Wendy sent me a note (Thank you, Wendy!) telling me something that, well, might bring out the green-eyed monster in some of us. CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) Television aired the two hour movie Still Life last Sunday night.
Most of you know that Still Life is the first of multi-award-winning Louise Penny‘s Chief Inspector Gamache (Three Pines) mysteries. And as if that isn’t enough to make those of us who didn’t have access to this movie utter “Harumph!”, it is set in a beautiful Quebec village featuring the beauty of autumn’s colors. Sorry, Cozy Mystery Readers, but it just keeps getting more Harumph-able: It stars Nathaniel Parker as Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. (Most of you know Parker’s work as Inspector Lynley in that television series. And if you saw the latest BBC Bleak House, you know just how terrific an actor he is.)
So, for all of our Canadian friends up there, I hope Still Life is a terrific mystery movie and also, that you all were able to watch it. As for all of us down here, let’s hope Still Life makes it down our way soon!
(Here is the link to the CBC Media Centre’s About the Show page.) (This link is no longer available.)
(P.S. Wendy actually sent me the note telling me about Still Life BEFORE they aired the movie on television. When I was writing this entry, I thought it was going to air this Sunday night. My mistake!)
Cordelia says
Thanks for sharing this! I watched the video on the link. Hope it comes to the US.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Cordelia, I am so glad you mentioned the video. I don’t know how I missed it! Thanks for pointing it out… makes me want to see the movie all the more. (And I enjoyed seeing Louise Penny’s contributions on it.)
Ann Philipp says
hehe – ‘more Harumph-able’ – good one Danna.
Consider me appropriately harumphed.
Cyn says
OHHH Ouch! I’m reading my fifth in the series and would love to see it! Also Harumphed….
Cyn
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Cyn, I’m hoping that as soon as one of us sees Louise Penny’s Still Life movie here in the States, he/she will tell the rest of us about it.
Rho says
I have really enjoyed all of the series, but the last two have left me aching. I actually got tears in my eyes at the end of the newest one–kind of joy at the beauty of her writing and the realness of her characters.
Barbara says
I am an expat Canadian working at a US university and I first learned of Louise Penny from this web site. I have introduced several friends to her writing including several Francophone Québecois. Her writing is brilliant, and her gut level understanding of the centuries long cultural struggles between French, English, and First Nations peoples in Québec is beyond compare in popular fiction.
While I am happy for everyone who is pleased with the casting of Nathaniel Parker as Gamache, I wish the CBC had hired a Québecois actor. I guess they wanted star power.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
I can certainly see your point, Barbara. I felt the same way when Gwyneth Paltrow started being cast in all sorts of British movies.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Rho, thanks for telling the rest of us about just how good Louise Penny is!
Marla says
okay, so there IS a benefit to living in Buffalo, NY! we get 2 Canadian TV channels and one is the one “Still Life” was on! so I DVR’d it and will be watching it over the weekend!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Oh my gosh, Marla! You mean you get to pick and choose between Canada’s programming and state-side’s television? Lucky you! (And here’s another benefit about living in Buffalo, NY: You have four beautiful seasons!)
Kathy D. says
I read two of these, including this one, and I am green with envy at the lucky Canadians who will see Still Life on TV.
Moreover, Nathaniel Parker, not too shabby, quite a hearthrob in my opinion.
NancyB says
I agree…nice to have a ‘pretty’ to watch. We used to always watch the Insp. Lynley mysteries on MYSTERY. I missed the movie…was caught up in some unreal ‘reality’ programme, but will keep an eye open for its return.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
NancyB, if you want to see Nathaniel Parker playing a character you might never have expected him to play, you ought to watch the 2009 Bleak House. He totally surprised me in this role.
NancyB says
I don’t think the dark side of Nathaniel Parker would surprise me, but thank you for the suggestion 🙂
Danna - cozy mystery list says
(NancyB, I’m surprised you understood my last comment. When I re-read my comment to you, I saw that I should have double-checked it before I posted it.)
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Kathy D, I doubt many men would complain at looking as good as he does! (And, more-over: He can act!)
Ann says
I wonder if they have it at our local library. I’ll put it on my list.
Ann
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Ann, if your library has it already, then your system is even faster than ours in San Antonio!
NancyB says
Just a note for you I found an M.C. Beaton called Christmas Crumble for .99 on Amazon.ca..not sure of the US pricing. There are also some good Dorothy Sayers on at same price in case you need fodder for your next free or cheap list. Is this the best way to whisper these in your ear?
NancyB says
Oops it is only 36 pages. It was free so don’t care too much but usually I want 150 or more pages if I am buying it.. I am a bit ‘penny-wise’ so I want more than a page/penny and I rarely try a new author unless the price is $3.00 or less, unless it is highly recommended. Good thing we are all different lol.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Either way, Nancy B, thank you for mentioning M.C. Beaton’s Christmas Crumble story. (I just added it to her page.)
Valerie says
A year later and it is finally available on Acorn TV. I am in the process of watching it but I have to say that I find the Anglo accents distracting. I wouldn’t want anyone with a phony French accent but I think it would have been stronger if they had used Quebecois actors for Gamache and Beauvoir like someone mentioned last year on this thread. In the books, as we know, Jean Guy is VERY French, finding the Anglos difficult to understand and so having the actor be English feels really off. And Clara is too young and pretty IMO. Olivier and Gabri are okay. Ruth is very good. And of course the scenery is gorgeous.
Valerie in Arizona, native Montrealer who spent her childhood summers in Brome
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Valerie, I’m glad you brought this up. I just checked and it looks like they will soon be releasing Louise Penny’s Still Life: A Three Pines Mystery movie. Thanks!
[I felt the same way about the Inspector Lynley television series featuring the beautiful (and thin!) Sharon Small as Sgt. Havers!]
Diane P. says
I agree with everything that Valerie posted. I was very disappointed in the casting of almost all of the characters. I imagined Ruth to be more acerbic and abrupt. The lack of a Quebecois accent for Jean Guy was especially distracting.
I’ll stick with reading the books and imagining the characters my own way.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Diane P, if you get a chance to watch the Maigret television series, it has the same problem with accents. However, Michael Gambon is so absolutely terrific as Inspector Maigret, that it’s very easy to over-look his English accent. Love this series!
Anne says
I really love Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamage books, so with considerable trepidation i watched STILL LIFE on Acorn TV the other night. Nathaniel Parker was better than I expected, but like just about everyone else in the cast he is too young. Clara is especially too young, as Valerie has said above. Three Pines itself is a tad too modern and stylish as well. It is supposed to be very comfy and homey and not quite so upscale. Jean Guy should be thinner and sharper and much more impatient and even a bit supercilious. Clara is less sure of herself and more middle-aged, usually unquestioning about Peter being the better artist. Of course it is unfair to expect the loving depth of character Penny can give her people when it is only a visual product we are seeing, but it is a disappointment, none the less.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Anne, I’m still looking forward to wanting Still Life. I became a Nathaniel Parker fan after seeing him in Bleak House.