown away by her performance because she nails it! She made me relive the story once again and realize some aspects of the story that I had never considered before. She flawlessly plays Anne, she is excited during the ride to Green Gables or whenever she can use big words, she is lost in her thoughts when she remembers all the unhappy and traumatic things that happened to her. She wants to cry when she sees a cherry tree. She is full of hope and also despair, she is talkative, determined, full of feminist ideas. Amybeth's performance during the scene when she finds out that she is not a boy who was supposed to come is most likely the best I've ever seen, even better than Megan's. Don't get me wrong, but I always had the feeling that even though Anne is really sad (she cannot stay at Green Gables after all), she kinds of overreact and is way too dramatic (typical drama queen). I had this feeling in the book and in all those adaptations. I thought that Anne's sorrow was just her little performance and she wasn't as sad as she had presented it. Amybeth's despair is raw, real and convincing, she is completely honest and doesn't overreact. She perfectly portrays someone who went through years of physical and emotional abuse and is trying to deal with it by using her imagination. She wants to create a world which is better than the one she knows and it is now finally clear.

<p class="MsoNormal">As for the other characters, Mrs. Lynde is different from Patricia Hamilton in the 1985 film. While Patricia seemed like a comical character to me, Corrine is a little bit hysterical, unfriendly, hostile and seems a bit fanatic. There is nothing comical about her. We also learn that she was Marilla's classmate (I don't think it was mentioned in the books, we only knew Rachel had a red-haired classmate). Jerry comes from a big family, his name was changed so Anne could insult him. He has a nice French accent – the actor himself is a French-Canadian. It is too soon to judge Diana. Her parents are presented as a respectable and well-mannered (wealthy) family and we learn their names – William (another name into his collection, in the books his name is George and in the Sullivan universe he is John) and Eliza (we don't know her name in the books, but in the Sullivan universe she was Elizabeth). Mr. Barry seems to be very determined and resolute, Mrs. Barry and Marilla apparently don't know each other much. Mrs. Hammond is more cruel and bitter than in any other adaptation, she slaps Anne and insults her – Jayne Eastwood's Mrs. Hammond was not as cruel in the 1985 film and Lottie Hammond in Before Green Gables tries to be nice and kind to Anne.

<p class="MsoNormal">I appreciate the Green Gables's appearance. Its surrounding is nice and it is located near the cliffs! The interior is simple, but not dirty or dark – it's just the opposite! The space is full of light and airy, the parlour and dining room are not luxurious, but functional (reminding me of IKEA's Scandinavian style of living).

<p class="MsoNormal">The shows is incredible in the way of staying true to life and history. The costumes are not only "costumes", but real and practical clothes. The roads are red, Matthew's nails are dirty, the Bright River station is realistic. I also like the way the characters deliver their lines. They do not stand somewhere in the house, but talk and discuss while doing their chores around the house.

<p class="MsoNormal">The writing is excellent! Moira, you are the queen! She managed to stay true to the novel and even introduce her own additions to the story and her perspective without getting into conflict with the source material. I remember Susannah saying the same thing some time ago and even though I thought the same, I realized it once again yesterday – Anne works best as a TV series. That's the only way you can keep everything important in and pay attention to all the crucial aspects of the story. Also, you have enough space for character development. I am curious about this season because I know that the episodes 4-7 were filmed in the winter. They already covered 14 chapters in the first episode. I wonder what will happen in the upcoming episodes and I have this feeling there will be a lot of new material and additions to the story.

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<p class="MsoNormal">And when it comes to watching... I am glad I could help you! I do not feel guilty about it either because now that the downloading of TV series/movies is forbidden in the European Union (it's already been 3 years since the ban, I think) I watch everything online. I as a viewer do nothing wrong because I do not upload or download anything, I just watch what someone else has uploaded. The situation with TV is even worse here in Central Europe, not every series from abroad manages to get here and even if it does, it is always dubbed. I've never seen the films with Megan Follows with the original sound (fortunately, the dubbing is one of the better ones).