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1722's `Moll Flanders' resonates with character of '90s women

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From: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Date: 19960614
Author:DUANE DUDEK

Orphan, whore, thief, wife, mother, friend Moll Flanders led an eventful life.

Accordingly, "Moll Flanders," very loosely adapted from Daniel Defoe's novel, is an event-filled film.

The novel was published in 1722 and regardless of whether Defoe was attempting social criticism or merely escapism, the film has less in common with the era it proposes than with our own. The movie is a streamlined romantic adventure with a gritty heroine whose ambition and almost scandalous sense of self have a contemporary veneer.

The book's elaborate subtitle which refers to "A Life of Continued Variety," ...

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