“The trouble with stories is if you keep them going long enough, they all end in death,” says David Thewlis’s character in The Sandman. Evidently, the long-awaited adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s apocalyptic, epoch-spanning graphic novel is on the grimmer side of his output.
The%20Sandman
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Fans of, say, the charmingly animated 2009 film Coraline or the live-action fairy tale Stardust (2007) — both based on works by Gaiman — may be in for a rude awakening. This is metaphysical with a capital "M". Superheroes? They’ve been sidelined.
The past few years have been manic for Gaiman, a creative who has truly benefited from the rise of streaming platforms. His fantasy-driven comics and books have largely been regarded as "unfilmable", partly due to the dense, sprawling narratives and partly due to the complex visual effects needed to realise his visions.
Projects such as Lucifer, American Gods, and Good Omens, the comic tale of angels and demons Gaiman co-wrote with Terry Pratchett, have all benefited from the deep pockets of streaming platforms.
The same can be said for The Sandman, which is released as a 10-part series on Netflix on Friday. Reviving an old DC Comics character, Gaiman’s series initially ran between 1989 and 1996 and was ranked alongside Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns as one of the great examples of the published art form.
Or, as the esteemed novelist Norman Mailer dubbed this fantastical tale, it's a comic strip for intellectuals.
From 1991, potential adaptations came and went. But when an audio version became a bestseller in 2020, Gaiman knew it had crossed into the mainstream.
Developed with screenwriters David S Goyer (Batman Begins) and Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman), the new series covers story arcs from the first two Sandman volumes: Preludes and Nocturnes and The Doll’s House.
The result is a visual feast — with directors such as Jamie Childs (His Dark Materials) even taking its creator by surprise. “It’s fabulous. It’s astonishing. It’s really, really powerful,” Gaiman says. “And, occasionally, I find it sort of hits me emotionally in ways I wouldn’t have imagined when things that had just been in my head and on the page are up and moving around.”
At the heart of the story is Morpheus (Tom Sturridge), also known as Dream. He’s one of the seven Endless, a group of inconceivably powerful ancient beings, alongside such other entities as Death, Despair and Destruction.
In the early 20th Century, when a magus (Charles Dance) tries to summon Death with a book of incantations, he instead captures Dream, incarcerating him inside a glass prison. What’s more, this cruel tyrant’s wife, Ethel (Niamh Walsh), steals Dream’s “tools” — a pouch of sand, a helmet and a ruby — thus stripping him of his powers.
Imprisoned for 100 years, when Dream emerges, he finds his own netherworld has all but been destroyed, while chaos reins on Earth. To bring balance to this catastrophe, he must set out to find his precious tools.
It’s a journey that begins in London and an encounter with Jenna Coleman’s quasi-detective Johanna Constantine, before a descent into hell, where he finds Lucifer Morningstar (Game of Thrones’ Gwendoline Christie). He also must do battle with power-hungry being the Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook), a slick customer with teeth where his eyeballs should be.
Gaiman is bullish about the adaptation, which takes some liberties with the original material. “What I like is that Sandman fans are going to be incredibly happy. And non-Sandman fans are not going to know what’s hit them,” he says.
Admittedly, he has faced criticism on Twitter from some followers who objected to certain casting choices, including black actress Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death — a character depicted as white in the comics. Gaiman’s reply on social media was that he didn’t care about people “who don’t understand/haven’t read Sandman whining … that Death isn’t white enough".
Some elements of the show do falter. The choice of American comic Patton Oswalt to voice Matthew the Raven, an upbeat bird who accompanies Dream, feels ill-advised and hardly in keeping with Sturridge’s sombre, world-weary turn.
The baby golden gargoyle accompanying Abel — Asim Chaudhry’s character — is also a little too cutesy. But then when there is Thewlis, going full blast as DC villain John Dee, who spends years in captivity, albeit in an asylum, there should be little to vex fans.
In a story about time, ageing and mortality, The Sandman is a show that non-fans will need to adjust to. It has an almost anthology-style feel, as leaps are made from one story element to another.
As Gaiman puts it: “Episode three is modern horror, five an existential journey into the utter heart of darkness. Episode six will kiss it and make it better.”
At a time when Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings are readying two expensive prequel shows for HBO and Amazon Prime Video respectively, Netflix’s The Sandman has stolen a march on both.
The Sandman is on Netflix from Friday
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
1971: The Year The Music Changed Everything
Director: Asif Kapadia
4/5
SERIES INFO
Schedule:
All matches at the Harare Sports Club
1st ODI, Wed Apr 10
2nd ODI, Fri Apr 12
3rd ODI, Sun Apr 14
4th ODI, Sun Apr 16
UAE squad
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Zimbabwe squad
Peter Moor (captain), Solomon Mire, Brian Chari, Regis Chakabva, Sean Williams, Timycen Maruma, Sikandar Raza, Donald Tiripano, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Chris Mpofu, Craig Ervine, Brandon Mavuta, Ainsley Ndlovu, Tony Munyonga, Elton Chigumbura
FORSPOKEN
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Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Bareilly Ki Barfi
Directed by: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring: Kriti Sanon, Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao
Three and a half stars
Men from Barca's class of 99
Crystal Palace - Frank de Boer
Everton - Ronald Koeman
Manchester City - Pep Guardiola
Manchester United - Jose Mourinho
Southampton - Mauricio Pellegrino
Indika
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2011%20Bit%20Studios%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Odd%20Meter%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20PlayStation%205%2C%20PC%20and%20Xbox%20series%20X%2FS%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Bookshops: A Reader's History by Jorge Carrión (translated from the Spanish by Peter Bush),
Biblioasis
How being social media savvy can improve your well being
Next time when procastinating online remember that you can save thousands on paying for a personal trainer and a gym membership simply by watching YouTube videos and keeping up with the latest health tips and trends.
As social media apps are becoming more and more consumed by health experts and nutritionists who are using it to awareness and encourage patients to engage in physical activity.
Elizabeth Watson, a personal trainer from Stay Fit gym in Abu Dhabi suggests that “individuals can use social media as a means of keeping fit, there are a lot of great exercises you can do and train from experts at home just by watching videos on YouTube”.
Norlyn Torrena, a clinical nutritionist from Burjeel Hospital advises her clients to be more technologically active “most of my clients are so engaged with their phones that I advise them to download applications that offer health related services”.
Torrena said that “most people believe that dieting and keeping fit is boring”.
However, by using social media apps keeping fit means that people are “modern and are kept up to date with the latest heath tips and trends”.
“It can be a guide to a healthy lifestyle and exercise if used in the correct way, so I really encourage my clients to download health applications” said Mrs Torrena.
People can also connect with each other and exchange “tips and notes, it’s extremely healthy and fun”.
THE DETAILS
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Dir: Ron Howard
Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson
3/5
The%20Sandman
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