Taboo Movie Review: Top 2017 TV Series

Steven Knight, Edward “Chips” Hardy, and Tom Hardy have presented the first series of the British television drama Taboo, which is considered as one of the best Tom Hardy movies. The new series comes under the auspices of the BBC one channel. This is a sign of undeniable quality, starting from the considerable funding and ending with the striking attention to detail.

The events in the series take place in London in 1814. Trade with India has become an adjusted source of obtaining valuable goods; the British East India Company has become too popular. The Great Britain searches for new delivery routes for the goods, as well as the new ways to trade with previously inaccessible countries.

The main character of Taboo TV series 2017, James Keziah Delaney played by Tom Hardy, is considered as a missing traveler. No one has heard anything about him for ten years after James got lost in Africa and was deemed dead by parents and relatives. Only his own father, Horace Delaney, believes that James is alive. James returns home at the day of his funeral.

This is the beginning of the period drama and the start of the story. The return of junior Delaney puts spokes in the wheels of the East India Company, counting to get the island of Nootka after the death of the father. However, everything is not as the bosses of the trading company want. The father believed that his son was alive and he left all his property and rights in the testament to his son, who rose from the dead. James is not a fool to agree on a deal. Now he wants to restore his father’s ship company in order to explore the island’s surroundings.

The madness of the main character in combination with his primitive charm of the plot will definitely attract your attention during the pilot series. Now, it is important that the period drama evenly answers all the questions asked without leaving blind spots. 

The first point, which captivates viewers’ attention is a non-trivial story, assembled, in fact, from a series of trivial storylines, which include the mysterious main character who has appeared unexpectedly, the mystery of the death of his crazy father, and a tidbit in a form of a suddenly appeared heritage, everyone fights for. 

The plot depicts constant intrigues from all three sides of the conflict where everyone protects personal rights. However, the main character, James Keziah Delaney, is considered as the most amazing, smart and cunning person, who manages to cheat everyone and get out of the situation safe and secured.

Apart from this central confrontation in the plot, one can find many interesting things in the series, and it makes the project shine with all the possible genres. There is a pinch of espionage story expressed in the American spies (the United Kingdom is in the condition of the war with the United States), a mystical detective a la Sherlock Holmes, and a Victorian drama about family relations. The series also touches the subject of police arbitrariness closer to the end of the story. 

Edward “Chips” Hardy and other film creators have magnificently reproduced the entourage of Victorian London. The audience observes an incredibly dirty city with a high level of unsanitary conditions, where characters with dirty faces and rotten teeth wander around, where people can taste horse dung, and where heroes’ clothing is almost never clean (you can remember how the hem of the Hardy’s coat draped over the muddy ground). However, all this filth is presented elegantly, totally completing this Victorian city. The main character, dressed in a frock, a dark coat and a characteristic hat-cylinder, cuts through the city from one location to another, solving questions known only to him. He, like his opponents, weaves intrigues, appearing in the society (shown here in a familiar elegant but at the same time vicious light) among the bandits and prostitutes, who, become loyal comrades-in-arms for a hero in his personal war. Secular life is excellently shown: lush outfits and well-groomed faces go along with the vulgarity, depravity, and lust. At the same time, the audience can see a contrast in a form of assassin-killers who imagine themselves as business women while being prostitutes, who at times turn out to be much more humane than glossy gentlemen hiding behind a mask of piety.

The main character James Keziah Delaney deserves special attention. He does not try to portray himself as an honorable gentleman, although he is a member of a higher society. Many legends go about him, he is a collection of sins of the garbage of London city, people are afraid of him, despise, hate, and adore. There are various rumors about him: cannibalism, murders, magic and terrorism. At the same time, he is respected, and the questions of honor are topical for him. Hardy can menacingly touch his cylinder on the head, then he can lie in an expensive coat near the pier, and later he can run naked in the African jungle. Nevertheless, a special look of Bane from The Dark Knight Rises fits perfectly here. Hardy is one of those actors, who can show much with the gaze, and this is the story where this skill is really needed, because he has a complicated task – to embody the image of the most dangerous, almost insane, man. And he does it really professionally; one believes him and is afraid of him. Hardy reliably portrays his madness (hallucinations associated with the mother-savage) and passion for the half-sister. In general, it is difficult to imagine a more elaborate character. 

Jonathan Pryce deserves special attention. He plays a role of the main antagonist. His hero is the head of the East India Company, an insidious and unprincipled villain, ready to betray everyone to get his way. He appears to be a worthy opponent for Hardy’s hero, which makes their conflict even more fascinating. Oona Chaplin personifies here as a maiden’s innocence and a violent feminine passion. Her heroine turns out to be very ambiguous, but at the same time she is quite attractive. Stephen Graham has a bright role of the assistant principal character, which he combines with the killer. Franka Potente, Michael Kelly and Jefferson Hall are other familiar faces in the series. More details about the series and the cast are available form http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b088s45m. 

Taboo TV series 2017 is a bright and gloomy story, which amazes with the depth of elaboration of the main character, although not flawless. Some scenes make tired and drag out with meaningless dialogues and protracted transitions of characters from one location to another. Still, in general, we have one of the best Tom Hardy movies, a top British television drama on BBC one.