14 thoughts on “The Miniaturist Finally Comes to the U.S.!

  1. oh, well …

    what a boys me is PBS — they co-produce, yet we see the shows months after they air in the UK. It makes me feel that they are treating us like ill informed consumers – as though we don’t know that the show aired last Christmas in the UK.

    It also aired on consecutive nights in the U.k., which would greatly help the momentum of this story.

    1. what bothers me … damned autocorrect

      Still think it is no way for PBS to court a younger demographic …. they watched it in December if they were interested. And for longer shows — in this day and age, it is near impossible to avoid spoilers. (remember Downton and Sybil???)

      and sorry — love your site, but I’ve got kids in college…

    2. I fully agree! Even BBC America has tightened up what used to be a year-long delay between airing Doctor Who in the UK & US, so why can’t PBS speed things up w/the shows it coproduces w/the BBC & ITV? It’s frustrating.

      1. Interestingly, you often get the same issue going the other way – Killing Eve has only just started airing in the UK despite being a joint production.

        (The Miniaturist looked gorgeous, but it felt to me like a prologue; I want to know what happens to the household after the story more than I care about the story that’s actually told)

  2. They also made a 2-part story into a 3-part story. I feel that was done because they had 3 Sundays to fill before the new season of Poldark! That’s the sort of consideration I think they take when it comes to a property that has less media attention.

  3. I found the story very unsatisfying. The miniaturist herself has no motivation, and the periodic arrival of the miniatures doesn’t drive the plot. The story would be exactly the same without this added supernatural/psychic commentary.

    1. This was my view exactly; why was this miniaturist, who has to work for a living, making and sending mysterious, intricate messages to this merchant’s wife? What did the cryptic messages actually add to the story beyond spinning out the early parts for longer? I felt like the basic story of a naive young woman married to a wealthy merchant who’s secretly gay in 17th-century Amsterdam was perfectly interesting by itself and didn’t need these spoooooooky additions. I haven’t read the book, so my assumption has always been that the significance and purpose of the miniatures is much clearer in the book and something got lost in the adaptation.

  4. I enjoyed it and the gorgeous and accurate costumes. I’d read the book and sort of halfway enjoyed it bc I felt it needed the afterwards told. The dynamics between the women were interesting. Marin and Cordelia start by thinking Bella is just a pretty face and beard but come to respect her. Bella grows up and realises how confined women are —i am not going into the how Bella and Marin grow to like each other for fear of giving away the spoiler…

  5. Agreed on the gorgeous costuming

    As for the miniseries, I liked how Nella was shown as interested in sex, rather than repulsed by it. I don’t see that often enough. The “what now?” ended though, came across as a cop out. Finish at a better spot, dangit!

  6. I’m glad to see the costumes are so good but I don’t think I can watch this. I’m so over gay people always dying in historical fiction and I was already angry at the book for going down that route. :/ Just can’t stomach it anymore.

  7. I live in Leiden, so I should probably watch this, haha! I saw one episode but never managed to catch the rest, whoops. When they announced they were filming here I was expecting the whole old city center to be buzzing with film crews for a while, but never saw anything so I guess it was only a few days- makes sense as they mainly had to use it for some outside shots that you just can’t get in Amsterdam these days. I did have one question; her feast dress seemed a bit too edy for me, with the dress being firmly off-shoulder and the whole sheer black kerchief situation – was that acceptable as evening wear?

  8. I was at the Rijksmuseum last November, and while I didn’t see the cabinet (too many cool things!), I did get a copy of the book at the gift shop. I just watched the show last week, and the book was fairly fresh in my memory, so I was watching more for the details and how they told the story.
    Similar to Girl With a Pearl Earring and Tulip Fever, I just love how they light the scenes as if they were a 17th century painting. The buildings were beautiful, inside and out. The costumes looked great. One thing I hadn’t seen was the partlet worn over the gown and pinned. I’ll have to dig through more paintings!

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