The shores of fantasy are populated by flagships. TV series with colossal budgets vie for the supremacy of the genre, while in the shadows, an underdog shines: His Dark Materials.
The huge success of the saga game of thrones has, long before its pitiful conclusion, ignited an appetite for fantasy that hasn’t died out with the reign of the Night King. Quite the contrary. The raid on bookstore shelves to find the next fantastic saga that would fill the coffers had already begun long before the Starks took over Winterfell: Prime Video bet heavily, with more or less fortune, on The Wheel of Time, Good Omens (adapted from the eponymous book by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett) and Britania. This year, after a long gestation period, it gave birth to the ambitious Le Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, a surprising adaptation bringing together several fragments of Tolkien’s work. HBO was no slouch, launching the Victorian The Nevers in 2021, while in its blast furnaces, the beginnings of the colossal prequel House of the Dragon, on the fall of House Targaryen, were boiling. Netflix has, for its part, launched The Witcher in December 2019, a large piece of fantasy literature, and succeeded tremendously in its transposition to the screen of an occult work deemed untouchable: Sandman, by the verbose fantasy author Neil Gaiman, to whom we also owe American Godsadapted, of course, on Prime Video.
The same Gaiman, in an interview delivered in 2019 to the English newspaper The Guardian, expressed his feelings about this craze: “There where Game Of Thrones changed things, it was not so much in the acceptance of the genre as in the budget that we could allocate to it. (…) It’s the idea that you can do TV with a bigger budget and the business model can follow.” Fantasy, in all its guises and expressions, has been a success since the 80s that has never really wavered. It is rather on the budgets that the figures panicked. The studio big bosses, many of whom grew up with these wondrous tales, have loosened the purse strings. And now, the blockbuster race is on, including the latest, Willowsequel to Ron Howard’s cult 1988 film, was launched by Disney+ at the end of November, with results that fell short of expectations (read the review page 24). In this crowded arena, HBO has a secret weapon: His Dark Materials, adapted from the saga of Philip Pullman. Significantly less flashy, less violent or less sexual than most of the aforementioned series, its three seasons, the last of which lands on December 8 on Be 1, have carved out a special place for themselves in the world of fantasy.
Change the world
The adventures of Lyra (Dafne Keen), Will (Amir Wilson) and their animal-daemons, facing the armed and all-powerful wing of the Magisterium, a sort of radicalized and fundamentalist church, unfold in three parts. This trilogy where strong characters enter the fray, such as Marissa Coulter (Ruth Wilson) and the bellicose Lord Asriel (James McAvoy), articulates a reflection specific to the genre, fantasy, which does not only offer escape or entertainment at great expense, but carries a multidimensional reflection on the world in which we live. “Long before the series, Philip Pullman’s book is filled with these universal themes, which cross generations, individual and collective experiencesconfides Ruth Wilson, with whom we spoke, in the company of James McAvoy and producer Jane Tranter. This is why this story remains relevant in any circumstances.“In general, the world of fantasy allows us to talk about capital themes with great freedom. Because it is a priori freed from the contingencies of the contemporary: “We can talk about difficult themes such as the climate challenge, war, ideologies, continues the actress,in a distant space-time to which we are connected despite everything. This place of escape allows us to tackle the big questions that assail us, in a less confrontational way.”
Fantasy and science fiction share this ability to open minds, as well as imaginations. They wield characters and archetypes capable, implicitly, of activating the gravitational force of universal themes: authority, geopolitics, power, good, evil, tolerance, dream, justice, sisterhood, fraternity, diversity, love, parenthood, transmission and all the crises that cross them. “Fantasy and science fiction have this ability to get rid of the everydayinsists James McAvoy. The world on screen no longer revolves around the fridge, the sink, economic, social or gender norms, it goes beyond all sorts of assignments. As soon as we move the story to planet X or Y, between an alien, a human and a fantastic creature, we go beyond the quarrels of opinion in which we are too often entangled. And we can address issues of diversity, equality, justice as effectively, if not more, than by addressing them from the southern suburbs of London. It is a very good way to free ourselves from preconceived ideas.”
jam the machine
Intellectual and spiritual freedom, the spirit of resistance and rebellion, conflicts between generations, the questioning of authorities and institutions are at the heart of the third season of His Dark Materials. James McAvoy enthused: “Above all, it’s the story of two kids – two kids! – who are led to change a world that adults shape with Machiavellianism and pugnacity, according to their will. As such, Philip Pullman has written a powerful story, which raises the question of adult responsibility. Everything they put in place, it is their children who will have to bear the burden and the consequences. But in the end, the innocence of these children is the grain of sand that will perhaps stop the machine.”
The success and the abundance of the fantasy genre in the series undoubtedly find their origin in the expansion of means and techniques of production. For Jane Tranter, Executive Producer on His Dark Materials“the advancements that CGI has seen over the past decade give us the ability to shape these worlds into the best shape possible, faster, more efficiently, and at lower cost. Until a few years ago, it was unimaginable that a TV series could achieve such results.“However, the competition has become colossal in the space of just six months. Facing the behemoths House of the Dragon and TeaRings of Powerthe formula His Dark Materials something to stand out. “We don’t have to play in the same division as these seriescontinues Jane Tranter, former BBC who won the bet, in 2005, to relaunch the cult Doctor Who. “Because the worlds we visit in His Dark Materials are both similar and dissimilar to ours. The budget only really goes into overdrive on the CGI part, necessary to give life, movement and character to the dæmons, these animals related to the characters. There is only one big battle in the seventh episode, of which she is not even the central element. Our responsibility was to tell in the best way possible what is at the heart of Pullman’s work: a story about love and its companion, loss. We built the entire Lyra Odyssey around this guiding idea.”
In a TV tradition that tends to give pride of place to violence, competition and more or less consensual sex, the unpretentious benevolence of His Dark Materials do well. “Beyond the impression of magic that these phantasmagorical worlds can leave, concludes Jane Tranter, we all feel like we’ve created a TV series that is, as Philip Pullman says of his books, a story for adults but one that children could and even should read or watch. We were uncompromising in the themes we wanted to address. They had to challenge the adults and leave a door open so that the youngest could find their way around.“In short, a work that has the charm, impudence and sincerity of childhood, at the very source of fantasy.
His Dark Materials (season 3)
Philip Pullman’s trilogy has found in this adaptation by HBO and BBC a faithful transcription of its literary material. This final season follows the plot of the third volume, The Amber Mirror. A traveler between two worlds, Will has gone in search of Lyra, held prisoner by her mother, while Lord Asriel faces the Magisterium, managing to unite several disparate troops. The realization does not abuse any effect to make the magic of a universe always accessible because steeped in references to the real world and, in a more subtle way, to some emblematic films and series. In the cruel struggle between Good and Evil, Mary Malone’s narrative arc offers the benefits of a more contemplative breath, thanks in particular to the finesse of Simone Kirby’s performance. But the whole cast proves itself up to a complex, almost choral story, with a terrible and moving outcome, capable of making the major themes resonate with intimate stories, the relationship to consciousness, and this way that we, humans, have to reflect ourselves in our relationships with others. Bright.
Series created by Jack Thorne. With Dafne Keen, Ruth Wilson, James McAvoy. From Thursday 08/12 at 8:30 p.m. on Be1. 8