Landscapers: Cinematic Television
Writer | Fatima Moin
(Source: BT)
With 2021 behind us, Medianaama presents its annual Year in Review series that unearths interesting content that our audience may have missed in the steady stream of media they are surrounded by. For the second and final review of this duology, I would like to direct your attention towards Landscapers; a true crime drama produced by Sky Atlantic, in association with HBO, starring Olivia Coleman (from The Crown and Fleabag) and David Thewlis (from Fargo and I’m Thinking of Ending Things).
To get us started, the show opens with the following text on screen, “In 2014, Susan and Christopher Edwards were convicted of murder and sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison. To this day they maintain their innocence.” Now, as a viewer, my first thought was that I might have accidentally skipped to the end, while my second was that it is probably a courtroom drama, similar to season 2 of Broadchurch (which Olivia Coleman coincidentally also stars in). Spoiler: It’s not. Landscapers is not a whodunnit that leaves the audience speculating about who committed the crime (It’s the Edwardses), or about the intricacies of legal justice; it’s a surreal and fantastical depiction of the realities of the different individuals involved. You, as an audience member, are left to decide, whose perspective you believe, whether it’s the police, Susan Edwards, or her husband, Christopher Edwards.
The show centers around the Edwardses, an older married couple residing in Paris, who for all intents and purposes, seem to have left their home country, England, behind in favor of greener pastures. However, in the very first episode of the limited series, which spans across just four episodes, the cracks begin to show. As financial difficulties weigh down the unassuming couple, it is revealed that their quiet love rests upon a dark secret that is unfolded by the end of the first episode. So, what happens next? Well, you will have to watch the show for yourself to find out, but trust me, it’s worth it.
(Source: HBO)
Cinematic Television
What drove me to recommend Landscapers for our Year in Review, besides the show having slipped under most people’s radar, is the cinematic elements the show uses to tell its story. Despite being based on true events, it makes stylistic choices that are far removed from reality. There is no gritty realism to be found here, with the show opening like a movie set unfurling, as though they accidentally included behind the scenes footage in the final cut. The real Edwardses seem to have a shared love of Classical Cinema, with pricey film memorabilia found in their possession, which is also shown in the screen adaptation. Landscapers takes this and interweaves it into the visual and auditory depictions of Susan and Christoper’s inner worlds. When the color slips away from the screen and a cinematic score reminiscent of the 40s swells, leaving only Susan in technicolor as she ruminates on her current circumstances and half-remembered memories, the audience also feels like they are entering into a dream-like trance right alongside her. It is intimate, immersive, and above all, entertaining.
Some elements from the show that stood out to me were the old-school cross fades used for scene transitions, the CCTV found footage aspect and the projector style footage on the walls of the police station. Miraculously, all this movement from one stylized format to the next never feels jarring, with black and white scenes seamlessly blending in with the scenes in full color, and that is a testament to the great direction by Will Sharpe; an up and coming triple threat, who co-wrote the script for this show and is also a BAFTA winning actor. The unobtrusive changes are also helped along by the police cast of characters who bring a realism to the show that keeps it grounded, while the stylistic choices elevate it above other shows in this genre.
(Source: BT)
Quality over Quantity
With just four episodes, Landscapers is on the shorter end of even the limited series spectrum, but I think had it been any longer, it would drag. As it is, the episodes are paced well, even with the surreal visuals. The show never feels bogged down just for the sake of arthouse pretentiousness, simply because there is rhyme and reason to the stylized format.
As stated before, Landscapers is not eager to assign blame for an injustice and put a pin in it. Instead, it highlights the subjectivity of truth in a situation where each party is coming from a different perspective, believing their truth is the most absolute. The constant use of frame within a frame shots also adds to this presentation of multiple realities. In the end, though, it is Olivia Coleman and David Thewlis’ incredible performance and chemistry that win you over and make you lean in every single time they are questioned about their motivations and love for each other.
In an interview with The Guardian, Will Sharpe said about Landscapers and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (another project of his worth checking out), “They’re both projects where the central characters are people who are difficult to understand, or who maybe didn’t quite sit in the world in as straightforward a way as they could have done. I wanted to understand these people. I knew I could never fully achieve that, but I wanted to try as best as possible to get into their headspace.”
Landscapers does well at humanizing Susan and Christopher because of the sheer focus it places on their perception of events, with both of them making direct eye contact with the camera in some scenes like they’re justifying their actions to the audience, and urging us to believe them. As the show progresses and delves deeper into Susan's life in particular, there is a sense of understanding created for the escapism, for the need to dramatize and see the past with rose-colored glasses on, all to keep "wishing it away", as Susan admits about her less than idyllic childhood. There is definitely something to the idea that these two people who are riddled with trauma did not fit into an objective reality, so they looked inward and created their own, and so their motivations are not easily made apparent; but that does not make them irredeemable.
Originals
The final pull this show has is that it is an original series in the age of franchises, which alone makes it worth checking out, as it is now available to stream on HBO Max. Olivia Coleman stuns as Susan, and David Thewlis is right there beside her, as an immaculate scene partner. Landscapers is a treat for viewers who love creative storytelling, so check it out and immerse yourself in the dreamscape created by the show.
(Source: Stefania Rosini / HBO)
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