The Miniaturist

Guess what? There were homosexuals in the 17th century!

It is very interesting reading the reviews for this series as they are all over the place from glowing to downright insulting. What I found a little peculiar was that a few people claim to be so "Deeply offended" and or shocked by the inclusion of scenes depicting homosexual relations between two men. I presume that this is in the original source material and of course is deeply essential to the plotline whether you like the plot line or not. Really in 2018 what is the big deal.? You know your son is not going to turn to be gay if he sees this on TV.

There seems to be some confusion among British and American viewers writing here, yes? The 156-minute production seems to have been shown in two episodes on British TV while PBS is showing the production on Masterpiece in three episodes of 52 minutes each. No surprise there- think back to the showing of "Bleak House" and how it was presented quite differently to the two audiences in terms of episodes. BTW, it seems a fine production to me, not at all thin and poorly-conceived. Quite the opposite!

It's as if Rembrandt and Vermeer have come to life. It's an engaging story beautifully told. I could go season 2.

The basic source of seduction for this mini-serie is the atmosphere. As beautiful embroidery of cultural references, from Vermeer and Rembrandt to Victorian Gothic stories. The week point - maybe...atmosphere. More exactly, its pressure who seems transform the characters in clay sillhouettes. In essence, a beautiful adaptation , unrealistic in few points but real seductive for the flavors of a lost time. So, a sort of gem. Maybe not original but aestheticall at whole.

Hurry up and wait...anticipate something...that NEVER ends up happening. This entire mini-series was beautifully produced but THAT is literally all. In this day and age, nothing about this story is either shocking or evocative enough. Maybe this would have shocked audiences back in the '70's (and that's a big MAYBE) but the so-called plot twists carry no real narrative weight anymore. The whole thing is too contrived and it Calvinistically pats itself on the back for it's attempt at subtlety. It's a hardcore moralistic story that carries little to no weight anymore and frankly I cannot even believe that this book was up for a publishers' bidding war! I just don't see it.