Sons of Anarchy

Synopsis

American television drama series created by Kurt Sutter about the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club operating in Charming, a fictional town in Northern California. Loosely based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the show focuses on protagonist Jackson "Jax" Teller (Charlie Hunnam), the Vice President of the club who begins questioning the club and himself. His uncle, gang leader and patriarch Clay (Ron Perlman) seems to be modelled on King Claudius while Katey Sagal’s Gemma (previously married to Clay’s now dead brother) is set up as a Gertrude figure (with some Lady Macbeth thrown in for good measure). Jax stands in for Prince Hamlet himself. Jax’s reflective questioning of the SOA culture, brought on by the birth of his son, references Hamlet’s melancholy over the death of the king. Additionally, Jax ‘communicates’ with his dead father by way of his late father’s unpublished journal/manuscript. Creator Sutter has said of the Shakespeare element, "I don’t want to overplay that but it’s there. It was Jax’s father who started the club, so he’s the ghost in the action. You wonder what he would have made of the way it turned out. It’s not a version of Hamlet but it’s definitely influenced by it."
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sons_of_Anarchy, accessed 6/2010)

Series

Sons of Anarchy

Language

English (United States)

Country

United States

Medium

Television

Notes

Duration given represents the running time of each episode. Season 1 and 2 have been commercially released on DVD and are available through retail outlets.

Keywords

motorcycles; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); gangs

Credits

Director

Bill Gierhart; Guy Ferland; Gwyneth Horder-Payton; Kurt Sutter; Paris Barclay; Stephen K. Kay; Terence O’Hara

Producer

Art Linson; James D. Parriott; John Linson; Kurt Sutter

Cinematographer

Paul Mailbaum

Writer

Brett Conrad; Chris Collins; Dave Erickson; Jack LoGuidice; Kurt Sutter; Pat Charles

Editor

Huinter M. Via; Jacques Gravett; Jordan Goldman

Music

Bob Jr. Thiele

Production Design

Anthony Medina

Costume

Kelly Jones

Art Direction

Lori Agostino; William Eliscu

Cast

Ally Walker
Charlie Hunnam
Dayton Callie
Johnny Lewis
Katey Sagal
Kim Coates
Maggie Siff
Mark Jr. Boone
Ron Perlman
Ryan Hurst
Taylor Sheridan
Theo Rossi
Tommy Flanagan
William Lucking

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 2 PAL

Price

24.99

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

Season 1: 815 mins

Year

2010

Production Company

Name

Fox 21

Notes

Fox 21 is a reality television production arm of Twentieth Century Fox.

Name

FX Newtworks

Web

http://www.fxnetworks.com/ External site opens in new window

Distributor (DVD)

Name

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Web

http://www.fox.co.uk/ External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7753 8686

Fax

020 7437 1625

Address

Twentieth Century House
31-32 Soho Square
London
W1D 3AP

Notes

Feature films from Fox and MGM for sale on DVD and Blu-ray via retail outlets.