The air quality continues to be hazardous in and around Yerevan, leading to keeping me indoors and having no fun whatsoever. So, with this extra time I've decided to find some things to watch that I perhaps never really displayed any interest in before. Peaky Blinders quickly came to mind given it's a show that went on for quite a while. And it reached quite a high status around the world for its performances. Even down to causing some strange fashion trends within South America. I'm not sure why I never really bothered to check the show out before, I think it just didn't particularly speak to me at the time. It never quite managed to capture my attention. Perhaps a result of it being a longer show with episodes that last around an hour. There was a time in which I just couldn't find the time nor attention for such shows, putting them aside in favour of shorter ones that didn't feel like such a strong time investment.
Despite all the fame the show reached, I never actually knew anything about it. I had no idea what happens within its story, nor anything about its characters beyond the one acted by Cillian Murphy. This ended up making the show seem a bit more appealing to me suddenly as I felt like there was something that could be good to check out that I had no prior exposure to. Something I've been missing given most other shows that have managed to reach their conclusions have been spread around the Internet to no end. I've also been feeling some shows that films that are a bit more gritty. Something that feels a bit more real and displays a harsher world environment. Bored of the science fiction releases, bored of the very clean look that the film industry has been throwing out.
Being set in the industrial hell scape of Birmingham around the industrial revolution serves as a pretty ripe environment for the chaos that comes from corruption and desperation. Where criminal underworlds form in and around the factories in attempt to control the means of production as well as profit from it all. Where the working class attempt to rise above, various families attempting to consolidate their influence. The show introducing us to the character of Tommy Shelby as he attempts to gain stronger influence within the area. The Peaky Blinders being the name of the crime syndicate itself of which he's slowly taking control of. With a clear criminal underworld operating within Birmingham, the Peaky Blinders are under the watchful eye of the law; this of course coming as no surprise.
What I found particularly interesting from the start was the connection the show made to the era. The aforementioned industrial hell scape. A world thriving on production and consumption. Though workers are completely void of reward and comfort in their lives. Where in numerous European nations a rise in communist ideology is spreading. From the French Revolution, the Italian Socialism, and the rise of the Soviet Union. Even some aspects of the ideology spread within the exploited workers of the factories in Birmingham. This really set the stage a bit more for me, showing the environment people were working in, setting a real world in which we also understand the acts of the Peaky Blinders a bit more in their attempts to break free from the poverty by any means necessary. From racketeering to violent crime.
So far the world building has been pretty solid. As have the performances and the characters. It's a pleasant surprise given I didn't expect such quality to it, especially in the visuals. The cinematography and art direction are really impressive, from the interiors of homes to the rundown smog-ridden environments of the city. Even with all the extras running around giving that world a bit more depth to it. People running around the city, horses and carts within the roads. Small signs for shops and various businesses, each all greyed down and covered in thick soot from the factory smoke stacks. The show uses a lot of creative shots to tell more of this world. Really immersing us into the characters and their behaviours, the shallow depth of field moments to emphasise certain objects and actions to the perspectives utilised that have us watching them from afar.
I am curious as to whether this quality will continue or not. Usually it's quite common for shows to have a decent start only to find itself a bit lost when it comes to broadening the world and its characters, in attempt to tell a longer narrative that expands upon the seasons. Though after all these years of ignoring the show, I do think I've found something that will be taking up a considerable amount of my time while I'm mostly stuck indoors.
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