House of Cards (Netflix)

House of Cards is the new Netflix original series, starring the great Kevin Spacey, based, loosely, on the original BBC series of the same name. Both versions are worth your time, especially if you like stories of political intrigue.

Although the first season of the American version is quite good, it had big shoes to fill, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it falls a bit short, beginning with the name of its protagonist, Francis Underwood (Spacey), the Democratic Whip in the House of Representatives. While I realize that the name “Urquhart” (pronounced Ur-kurt) is rare in the United States, its harsh, guttural sound, with its implied malevolence, sets a tone in the BBC version that “Underwood” simply doesn’t have.

More significantly, however, the plot, particularly towards the end of this first season, has some wholly unconvincing twists that I won’t elaborate on here in case you see the show. The acting in the series, however, is consistently superb, beginning with Spacey’s performance, in which his character pretends to be obsequious toward the President but really plans to seize power at the first opportunity. Also outstanding is Robin Wright, who plays his wife and ally in his quest for power. Through her chilliness and narcissism, there’s a hint of vulnerability.

Both versions of the show are well worth your time, especially if you like your anti-heroes on the cynical side, but I especially hope that you’ll check out the BBC version. And if you think I’m being unpatriotic by preferring that series, I’ll just have to reply, “You might think very well that, but I couldn’t possibly comment.”

P.S.: Once you’ve seen the Netflix show, you’ll enjoy this parody, starring Spacey himself.

House of Cards (BBC)

House of Cards is the new Netflix original series, starring the great Kevin Spacey, based, loosely, on the original BBC series of the same name. I watched both recently, and while the American version is quite good, the English version is the undisputed master.

The BBC aired House of Cards, a political thriller based on a novel by the same title, in four hour-long installments in 1990. The plot traces the machinations of the protagonist, Francis Urquhart, Chief Majority Whip in the House of Commons, as he plots a rise to Prime Minister following the deposal of Maggie Thatcher by her own Conservative party. Urquhart, ingeniously played by Ian Richardson, seduces a young reporter to spread his backstabbing gossip about his colleagues. Meanwhile, his wife, played by the wintery Diane Fletcher, aids him in his seduction so that she can consolidate her own power. Neither husband nor wife will hesitate to use blackmail on even their closest supporters if it will help further their aims. Throughout the show, Urquhart breaks the fourth wall by directly addressing the camera, much like the villains in Shakespeare’s tragedies use asides to let the audience know their own deceptions.

At this point, you’re probably thinking “Those plot points remind me of Shakespeare’s Richard III, with a dollop of Macbeth,” and I think that you’d be entirely correct with your analysis, especially if you stir in some Machiavelli.

The immense success of the series led the BBC to commission two sequels, To Play the King (1993) and The Final Cut (1995), in which Urquhart manipulates the royal family and then steals elections in order to continue as the longest-serving Prime Minister in the 20^th century. Furthermore, he’s determined to erase the Thatcher legacy (he sees Maggie as his true rival even after she’s left the political scene) so that he can secure his legacy as the most powerful Prime Minister in English history.

If you like dramas about political intrigue, or if you’re an Anglophile, then you’ll love this series. I’ll post about the Netflix series in a few days.