Bleak House
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Movie Reviews of Bleak House
Movie Review: THE BEST OF THE BEST!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Charles Dickens is arguably one of the best at using the power of the story to attack injustice in society. The BBC is arguably one of the best at turning a novel into a miniseries for TV. Combine the two and you have BLEAK HOUSE. The injustice in this case is the legal system that was known for dragging out the settlement of wills and estates until there was nothing left for the rightful heirs. The story begins in the Court of Chancery where the lawyers would meet regularly to give the court updates on their cases and get their fees approved. The heirs would be there, also, in hopes of some good news about their case, only to hear that 'progress was being made' and here's your invoice for services. The case in the story is Jarndyce and Jarndyce, a very large estate that has been contested for decades because there is a dispute over the will. Many have been ruined by the cost of the suit and many have given up, including John Jarndyce, an independently wealthy heir. He brings into his household a young man and woman, orphans and cousins, who are heirs and still hopeful of a settlement. Along with them comes a young lady who will be their personal attendant. From there the story takes many twists and turns as the lawsuit 'progresses' and so do their lives. It takes you from the country estates of the aristocrats to the squalid slums of the homeless as the plot emerges and expands. You experience the entire social strata of England during the story and how they are affected by the law. The acting is superb as well as the costumes, the music and the sets. It is 7.5 hours long so it is a commitment to watch but yet you can hardly stop watching. It is well worth the investment of time. A great story told by some of the best in the business. If you enjoyed the high quality of the HBO mini-series on John Adams,[...]Movie Review: Shake Me Up!
Summary: 5 Stars
For those who would rather see the exact same production as 1985 with different actors, I suggest they purchase the "olde" one. But for those who want an adaptation that attempts a different approach and takes advantage of the advancements in video technology, I can't recommend Bleak House more heartily. Shakespeare is no longer pigeonholed into one style. While I'm not suggesting that Dickens adaptations would work set in the 20th century, because the Victorian Era is so integral to his novels, I think the use of modern editing techniques, and the steadycam, etc. is wonderful in Bleak House. I purchased the Dickens Boxset, and while I really enjoyed the recent BBC versions of Martin Chuzlewitt and Our Mutual Friend, I got bored with the older and staid "Hard Times," which suffered perhaps from a lack of funding, and screamed of tv set design, and still camera work. Older television does not stand up well in general. Nothing matches the superb series of recent times like the Sopranos, Rome, the Wire, and Prime Suspect, and Bleak House is right up there with them. Dickens originally wrote Bleak House in serial form, I believe, so why not leave a delicious cliffhanger at the conclusion of episode four (when it was aired). Which left the viewer with so much anticipation as to how the story concludes. When I went to the Strand bookstore in NYC to buy a copy of Bleak House, while it was first airing in the States, they were completely sold out! What better testament to the power of a great adaptation to rekindle interest in the great "masterpieces".
One question: can anyone tell me if the dvd includes a "making of" as in "Our Mutual Friend?" Having recorded "Bleak House" I would need some extra tidbits to purchase the DVD, although I will make a contribution to PBS in any case!
Movie Review: The Best
Summary: 5 Stars
"Bleak House" is my favorite Dickens novel. I've read it 3 or 4 times.
(This is saying a lot. It's tremendously long and complex.)
So I looked forward to seeing a good video adaptation.
The 1991 Diana Rigg version was a disappointment. Far too dark. Far too muddled in handling the many interweaving plots.
But this "Bleak House"--the Gillian Anderson version--is superb.
First, it doesn't simplify. It retains almost all the many, many characters, even though some period satire is lost. (Mr. Chadband, for example.) This conveys the huge sprawling complexity of Dickens's world.
Second, it is both bright and dark visually--moving from glorious pastoral and rustic scenery to the dark typhoid misery and mud of Tom All Alone's. This is thematically important, because the book is both very optimistic and darkly hopeless.
Third, it knows which characters are key. This version makes much of Mr. Tulkinghorn. He becomes the evil lynchpin of all the many plots. He is played wonderfully well by Charles Dance.
It also does an excellent job with Esther Summerson--a hard character to make real, but absolutely pivotal to the plot and the theme of judging by character rather than class (and also the theme of the inevitable links between class).
Likewise with the smooth faux-childish Harold Skimpole.
Fourth, it moves the big and clumsy action along rippingly. Quick jump-cuts, rapid changes, and unusual camera angles zoom the plots along at a rapid clip.
This is the brilliant version of "Bleak House" I have been waiting for. It matches the brilliance of the book for intensity and interest and depth.
Flawless and wonderful.
Movie Review: Nineteenth Century Story of Greed, Honor, Love and Reconciliation
Summary: 5 Stars
Bleak House is a story about greed, love, reconciliation and honor. This mini-series adaptation of the Dickens story is simply one of the best BBC miniseries I've seen. I've not read the original, so I don't know if the adaptation is any good or not, but the screenplay is a masterpiece. Additionally, this thing was excellently cast and produced 19th century period piece.
The story follows the various personalities who have an interest in the long-adjudicated case of the great Jarndyce estate. Some of those personalities, potential heirs, live in Bleak House, the home of John Jarndyce (Denis Lawson). Mr. Jarndyce has agreed to serve as guardian of some of the younger claimants in the Jarndyce estate case, Ada Claire (Carey Mulligan) and Richard Carstone (Patrick Kennedy). Accompanying these youth is a young woman who is their companion and housekeeper, Esther Summerson (Anna Maxwell Martin).
The story is populated with manipulative lawyers (Charles Dance is wonderful as hardball legal man Mr. Tulkinghorn), hardnosed law enforcement types, and the great unwashed masses of the London social underbelly. We also get to meet some of the London area upper-crust in their country house settings such as Sir Lester Dedlock and his lady (Gillian Anderson). I particularly enjoyed Nathaniel Parker's Harold Skimpole, an obsequious hanger-on of the rich and famous who wanders about like a child but is actually quite a clever leech of a man.
What relation does the mysterious law writer "Nemo" have with the Jarndyce case? What secret does Lady Dedlock keep from her husband? How does the prospect of money affect human beings? It's a beautiful and hard story, relevant always.
Movie Review: Fantastic
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw Bleak House in part watching Masterpiece Theater on PBS some months ago, but somhow managed to miss the conclusion. Which left me painfully eager to know how it all came out. And so I was thrilled to find it available through my online rental service. I am a Period Film addict and for the most part really enjoy when classic novels are brought to screens, big and small. The BBC has in my opinion an unrivaled talent for this, and has created some of the most beautiful and faithful adeptatians I've seen. So as I say having seen some of the miniseries already, My expectations for the ending were quite high, but even so Bleak House left me utterly speachless. Every aspect of this film is incredible. The film as a whole is almost indiscribably good.
The Acting was superb from top to tail, everyone seemed to inhabit the very skin of their charater, but even amoung these there were performances that knocked my over.
Gillan Anderson, as the ill fated Lady Deadlock.
Anna Maxwell Martin, as the indomitable Esther Summerson.
Burn Gorman, as Guppy I couldn't help but like him.
Katie Angelou, as the sweetest little girl ever Charlie Neckett
"Shake me up Judy" Philip Davis, as Smallweed
Hugo Speer, as Sergeant George
Alun Armstrong, as Inspector Bucket
Charles Dance, as Mr. I got what I deserved Tulkinghorn
and for some reason I'm not sure of. Johnny Vegas, as Krook
My hands down favorite scene: (for the benefit of those who havn't read the book, or seen the series) A certain mother daughter reunion.
as Compulsively watchable as the BBC's Pride and Prejudice, you really gatta see this.