The Prisoner (2009)

The Prisoner (2009)

Dir. Nick Hurran / 6 episodes, approx 45 minutes each.

The original The Prisoner (1967–68) is a classic example of British counterculture television. And even though it's a product of its time, its underlying commentaries and critiques of such things as politics and community are still arguably relevant. It didn't need a remake and it didn't need an update. But it got one. Mostly, it sucks.

For the benefit of anyone reading who didn't watch the original 1960s series, and therefore may not know what the title refers to, I'll give a brief synopsis of what you're in for with the 2009 version.

An unidentified man wakes in an unfamiliar location with no knowledge of how he got there. His travels take him to a nearby village that's filled with people, but none of the people have names. Instead, they have numbers. The new arrival is told that he's Number 6. Over the course of the miniseries Number 6 attempts to find out where The Village really is, why he was taken there and ultimately how he can escape from it.

Patrick McGoohan was charismatic as the original Number 6. In contrast, Jim Caviezel is like a walking corpse. That'd be fine if it was what the series was aiming for with its central character, but it clearly wasn't - he's supposed to be the linchpin, a conduit for the viewer's sympathies.

- It's behind me, isn't it? I'm boned. -

A man with no past is both a blank slate for a writer and a difficult entity for a viewer to connect with, so, as is often the case in such a scenario, blanks are filled in via fragmented flashbacks. But rather than add intrigue, the "snippets" of Number 6's past make him even more of a bore.

A series with a weak leading man may still work if it has an enthusiastic antagonist, someone to push the protagonist's buttons, get him fired up enough to make mistakes, etc. In this version of The Prisoner that role is filled by veteran actor Sir Ian McKellen, aka Number 2.

There's no denying that Sir Ian has the talent needed to portray the controlling Number 2, but the script lets him down. The basic idea of two human wills clashing like opposing elements gets swamped under a muddle of secondary concerns that don't fit comfortably alongside the primary narrative. In attempting to tether deeper, more disquieting truths to Number 2's role (which, in fairness, are new ideas that weren't a part of the older series) the already shaky structure is further stressed, increasing the dreariness. The whole endeavour was in need of streamlining.

A few genuinely good ideas surface amid the drudgery — e.g. giving the Village its own soap opera was interesting, with TV being a medium through which another level of social control can be administered — but they aren't nearly enough to save the whole. I sat through it all in order to see how the conclusion would differ from the original series. The original's resolution was controversial, but the remake's is simply weak and too preoccupied with trying to be clever.

It's commendable that the makers tried to do something different with the format, that they tried to put their own stamp on it, but on this occasion it was a misfire.