Best TV or film adaption?

[kev67]

I finished watching the 1981 BBC twelve part (or is it thirteen) series yesterday on YouTube. The production values weren't brilliant, but it was reasonably faithful to the book. Some of the meetings and events are compressed or occur in the wrong place or out of order, no doubt due to time and budget constraints. A lot of Dickens' lines survive though. I thought Joan Hickson was great as Miss Havisham, Stratford Johns was just as good as Magwich, and Derek Francis good as Jaggers. I thought Phillip Joseph was excellent as Joe Gargery, although he did not look much older than Pip. The actors who played Orlick and Bentley Drummle were appropriately unpleasant. I thought Sarah-Jane Varley's performance as Estella was odd. She seemed rather glassy. Maybe she was trying to portray her as clinically depressed. Actually, Patsy Kensit who played young Estella also seemed rather sullen and depressed, not something I got from the book. A lot of the cast seemed a bit too old, particularly Pip, Herbert and Biddy. They're supposed to be teenagers when Pip leaves for London, but they all look in their mid to late twenties. Even Jaggers and Miss Havisham seem a bit older than they should be. The only one who is too young is Joe. Except for being a tad too old, I thought Gerry Sandquist, who played Pip, was pretty good. However he wasn't quite a good enough actor to deliver some of those speeches well enough. The series is slightly plodding, but each episode is only 25 mins, which is about as much as I can take at a time anyway.

I may give the 1946 David Lean version a go. The clips I've seen on YouTube look excellent. John Mills and Alec Guiness were way too old to play Pip and Herbert, but I suppose I will have to crank up the suspension on my disbelief.

The recent BBC adaption with Gillian Anderson as Miss Havisham looks like an utter abortion from the clips I've seen. Totally miscast with all Dickens' lines replaced by inferior ones. BBC drama output is useless these days.

I have some reservations about the new film that's coming out this year, although it does have the lovely Holliday Grainger as Estella.

[kev67]

I finished watching the 1946 film by David Lean, which seems to be regarded as the best adaption by a lot of people. It was pretty good. The childhood sequences are the best, although Jean Simmons seemed a little too grown up for the role. I thought the boy who played the young Pip was terrific. I also liked the actors who played Joe, Jaggers and Magwitch. David Lean must have had a good casting agent. John Mills was slightly miscast, though he was a good actor. I gather he was 38 at the time, but luckily wrinkles are not so obvious in those old black and white films. They cut a lot out, which they would have to in order to fit the film into two hours. However, they completely changed the ending.

[kev67]

This link (http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/ge/filmadapt.html) discusses many of film and TV adaptions. it was last updated in 2005, so there will be at least two more added to the list before long.

[prendrelemick]

We discussed the latest BBC effort here.

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66497

Lets just say opinions were mixed.

[kev67]

We discussed the latest BBC effort here.

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66497

Lets just say opinions were mixed.

I suppose I should watch this adaption before condemning it, but I don't think I could bring myself to. It looked awful from the trailers.

[kev67]

Has anyone seen the new film? I read a film review which said it wasn't very good.

[wordeater]

The David Lean version stands out. It's my favourite Dickens adaptation ever. There are so many great scenes. The young Estella is fantastic. I feel really sorry for blacksmith Joe when Pip is ashamed to be seen with him.

The worst version is the one with Robert de Niro and Gwyneth Paltrow. Estella is all of a sudden a nymphomaniac, which doesn't really work.