Bleak House
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Movie Reviews of Bleak House
Movie Review: A True Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
From the opening scenes of court and mysterious carriage rides to the final ones of unexpected joy, this mini-series has everything from mystery to romance, replete with colorful characters and brooding ones that only reveal their tortured souls at quiet moments in complete subtlety. This is a stunning achievement and instantly joins the ranks of the greatest mini-series ever.
Of course American audiences will immediately recognize Gillian Anderson from the X-Files. She did not surprise me at all in her performance as she is a naturally gifted actress and gives a superb performance yet again. The whole cast is exceptional. The direction, production, music and acting are all performed at the highest level.
It is 15 episodes from Masterpiece Theatre and that may seem like a lot (it did to me when I first thought of watching it) but believe me when I say it goes by incredibly fast. I didnt want it to end.
One thing that surprised me, and I have never read the book, is that I was able to predict exactly what was about to happen at some key plot points and yet it is so well done that I didnt care. Unlike a show like 24, which is great fun only on the initial run, this one is just as enjoyable the second time around, if not more. It is that good.
Movie Review: Excellent presentation of Charles Dicken's Bleak House
Summary: 5 Stars
Having just finished reading "Bleak House," and being told that BBC had produced an outstanding adaptation for television, my interest was piqued, and I decided to purchase the three-DVD set. I spent several hours watching the production--I honestly couldn't leave it, much like finding it difficult to put the book down. It was every bit as wonderful as I had been told--and then some. The friend who told me about the BBC production had never read the book, and I was surprised that he could even follow the story, as it is so complex and filled with so many characters and so much detail. I was absolutely enthralled and delighted by this production, which was faithful to the book in most aspects. Of course, the book is so long that it would be impossible to include every character and every scene in the production, but the end product was extremely satisfying and included the most memorable characters and scenes. I didn't feel any sense of disappointment at all--in fact, quite the contrary. I would still recommend reading the book first, and then viewing the DVDs, as it is wonderful to see the characters you have come to know and love in the book come to life in the flesh, and remember all the reason why you love Charles Dickens!Movie Review: What the Dickens...
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an excellent series in my view and I think that Dickens's novels translate well to the television medium. I've yet to see one made in Britain that turned out to be a `stinker'! Bleak House was broadcast over the Christmas holidays here in the UK in 30 minute episodes. The unusual zooming-ins and odd camera angles that seem to disturb some of your reviewers was a deliberate attempt on the part of the director to grip the attention of the short attention-span of the average modern viewer and end each episode with a `cliff-hanger' moment. I thought it worked out well and the subsequent audience viewing figures were impressive taking into consideration other distractions for those seeking stimulating entertainment over the holidays.
Speaking as a mere chap I was particularly taken with the unyielding and perhaps unnerving close-ups of the beautiful scrubbed faces of the actresses playing Esther and Ada. Neither a beauty in the contemporary sense but I found their expressions of raw emotion a fine tribute to the sublime art of acting. Rick's death in the last episode was particularly moving in this case and I was genuinely moved here - and the grieving ladies weren't the only one's to shed a tear...
Movie Review: "Shake me up! Judy"
Summary: 5 Stars
I rated Bleak House 5 stars as I really enjoyed the production once I got beyond the soap opera meets MTV direction noted by PTR Papapossum's review (3 stars)which accurately describes the annoyances in this film (the four second shot and the action-movie "swishhhs" effects that move one scene to the next). PTR asks if this type of production is Masterpiece Theater for the MTV generation - which is a good question. The slow Masterpiece Theater productions of a bygone era (Pallisers, etc. etc.) are gone forever it appears. However, of all 19th century authors Dickens' novels are very suited to the modern MTV-meets Masterpiece Theater style of direction. Many of Dickens characters are cartoon prototypes of good and evil. The best of the nasty characters in this film is Smallwood - long yellow teeth, greasy face, grey hair sticking out from a filthy cap, sitting in his portable chair plotting and snarling and every so often shouting "Shake me up! Judy" to his sly mean grand-daughter. Charles Dance gives a great lizard-eyed performance as Tulkinghorn. This production is worth watching - good and evil in such contrasting form and color - it's almost manga!Movie Review: Terrific Miniseries
Summary: 5 Stars
This mini-series starts out a little slow but then completely grips you beginning with the second episode. There is a multitude of terrific role players here who give outstanding performances but the truly great acting performances are given by Lady Dedlock (Gillian Anderson) and Mr. Tulkinghorn (Charles Dance), and when the two of them are together, those are the best scenes of the series. It is fascinating, especially for a fan of the book, to see all of these characters so vividly recognized. There are actually some large improvements over the book, in particular the treatment of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce, which instead of being a ridiculous case, is more of a real one. The series has more of a real feel to it than the book, and it comes along more of a true period piece than a "Dickens" work, which is to its benefit rather than detriment.
The music and the "jerky-cam" cut scenes are annoying, but bearable. Also the 6th (of 8) episodes starts to show a decline and the last episodes I would only give 4 stars to, only because one of the main characters is no longer part of the show, and the plotting goes a little awry.