East of Eden… the story of two brothers locked in an intense rivalry that threatens to tear their family apart.
On the prowl for any popular classic it can reinvent for the modern age, Netflix’s latest flagship drama series is John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, says streaming columnist NICK OVERALL.
Since the sweeping success of shows such as Bridgerton, Netflix has found a staple sub-genre in the form of period pieces that keep on proving to be streaming powerhouses.
Nick Overall.
It’s put the platform on the prowl for any popular classic it can reinvent for the modern age.
In the pipeline is a slew of shows and movies based on Jane Austen works. Recently Little House on the Prairie (based on novels by Laura Ingalls Wilder) did big numbers, other popular classics such as The Talented Mr Ripley and Lady Chatterley’s Lover have also made their way into the line-up in recent years.
This month is no exception.
Netflix’s flagship drama series this time is East of Eden, a new show based on the 1952 book by John Steinbeck (most famous for Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath).
The roughly 700-page novel is a multi-generational epic spanning the 1860s through to World War I.
It’s difficult to condense a plot on this scale into a mere premise, but at its core East of Eden tells the story of two brothers locked in an intense rivalry that threatens to tear their family apart.
Things get even more twisted when Cathy (here played by Florence Pugh), a beautiful and manipulative woman with ambitions of great wealth comes between them.
The insatiable contest between the brothers deepens as they age and have their own families, becoming so insidious it eventually risks spilling over to the lovers of their own sons, making for a profound examination of whether the sins of the father are doomed to be repeated through a tale spanning decades.
Plenty of material for Netflix to extract into a TV series.
There’s an intriguing familial connection running deep through the production of this series as well.
Show creator Zoe Kazan is the granddaughter of Elia Kazan, the director of the 1955 version of the film that starred James Dean.
Where once it was films that would be the screen adaptations of the epic works of literature, in this age it seems TV shows are the new medium of choice.
ANOTHER famous book adaptation, though one far more modern, is also whipping up a tonne of hype this month.
Carrie, the story of an outcast teenage girl with telekinetic powers she unleashes on her bullies, is now steaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Another book reworked into a modern TV series, this is the fourth adaptation of Stephen King’s first novel and once again has generated a huge audience.
It’s remarkable that more than 50 years after it was published the story is still resonating, considering it almost didn’t exist.
When writing the drafts, at one point King threw the manuscript out, having lost faith in the story and believing he was not able to accurately capture the female perspective at the centre of the tale.
Not long after though his wife Tabitha spotted the scrunched up paper in the bin and read it. Immediately hooked, she implored King to continue writing the book that would go on to become a bestseller.
Adaptations of the tale have been hit and miss, but early reviews are calling this version one of the strongest yet.
From the bottom of a bin to an international streaming hit more than half a century later, Carrie is a story that has come back from the dead with even more vigour than one of King’s gruesome creations.
Sienna Miller as Carla Duval and Dominic West as Morgan Henderson in War.
FROM Boston Legal to Better Call Saul to Suits, it seems there’s no sign of slowing down the ability of legal drama to bring people in.
This month HBO Max launches its own slick new series with a colourful cast of lawyers at the centre.
It’s simply titled War and set in the heart of London, this follows a battle between two of the city’s most elite firms.
One of them represents Morgan Henderson (Dominic West) a tech billionaire who made his wealth through a wildly popular social media platform.
The other firm takes the side of Carla Duval (Sienna Miller) a fiercely independent actor who has carved out blockbuster fame in Hollywood.
When the two go through a very messy and very public divorce, their lawyers end up in a vicious contest not just to protect their client’s assets but also their reputation.
The law says you can't use a song for political or commercial purposes without the permission of the author. But for artists, it's like playing whack-a-mole, reports ANDREW STAFFORD.
The second Canberra Art Fair opened at EPIC on Friday night with art, stalls and music by Sydney singer-songwriter Monico, bringing together 107 artists working in a range of media, predominantly painting.
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