Great Expectations
(1999 Telefilm)
Picture: B-
Sound: C+ Extras: D Telefilm: B
Six feature films, two mini-series, two television series,
and two telefilms make Charles Dickens’ novel Great Expectations one of the most famous adaptations and popular
novel to screen translations. This
review will cover the 1999 telefilm starring Ioan Gruffudd and make several
comparisons to some of the other adaptations.
Also be sure to check out some of the Horatio Hornblower material
that this site has covered also starring Gruffudd, now best known for the
recent Fantastic Four feature film.
Believe it or not but the first appearance of this story
on screen was in silent form in 1917 with a short 50-minute version, which I
personally have never seen, but have heard mixed things on. Another disappointing attempt was made in
1934 and once again things did not pan out as expected and it would appear that
the novel was just not easy to translate well on film, but that all changed in
1946 when a filmmaker, not that well known then, named David Lean would make
quite arguably one of the finest motion pictures adapted from a novel. Lean’s version finally made the novel come
alive with superb acting, great directing, and just a sheer understanding of
the novel that the words seem to come alive from the book in motion form.
Lean’s work stands as the backdrop for all future versions
as most are compared to this masterwork and is a hard film to beat. This is the only feature-length version of
the material that is in black and white as well, making it unique. Then would
come two TV-series versions, one in 1959 and another in 1967, along with
another film in 1971. Michael York
would star in a TV version in 1974, which also had mixed results as did both
the mini series, one in 1981 and the other in 1989 although the 1989 version
was a 6 episode (60-minute each) lengthy work that garnered some favor.
Probably the most well-known version today though is the
1998 version starring a huge Hollywood lineup with Robert DeNiro, Ethan Hawke,
Gwyneth Paltrow, Hank Azaria, Anne Bancroft, Chris Cooper, and this version
modernized the novel in what some people might refer to as a bastardization
process. Why on earth this became
popular in the 90’s is beyond me.
Notice this film came out two years after the semi-popular Baz Luhrmann
disastrous attempt to bring Shakespeare into the 20th Century with
handguns and a hip version of Verona.
That film was wisely named Romeo
+ Juliet because it was so cool that it couldn’t even put the word ‘and’
between the title characters that it opted for the ‘plus’ sign instead just to
give it extra modernity.
So where does this 1999 telefilm version fit into all
this? Well, let’s put it this way. It combines some of the best from all the
previous works and makes the novel come alive in a TV sense. Which means while it does not have the power
of a feature film, it does have the capability and accessibility of being more
thorough with a longer runtime. The
adventures of the orphan Pip are rendered in a literate, dignified manner, if
not with the most spectacular results ever.
The direction for the film works well too and director Julian Jarrold,
who also directed the 1997 Touching Evil
episodes, is establishing himself at a nice pace. Also helping out is Charlotte Rampling, who is always
fascinating, as well as some other fine cast members.
This DVD from WBGH Boston Video is quite fantastic in just
about every aspect. Surprisingly the
image looks really tight and strong, presented full-frame with great block
style and a unique way of making it not look quite so much like TV. Sound is also a sufficient 2.0 Dolby Stereo
mix. This is one of the more recent
works on TV that actually engage the viewer with familiar sources and is a
adequate investment for any DVD collector or curious George to check out
somewhere down the line.
- Nate Goss
