Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2136 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-03-07
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Formats: Box set, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 6
• Running time: 720 minutes

Synopsis
Like a cross between TWIN PEAKS and THE GRAPES OF WRATH, HBO's acclaimed television drama CARNIVALE fashions an allegorical fable about the mythic battle of good and evil set against the surreal backdrop of a Depression-era travelling circus. Having lost both his farm and family to the 1930s Dust Bowl, recent prison escapee Ben Hawkins (Nick Stahl, IN THE BEDROOM, BULLY) joins an itinerant carnival in a desperate bid to escape poverty, the police, and his own discomfort with his miraculous healing powers. Ben's story is juxtaposed with that of California preacher Justin Crowe (Clancy Brown, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION), whose evangelical ministries with sister Iris (Amy Madigan) take on increasingly sinister overtones and hint at an eventual confrontation between himself and young Hawkins--whose fate seems somehow intertwined with his own through the mysterious figure of former circus showman Henry Scudder (John Savage). As the series leisurely builds to this apocalyptic showdown, there is much drama to be found in the daily goings-on of the carnival denizens. Lorded over by the pint-sized Samson (TWIN PEAKS' Michael J. Anderson) and the strangely unseen Management, the ragtag collection of sideshow freaks features blind soothsayer Lodz (Patrick Bauchau); his bearded-lady companion Lila (Debra Christofferson); matronly snake charmer Ruthie (Adrienne Barbeau); her strongman son Gabriel (Brian Turk); Siamese twins Alexandria and Caledonia (Karyne and Sarah Steben); the lizard-man Gecko (notorious NEA Four performance artist John Fleck); and, most intriguingly, catatonic tarot-card reader Apollonia (Diane Salinger), who communicates telepathically with her sensitive but troubled daughter Sophie (Clea DuVall). Rounding out the eccentric troupe are wounded former baseball-player-turned-roustabout Jonesy (Tim DeKay) and a family of strippers and prostitutes comprised of mother Rita Sue (Cynthia Ettinger); her daughters Libby (Carla Gallo) and Dora Mae (Amanda Aday); and their pimpish father Stumpy (Toby Huss). Creator Daniel Knauf surrounds this impressive cast with impeccable period-piece production design, a rotating roster of directorial talent that includes Alison Maclean (JESUS' SON) and Rodrigo Garcia (fittingly, son of magical-realist writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez), and innovative storytelling that is at once supremely creepy, intellectually provocative, and emotionally gripping. This collection includes all 12 episodes of the series' highly addictive first season.

Customer Reviews

fantastic a real 'must see'
I am quite addicted to series box sets at the moment, I got carnivale as a christmas present and from the moment i put the first disk in i was hooked!
The plan was to make quite a few more series of Carnivale but it was cancelled :( but I was satisfied by the end of series 2 that the story was complete.
Wonderful and superb televsion that makes you think about it for ages after.

Something wicked this way comes...
Reminiscent of Ray Bradbury's 'Something Wicked This Way Comes', Carnivale will quickly become compulsive viewing. Though only two out of the three series were actually made it is still very much worth watching. The acting is superb, the atmosphere increasingly dark, the plot twists and turns with satisfying intrique. The attention to detail, coupled with clever camera work really do show the thirties 'dustbowl' era.
Warning : these are definately adult only DVD's, NOT for children, but don't let that put you off.
One of the most outstanding series to come out of the USA (which probably explains why they axed series three!) 10 out of 10

An affecting but ambiguous tale
I was lead to rent this series by the enticing promotional strap-line: "where Twin Peaks meets PJ Barnum". I was absolutely spellbound by david Lynch's Twin Peaks but found Carnivale serie 1, less than satisfying. The recreation of the period sets, are brilliant and conveyed a plausible visual representation of John Steinbeck's classic, Grapes of Wrath. However, I found the plot meandering and the story-line often obscure with too many detours into byways that seemed to have little bearing on the particular scene. It did not help that I found Ben the central character's mumbling inarticulacy, irritating. On the other hand I thought Michael J Anderson's performance (Samson the dwarf), thoroughly engaging. As a story, there were too many false leads for my liking and too many loose ends and unanswered questions by the end of the series. The series undoubtedly grows on one with each episode but on the whole would have benefitted from a tighter script and a firmer directorial hand. I will not be rushing to view series 2.