Mega Mini-Series Marathon Watching Sessions!

"We have you in our power..."

Because television isn't a big enough obsession for me... Now I have stumbled upon the wonderful world of the mini-series...

For whatever reason, mini-series were a big thing back in the 1980's. For those who have no clue what a mini-series is... there is Wikipedia. But if you want the simple, straightforward answer, here it is... Mini-series were like one incredibly long movie that was broken into hour and a half to two hours or more increments, designed to make the children of that time frame crazy because our parents watched every moment faithfully, boring their kids to tears. That's the long and short of it...

Recently, one of the cable movie stations, Encore, started showing a different mini-series each Sunday. Hence the beginning of a new obsession for me...

Pilot Major John Blackthorn, played by Richard Chamberlain

My first introduction to mini-series was the fascinating tale "Shogun". Richard Chamberlain plays a Dutchman named Pilot Major John Blackthorn who sails his crew on a mission to find what they call "the Japans". They make it to their destination and end up finding more than they bargained for. The Japanese in the village are suspicious of the outsiders, due in part to the Portuguese, with whom the Dutch are at war with, who have made it to Japan first and already established relationships with the Japanese.
Anjin-san ("anjin" being the Japanese word for Pilot, Blackthorn is too difficult for them to pronounce) eventually develops a relationship with  

Chamberlain as a samurai

some rather important samurai and lords, eventually getting involved in their plight against each other during the feudal periods unrest and inevitably becoming a samurai himself.

And, like most stories of this nature... there is a romance portrayed. Anjin-san falls, unfortunately so, for the wife of a really nasty samurai. The poor woman (pictured here with Chamberlain) had the misfortune of a less than admirable family and so was forced to marry whoever was willing to overlook her shameful past. Which would explain why a woman so stunning would be married to a man whose face looks like he fell out of the ugly tree and literally hit every branch on the way down...

Father Ralph and Meggie

The next mini-series I watched, surprisingly also starred Richard Chamberlain, was "The Thorn Birds"... I have to say, it was the most incredible story I've ever seen in my entire life.I was sucked in within the first five minutes and about half way through the first part, I had decided I wanted to buy the book and ordered it. 

It's the tragic tale of a priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart, a Catholic priest who just so happens to be incredibly handsome and has a difficult time controlling his "manly passions", so to speak.

Chamberlain as Father Ralph de Bricassart

Father Ralph meets Meggie Cleary as a young girl and develops a... I hesitate to say "normal"... affection for her. In a way, it is a normal affection that an adult has toward a child, but in a way it isn't. Especially to young Meggie who inevitably begins to think that she and Father Ralph will one day marry. The good Father has a difficult time explaining to a confused Meggie that he has given himself to the Lord and cannot marry.

They part ways and he does not see her again until she is a young woman. At this point, she's legal, even though he is much older than she, and the poor priest is having a much more difficult time controlling his passions for her. Granted, he could leave the priesthood, but his devotion to God is great enough, as are his ambitions of one day becoming a Bishop or perhaps Pope, that he cannot leave the order. And so, Father Ralph and Meggie go on through life in love with each other yet never being able to express it. This causes Meggie to run off and marry a man who was no good for her that she didn't truly love and bear him a daughter, much to the dismay of Father Ralph.

Rachel Ward and Richard Chamberlain

After the birth of her daughter, friends had sent Meggie to an island retreat to get her head together and figure out what she wanted in life. Little did Meggie know, Father Ralph had come looking for her and these friends had sent him after her. They start a torrid love affair on that island. Even though Meggie knew Father Ralph was never going to leave the priesthood, she decided to leave her husband. Later it is revealed the reason is because she was pregnant with Father Ralph's son. So long as she has a part of him the church can't have, she's happy. And she never tells him he has a son.

Years go by and their son decides to join the priesthood. After an emotional outburst, Meggie caves and send him off to study with Father Ralph. Their son grows to be a fine priest, but one day, while trying to save two young women swimmers from drowning in the undertow, he himself drowns. Father Ralph brings him home to a stone face Meggie. Father Ralph takes care of the services and once everyone has left, Meggie stays behind and finally tells him the boy was his son. Father Ralph is devastated and emotionally breaks down while Meggie stands by and watches, doing nothing to comfort him. This was the point I cried out, "Bitch!!! That was COLD!!!"

Rachel Ward

In the end, Father Ralph and Meggie mend their relationship. No sooner had they done so then Father Ralph has a heart attack and dies with Meggie's head in his lap. Truly a tragically wonderful tale.

Jeff Bridges and Rachel Ward  

As a  bit of trivia... Rachel Ward was also in the movie "Against All Odds" with Jeff Bridges... once again the victim of a love affair she can never see through to fruition. I think I'm starting to see a pattern here... 

I hope her personal life was better than the life of the roles she played...