Rebecca (WGBH British Telefilm)
Picture: B+
Sound: B- Extras: C Film: B-
This is to date the fourth TV adaptation of Daphne Du
Maurier’s novel Rebecca.
There has only been one feature film adaptation, that being Alfred
Hitchcock’s beloved 1940 version, which is dear to my heart. For me, Rebecca could possible be my
favorite British Hitchcock film, and this would most certainly seal the deal on
making him capable of anything, which would explain why he went on to the U.S.
to complete even more amazing pieces of work and to prove that he was capable
of just about anything.
It’s nearly impossible not to talk about Hitchcock’s
version starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine simply because its such an
influential film and would set a very high bar of excellent with the source
material for all versions to come to be compared to. Our version that is subject of this review is from 1997 and was
made for TV, spread over two nights, with a 190-minute runtime. Right away one must wonder what material is
added because the Hitchcock film was about 130 minutes in length, so what does
the extra 60-minutes add?
To answer that question we must first explain some of the
main differences between these two versions anyway. TV and film are so different and just the very language of these
two mediums changes things quite a bit.
Both are full-frame features, the 1940 version because widescreen had
yet to catch on, and the TV version to stick with standard broadcasting aspect
ratios of the time. So the blocking of
these films remains somewhat equal, but keep in mind that with the 1940 version
you have a master cinematographer handling the material like George Barnes,
whereas the TV version is shot differently.
Add to that the TV version is shot in color with the intention of
running two nights, separated by commercials and in light of that, can keep the
suspense running a tad longer.
I don’t foresee the Hitchcock version ever working if it
were three hours in length anyway. In
fact, no Hitchcock film really could work like that because his conventional
style of suspense could only hold ones attention for so long. Being the master that he was of doing so, he
knew exactly how long to keep the films, how many cuts were needed, how to
spread out the story without ruining it, and most of all, what details were
important. The 1997 version includes a
few more so-called character details and is set up to keep your suspense for an
extra night, which if you plan on watching this on this DVD, you may want to
segment it, instead of watching it all in one shot, but that is your
choice.
I wasn’t blown away by this TV version by any means, but
at the same time I found it to be an interesting version that kept my interest,
if for no other reason than for comparison.
The film stars Charles Dance as the main character, Maxim de Winter,
while Emilia Fox plays his new wife, while Diana Rigg makes a great appearance
as Mrs. Danvers and Faye Dunaway also makes an interesting appearance, so this
is quite a nice little British production with some names to boast.
The novel is essentially a gothic romance story that rests
solely on two vital facts. The first is
that Maxim de Winter’s first wife is presumed dead and that his new wife is a
‘replacement’ to her, but these facts are somewhat relative and the execution
of the story is what really makes this film tick. His new wife is half his age, he is longing for someone, anyway,
and they meet rather quickly, but fall in love somehow. Do we really believe that this could be
possible? That a girl could be this
naïve? Well, he does have money and
looks despite being older, and she clings to his side only to find out that his
thoughts are constantly drifting towards Rebecca. The biggest setback with the TV version is that it never gets
creepy or eerie and it doesn’t need bad special effects to make that happen,
rather just atmosphere. The film also
does not present a gothic overtone and just comes across more like a Merchant
Ivory production than anything else.
Quality wise for this DVD I was surprised again. The full-frame image looks quite good in all
departments. Colors looks fresh and
vibrant, detail is never too soft or dull, in fact there are times it’s very
impressive. The Dolby Digital 2.0
Stereo mix is adequate enough for this particular case and would almost be
silly with a 5.1 mix since it’s almost all dialogue anyhow. The few extras include weblinks, cast
filmographies, poster gallery and Q&A with Rigg, who won an Emmy for
playing Danvers’ desires up in a way that would not have been possible in the
Hitchcock film.
- Nate Goss
