More Village

    There is no need for the question as to which side runs The Village, as the cold war has long since come and gone. So it's more reasonable to ask, who runs The Village, and why? That’s easy, Summakor, and to make broken people better, so that they can be placed back in society better people. Who is Number 2? He’s Curtis. Why was the Prisoner brought to The Village? Because he resigned from Summakor, and brought to The Village in the hope that Curtis/Two could bring Michael/Six back into  Summakor, and thus hand both the company and The Village over to him, which he succeeded in doing. What work did Michael do for Summakor? He was an Observer. He watched people, sick people, hundreds of people, and he made reports which were then sent up to the ‘purpose floor’ of Summakor.

   Now there are comparisons to be made between both series of ‘the Prisoner,’ because there are a number of “homage’s” in THEPRIS6NER made to the original series. And yet it has to be said that this series is not the first to have given Six a brother, I did that with the Prisoner in my art house film ‘Village Day,’ produced some ten years previous to THEPRIS6NER in 1998. {The prisoner had disappeared, so in the need of help, Janet Portland made contact with her fiancés brother, whom she persuaded to go searching for him, and that’s why the Prisoner’s brother ended up in The Village as the new Number 6!} Six searched 93’s apartment, 93 being a representation of Number 6 in the original series. I also had Number 6 searching the previous Number 6’s cottage. The scene was shot in a replica off the interior of ‘6 Private’ which had been constructed by an enthusiast of ‘the Prisoner’ in her attic.

        I have to say that I was not grabbed, not captivated at the beginning of this new series, in the same way as I was by the beginning of the original, but I had been excited by the prospect of this series. I had been watching the regular adverts for the series. This reinterpretation is more subtle than the original, not so powerful, forceful. I liked the commercial break bumper, the sudden cutting of transmission with the simple words THEPRIS6NER. Oh no, I'm not comparing the two series, each must be left to stand alone, save for the echoes that cannot be denied. The Prisoner upon his arrival in The Village takes a taxi ride, he asks to be taken to the nearest town, but 147 tells him he only does local destinations. So the Prisoner asks to be taken to the railroad station, but 147 doesn’t know what he’s taking about, despite there being a ruined railway halt somewhere out in the desert. He pays a visit to the General Store for a map, and that's a cue for some humour. I could see that tiny map being unfolded into a much larger Map of Your Village, "Buy one, get one free," but I'd like to see the shopkeeper 37927 refold it. But do you know, I bet he could!

  

20 Second Interview With Jim Caviezel.

  “Were you a fan of the original the Prisoner?”

    “No. I'd never heard of it. I was on my way to do another movie but there was a problem with the financing. Then, bam, they told me to read the script and make a decision immediately. I got to London the next week and only then realised how big it was. I told Ian McKellen I was a bit nervous and he said "Get used to it darling."

    “Has the remake upset any fans of the original?”

    “It might have but it isn't really a remake. It's more a homage to the original. It's more relevant today.”

   {The above extracts were sourced from a 60 second interview for the Metro newspaper, April 27th 2010}

    I know one thing, you might not be able to choose your family. But in The Village you can have Two choose your family for you! And there’s not much of a varied diet in The Village, you can eat what you like, just as long as it comes in a wrap! Wraps are everyone’s favourite dish in The Village.

   “What even Six?”

   “Yes, barbecued pork wrap.”

   “I thought flapjacks were 6’s favourite dish?”
   “No, that was Curtis.”

   “Curtis’ favourite dish is flapjacks.”
   “No, caviar on wafers.”

   “But you just said wraps are everyone’s favourite dish in The Village.”

   “They are, but Curtis is the exception, he’s the boss.”
   “Number 1’s the boss.”
   “Ah, but in this case there is no Number 1!”

  

   Each day in The Village is just the same as any other, the day before it and the day yet to come. There are bus tours of The Village, but if you’ve seen all the sights of The Village, go and see them again tomorrow!

   At least this time round we know the Prisoner’s name!

    "So is that his name?"

    "Who Six?"

    "Yes. Six said I am not a number. I am Six, my name is Six."

    "Well if he said so, I suppose it must be."

    “I thought the Prisoner’s name is Michael.”
    “Yes.”
    “That would make him Michael Six!”
    “I suppose it does” glad to have cleared that up at least.

    I like Two's lap-top, it has a clear glass screen, what I mean is, while Two is busy spying on Six through surveillance and his lap top, you can see “through” the screen.

    I have found the character of Two dark, dangerous, and to have a twisted mind, and somehow I don't think any amount of time in The Village would mend his mental attitude. Or is it that Two has been in The Village too long, and if he can make Six accept The Village, accept the position of the new Two, then Curtis and Helen can escape The Village for good, and that's how it all turned out to be in the end. Yet as to Two's character, Ian McKellen had this to say "In the original series, Two was running The Village. More than that, he was played by a different actor for each episode, but this time there's just me playing the part. Two appears to be in charge of The Village and he has the qualities of someone who might well be that. If you like The Village, you'd accept him as your leader and revere him, but if you don't like The Village, you'd think he is a monster. I personally don't think he's creepy at all."

       In the past, I have felt an affinity with Number Six. I have played the role of Number Six in re-enactments at Portmeirion many times in the past, I have become Number Six in order to play the character. I have been told by those who have watched and enjoyed my performances as Number Six, that I am Number Six. Well it's been a few years now since I have taken on that role, and the years have taken their toll on me, and I'm older now for a start. But somehow as I've been watching THEPRIS6NER I have found myself becoming more affiliated with the character of Two and not Six, but because of my age I could play the role of the old man 93!

It is, as it is, as it should be.

Be seeing you