Bleak House
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Movie Reviews of Bleak House
Movie Review: Masterly Production Of A Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
So many have said so much in the reviews posted here. I'll just add a brief bit:
Once when C.S. Lewis (my favorite author) was asked in a letter which was his favorite Dickens novel, he said "I think I'd have to place Bleak House at the top." Suffice it to say that this wonderful BBC production does justice to Dickens' magnificent literary work -- and that is no mean achievement. Some have objected to the modern stylistic touches utilized in the filming, but I rather enjoyed them, and never felt they took away from the altogether classic nature of the story. The acting was superb all around, the writing superlative, and the original material (thank you, Charles) is some of the finest the English language has given shape to. I hesitate to single out any of the performances from the rest (so fine were they all), but if pressed I might say that Martin, Lawson, Gorman, and Dance were so excellent they could hardly have been better. But several others were also terrific ('Krook', 'Smallweed', 'Woodcourt', 'Sergeant George' ... oh, bother, I could go on), and there was no real weak link in the chain. Since it is not often mentioned I might add that the musical theme, with its air suggesting intrigue and forboding, maintains the high standard of this drama. And finally I ask, was not Charles Dickens one of the greatest namers of characters the world of literature has seen? Dedlock? Skimpole? Tulkinghorn? First-rate, that!
Good luck finding eight hours of television viewing as edifying as this BBC high-water mark, BLEAK HOUSE.
Movie Review: Exciting, faithful rendering of a complex novel
Summary: 5 Stars
So many of us were introduced to Charles Dickens in high school through A TALE OF TWO CITIES or GREAT EXPECTATIONS, and sadly the vast majority seemed to have been negatively affected by the experience. To my great good fortune, I did not come upon Dickens until college, and then I was introduced through this, arguably his finest novel. For BLEAK HOUSE is as complex - though never as obfuscating - as the lawsuit that lies at the center of its plot. Dozens and dozens of characters are caught up in the trap of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce: noble lords and ladies, penniless madwomen, hypocrites, lawyers, monsters and innocents alike spread throughout the pages of this magnificent, lengthy novel. I remember years ago watching the first BBC version with Diana Rigg as Lady Dedlock and thinking, "Well, they've butchered it to pieces, but I guess this is the best one can hope for. At least the acting is good!" At last, a new version has come along that tops the original in every way. It feels more complete in terms of story, it perfectly captures the foggy atmosphere of dread and gloom, and under the guidance of a great production team, Andrew Davies' fine script brings the book to life in ways that the Rigg version could not.
This was one of the very first whodunnits ever created, but of course it's so much more than that. As an expose into the corrupt justice and inheritance systems, it stands unrivaled. I highly recommend this to Dickens lovers and lovers of fine literature and theatre.
Movie Review: no end in sight for English theatre tradition
Summary: 5 Stars
The one Dickens novel I never read turns up in a brilliant realization from Andrew Davies, with mesmerizing characters and first-rate actors in another BBC success. Gillian Anderson refocuses her considerable acting chops to bring the luckless Lady Dedlock to perfect fruition. The relative scarceness of her scenes, and their critical importance to the story, makes her appearances even more tantalizing. The entire cast once again proves the English theatre tradition thriving, and is directed with consummate skill, and pride of detail. I love the redoubtable Pauline Collins as the quintessential Miss Flite, and Charles Dance is incendiary as the heartless Tulkinghorn. Anna Maxwell Martin (Esther Summerson) is a marvel to watch; she corners a self-assurance most actors only dream of, with ownership of every nuance of face and inflection - it's a huge performance of requisite Dickensian depth, perfectly tuned and delivered with the most gifted ease imaginable. It's worth every minute just to watch her copiously in her many scenes. Dickens' many minor characters never fail to justify their presence in his novels, however extravagant, and Bleak House has its profuse share. It's amazing how beguilingly the BBC has forged its remarkable history of mini-series of English literature; I can think of few, if any, failures. Bleak House is, bar none, one of its masterpieces. Nothing prevents an unqualified recommendation for an exquisite film experience more than worthy of the great Dickens.Movie Review: The evil hidden within Dickens
Summary: 5 Stars
Charles Dickens peoples his novels with good natured simple folks, with noble and generous benefactors, and with eccentric personages. With his villains he goes so much over the top that to me they come off as caricatures, often funny rather than frightening. This version of Bleak House changes that.
Dickens's ubiquitous rich benefactor, the one found in so many novels, shows us in every shot that he has a hidden purpose while the rich malefactor worries us with silence more than he does with words.
Everyone has a secret. Almost every shot, every sound, every word hints that something else is left unseen or unsaid, that things are hidden and hidden for a reason, often resulting in tragedy.
Each half-hour episode opens with a dreamy haunting theme. Situation shots do not zoom in smoothly but with a staccato that jars us awake. Protagonists pair off in shadows. The unsteady camera stares at faces up close from low angles, peering into cracked doors or between curtains. The feel of the thing is fast, edgy, and nervous.
The production is carried with impeccable attention to period details yet its drama feels so modern we can hardly recognize this as Dickens. To be sure some signature characters are so clearly drawn that they confirm the origin: the buffoonish law clerk and the tyrannical money lender are unmistakingly Dickensian, but these apart, the BBC has given us the dark side of Dickens.
Vincent Poirier, Tokyo
Movie Review: A Prison of Their Own Making
Summary: 5 Stars
One reviewer mentions their annoyance with the "establishing shots" of building exteriors married to an electronic "whoosh" as being pretentious and irritating, but fails to credit that those shots -- more than any others -- helped define the series and give it a unique identity. Indeed, the sound of prison doors slamming shut united different story elements surrounding the main characters in the series: young lovers caught up in the prison of an unrelenting legal battle, a young woman caught in the prison of her illegitimate station in life, a proper lady trapped in an unhappy prison of wealth and means, an honorable soldier living in the prison of opium addiction, etc. As for the other reviewer who complained that the direction and editing of the program was jarring and called the program "Masterpiece Theatre for the MTV generation," I say if you have enough time to count the length of the shots instead of following the storyline, then you have missed the point! Far from being Dickens reduced to sound-bites, this series patiently and deftly allowed the characters to ripen and come into full bloom rather than just exist as caricatures. I have watched many PBS programs and found them lacking because the stories and characters were not given enough time to mature or come to a full boil. Happily, that was not the case here! The only other PBS literature series I own is "Pride and Prejudice" and I will gladly add "Bleak House" to my collection.