Although there are many important characters in the story, the "main" character in the plotline is the cathedral itself, the one that Tom Builder (Rufus Sewell), master builder, so desperately wants to build. Tom is traveling with his family, very pregnant wife Agnes (Kate Dickie), son and apprentice, Alfred (Liam Garrigan), and young daughter, Martha (Skye Bennett). When the family is assaulted and robbed by highwaymen (who later turn out to be local priests), they are taken in by a strange woman of the forest named Ellen (Natalie Worner) and her silent, red-haired son, Jack (Eddie Redmayne), an artist in stone. Although Ellen tends to their wounds, the family leaves in the night, fearing her to be a witch. Agnes soon dies in childbirth and Tom abandons his newborn young son on her newly dug grave rather than have him starve without a mother, only to have the child rescued by the same priest who had earlier robbed and assaulted them. Ellen and her son reconnect with the tattered remains of Tom's family and they find themselves in the township of Kingsbridge, where Tom hopes to secure work for his family by rebuilding their decrepit church. Prior Phillip (Matthew MacFayden) is a kind man and would hire them if he had money, but he does not. When Jack secretly burns down their existing church to ensure Tom gets work, Prior Phillip accepts their offer of work in exchange for housing and food. Tom is especially eager to stay once he realizes his infant son is here with these priests. So begins his quest to build the cathedral of his dreams, with the new love of Ellen and the help of son Alfred and now adopted son, Jack.
Many years before, King Henry's son, William, and his young wife were killed by a tragic and supposedly accidental fire on their ship. The only survivor of this shipwreck is a mysterious red-haired Frenchman who is rescued by a then young nun, Ellen. The Frenchman is later hung on a trumped-up thievery charge, presumably for a secret he holds and Ellen shouts curses on the men who proceeded over his hanging. Since the King's only true successor is lost, he is left with his bastard son, Gloucester (Matt Devere) and his daughter, Maud (Alison Pill), and the King can only hope that he will live long enough for her young son to become king. However, soon thereafter, the King is poisoned and a plot is hatched to see his nephew Stephen (Tony Curran, Underworld) ascend the throne. Thus begins a years-long battle that rages on between the camps of King Stephen "the usurper" and the rightful heir, Princess Maud and her champion, Gloucester.
At the center of the plot is Bishop Waleran Bigod (Ian McShane), a man whose aspirations for power are only outweighed by his greed. He, together with the Hamleigh family, Regan (Sarah Parrish) and Percy (Robert Bathurst), and their sadistic son William (David Oakes), work together to get Stephen into his position as King to further their own titles. On the opposite spectrum in Prior Phillip, who only desires to do God's work, but also wants to leave his legacy in the form of the cathedral Tom is building in Kingsbridge. However, Bishop Waleran would prefer to see his own castle expanded and his career furthered, so he works to stop the cathedral from being built at every turn, with the help of the Hamleighs and the easily manipulated King Stephen.
On Maud's side is Bartholomew (Donald Sutherland), Earl of Shiring. Bartholomew's children, Richard (Sam Claflin) and Aliena (Hayley Atwell, The Duchess), will pay for their father's alliance with Maud by having their home and lands wrenched from them once it is discovered. William Hamleigh, who was previously spurned by Aliena, takes special pleasure in destroying her, along with her family legacy. Aliena, in turn, vows to restore her family name and her father's title to her brother, Richard. Although the pair find themselves poverty-stricken, the ever-enterprising Aliena begins a career as a merchant selling sheep's wool and they also end up in the town of Kingsbridge, with Aliena catching the eye of both Alfred and Jack, both of whom are toiling away on the construction of the cathedral. A love triangle develops that will have far reaching effects.
As the unholy triad of Waleran, Regan and Percy work to undermine the building of the cathedral so that the money can be funneled off for their own misdeeds, they try to destroy the small town of Kingsbridge and everyone in it because as Kingsbridge grows, along with its cathedral, their township accrues less money. As time marches on, many will die and be betrayed, while Ellen's curses from many years prior play out on the evildoers who originally hatched the plot to kill Prince William all those years before.
I found The Pillars of the Earth to be simply riveting. The acting is excellent, especially Ian McShane, and the cast works beautifully together. I gained an even greater appreciation after watching the special features and seeing just how much CG work was done, for the castles and battle scenes especially, and it all looks superb. Even with the high def crispness of Blu-ray, the CG still held up really well. There are a handful of featurettes that talk about bringing Follett's huge tome to the screen, one on the special effects and one on the title animation and all are well worth watching and very interesting.
While this one is not for the kiddies, since it contains a great deal of violence and a number of sex scenes, if you like shows like The Tudors, you'll love The Pillars of the Earth. Highly recommended.
