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The Mists of Avalon--on TV

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The TNT television network broadcast its version of Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon on July 15 and 16. This two-part, four-hour miniseries attempted to present the highlights of Bradley's mammoth book, and it did just that. However, that the miniseries was only four hours (including commercials) necessarily meant that many important details were left out.

It's always difficult to bring a well written, popular book to the big screen, especially if the book is as well loved as this one is. And so much of the book is characters' thoughts that the presentation is especially difficult. (The voice-overs certainly helped to move the action along, although they didn't reveal a whole lot of character motivations.)

Still, the outline of Bradley's tale (the focus on the women of the story and the conflict between the two religions) was intact, and good performances were turned in by all the principles, with a standout performance by Julianna Margulies as Morgaine. This is saying something, too, when the other performers include Anjelica Huston and Joan Allen.

I especially appreciated that Camelot showed a rough-hewn look, as if it were continually being improved. Too often, Arthur's citadel is shown as a gleaming, pristine fortress. Bradley's description (and the one put forth on screen) is more real.

An eight-hour miniseries would have been nice. The switch from Arthur as a boy one evening to Arthur with a whitening beard the next was a little jarring, and the Merlin (Bradley uses the name as a title) was never long on the screen.

Overall, however, the TNT production acquitted itself well and (hopefully) pleased not only fans of the book but also fans of the Arthurian story who hadn't read the book.