Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Kasia Smutniak, Matthew McNulty, Liam Cunningham, Alex Lanipekun, Peter Campion, Colette Dalal Tchantcho, Christine Bottomley, Liah O’Prey, Ewan Horrocks, Earl Cave, Roland Litrico, Ben Blatt, Alais Lawson, Naike Anna Silipo, Kevin Lettieri, Darrell D’Silva, Claire Forlani, Lex Shrapnel, Emma Canning, Anthony Barclay, Finn Bennett, Claudia Stecher, Beau Gadson, Meadow Nobrega, Enzo Cilenti, Melodie Wakivuamina, Youssef Kerkour, Salvatore Palombi, Pedro Leandro, Liam Garrigan, Isabella Rossellini.
Language is detail, to honour language of any derivation is a must, whether we are using words from our common tongue or practising the words of others, we must always follow the rules of how we present it to the outside world; for actions might create empires, but it is words, chosen at the right time, placed in the right context, that shapes humanity’s minds and souls.
It is to language that we seek connection with others, and unlike the Rosetta Stone which guided us initially to learn the words and words of the dead, so we must take care of the way we show our own current use of the patois and vernacular, lest we allow those to come that we didn’t care about how we expressed our feelings or communicated our desires and fury.
The eight-part series television series of Domina is a prime example of how language can undo a piece of dramatic art and leave it, if not kept in check by other factors, a wreck of a performance.
There will be many ways in which to look upon the series, however, arguably the main reason it captures the imagination is the appreciation of Roman history through the eyes of one of Rome’s finest citizens, Livia Drusilla, wife of an Emperor, and the Matriarch of the eternal city whose ambition and skill at manipulation and of diplomacy perhaps out perform any of the men who held Rome and her territories in their hands, before, and after her time.
Domina is arguably the finest television expression of the period since I Claudius which dominated the British screens in 1976, full of spectacle, of close to the knuckle introspection on how the machine of dictatorship survives, and of costume use and small screen theatrics; yet somehow it is the laps in language which leaves it feeling under par, off kilter with its all-round execution of the life and times of the woman who gave rise to a nation.
It could be to do with age, that television needs to appeal to all it sells its vestige of a soul to, especially in a drama that has by the evidence on the screen, had a serious amount of backing from various countries to put the dream on show. However, when a period drama descends into the world of the slang and the misuse of language, of allowing a beautifully inspired character to say words such as nah, it leaves a grating on the mind; after all nobody is asking for pomposity, but such verbal dumbing down can have an effect on those who watch it. It is because of this misuse that a series as creatively drawn as Domina which should have easily been assigned full marks for its presence and the ability to bring history to life, in fact leaves itself open to become understated in the viewer’s mind and obligation to continue beyond the first series.
It is one thing for television to play fast and loose with history, but quite another to lose respect for the language of any nation, extinct or thriving.
An enjoyable series which sadly loses its charm when the grating on the ears becomes too much to handle.
Ian D. Hall