Game of Thrones: the documentary review "The Last Watch"

by Jesse Schedeen

Warning: The last spoilers of the documentary "The Last Watch" and the final series of Game of Thrones below.

Whatever your feelings about the last season of Game of Thrones, we all have to get used to the prospect of a world where our last nights and our Monday morning water chilling sessions are no longer dominated by the latest events in Westeros. It's a strange prospect. Fortunately, HBO has one last gift of departure before the long wait for the different series of prequel. The documentary "The Last Watch", which lasts two hours, offers both a glimpse into the organization of the last season and a crucial reminder that thousands of people have invested to give life to this saga of a decade.

"The Last Watch" plays like the Game of Thrones, equivalent to Star Wars documentaries such as "The Beginning" and "The Director and the Jedi". Director Jeanie Finlay discusses the mystique of the series to show the many challenges to create this fantastic world and give life to these huge battle sequences. And rather than presenting this story from the perspective of familiar faces such as animators David Benioff and DB Weiss, we see what are the different make-up artists, stuntmen, set designers, production badistants and back-stage extras. plan.

This focus on the kind of blue-collar underwear of Game of Thrones is largely responsible for the charm of the documentary. We now know exactly what Weiss and Benioff think of their work. They were there to recap each installment in the segments "Inside the episode". There is a real novelty to see the daily struggles of people who remain mostly invisible, even if their work is invaluable for the final product. And while there is no "Dark Hearts" style collapse on the set or intense interpersonal dramas, the documentary avoids the over-produced and relentlessly positive nature of many feature films. He recognizes that working on a project of this epic can still be a very tedious, sometimes frustrating experience. If you like to see candid actors in zombie suits or battle armor strolling and snacks, "The Last Watch" will not disappoint you.

Finlay never focuses on an element or a "scenario" for very long. That's about all you have to do to hit as much time as it does without the documentary ballooning into a full-fledged series. Fortunately, she anchors the film with a handful of recurring faces. The real highlight of the documentary in this respect is Andrew McClay. His enthusiastic energy is never tarnished despite long days and nights spent. His story ends even with a happy ending, while he's lucky enough to film a more meaningful scene alongside the star of the series, Kit Harington.

It's also fun to see the actor Vladimir Furdik take the limelight after three seasons playing in the silent and evil movie. King of the night. The documentary includes captivating scenes in which Furdik tries to understand the motivations of his character, thinks about his own troubled past and realizes that he has his own legion of hardcore fans.

For some reason, the only two main members of the cast that the documentary spends much Harington and Emilia Clarke (although there is a memorable scene showing Sophie Turner playing the role of character for the funeral scene that will follow the Battle of Winterfell). That Finlay and his team only have the means to hide these two actors or that the rest of the cast refuses to participate more strongly, it is unfortunate that we do not have a better idea of ​​how the cast of the series felt to say goodbye to their film. characters.

That said, what we get from Harington and Clarke's scenes works very well. The images from the first table of the cast played for the finale of the series are fascinating. It is obvious that Harington had not read the script in advance, as his reaction to the discovery is such that Jon kills Dany. We also see the latest shots of Harington and Clarke respectively and the outpouring of emotion that ensues when the cameras stop spinning. Again, it's unfortunate that we could not see similar scenes featuring artists such as Lena Headey or Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, but you really can not say more in a documentary about the hundreds invisible people who threaten this colossal enterprise. [19659006] In addition to highlighting the emotional roller coaster that so many cast members and team had to face during the last Game of Thrones, "The Last Watch" is also really informative. It's really a pleasure to see the King's Landing Group take shape after so many months of construction and to see how harsh weather conditions and extreme safety precautions have slowed the project as a whole. . The documentary sets a stark contrast between a setting like King's Landing, where the crew badembled a giant castle piece from scratch, for sets where the actors are fighting against huge green screen-sized of a football field. This helps to put into perspective just how much a huge commitment was really the 8th season. As one of the interviewees said, the series now had to end almost to zero because it was impossible to continue to s & # 39; To enlarge and become more ambitious.

One of the most interesting moments of the documentary is the revelation that Benioff and Weiss went through. flying actors such as Furdik, Faye Marsay and Tom Wlaschiha in Spain only to chase paparazzi and hawkers from the track's rumors. This, more than anything else, illustrates the mbadive secret wall built around the last season. On the contrary, it would have been nice to put more emphasis on this aspect of production. How concerned were the actors and team members about leaks? What do Marsay and Wlaschiha think about putting on these costumes without being able to participate in the last season?

The documentary could have been more detailed in many areas. It would have been nice to have a glimpse of the writing phase and to see the writers' room struggling with the immense challenge of ending the series in six dismal episodes. But at some point, this document seems to be better used in a documentary all by itself. To give fans a better idea of ​​the countless moving parts involved in a project like Game of Thrones, and to highlight some of the many people working behind the scenes, "The Last Watch" is a very satisfying coda for series.