Reviews of films, DVDs and documentaries along with discussion of the current state of the film industry.
Showing posts with label Charles Dickens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charles Dickens. Show all posts
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
Scrooged Review: Would you like to be Scrooged? - Movies, Movie Reviews, Film, Film Reviews, Film Entertainment, Entertainment, TV, Television, TV Reviews, Television Reviews
Now Bill Murray is something of a gem when it comes to the films that he is in. I don't think anyone would argue with me if I said that in the era of mid-late 80s and early 90s Bill Murray could do no wrong. From Ghostbusters to What About Bob to Groundhog Day these films are hugely popular, thanks in no small part to the performance of Mr. Murray. Whether these films stand the test of time is another question entirely, but for anyone who wants to take a look back at the world they used to live in this is a great film. Scrooged on the other hand has something that his other films don't, it adapts a story which has stood the test of time already and gives it a modern twist, or at least what was modern for the day.
Not since West Side Story's adaptation of Romeo and Juliet have people so embraced a modern version of a story that's been repeated by so many before it and many more afterwards. In part because it's very clear in watching it that the people involved understood the adaptation they were making and the times they were living in. They were smart enough to change key elements, like the names of the characters involved but never lost sight of the idea that the original characters they represented were key to making the story work. And the one major change they did make was played to perfection for the modern telling by the great Bobcat Goldthwait.
Would you like to get Scrooged? I do, and so should you. Every year on Christmas Eve as the story itself goes, and every year I am trying to hold it together through the end as I tear up through the beautiful speech at the end.
Wednesday, 12 September 2012
How Great should your Expectations be?
I have had the privilege of seeing some really great films at TIFF this year, a number of which are adaptations of some of the greatest writers to have ever put words to page. Namely William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” adapted by Joss Whedon, and Charles Dickens’s “Great Expectations” as adapted by Mike Newell. Incredible feats for most filmmakers to take on, not only because of the authors’ powerful works themselves but also because they have been done repeatedly over the years, some to great success and others to great failure. As a result the immensity of such an undertaking is not lost on many who might see the film versions.
One might even say it is almost impossible not to have great expectations about this kind of attempt. Yes, I know that’s an incredible obvious thing to say and kind of dumb but as the programmer who introduced the film said it’s hard not to go there with such an obvious set up.
This is not my first viewing of a Dickens adaptation and I doubt it will be my last. However this is as far as I can remember my first viewing of a version which is in many ways faithful to the original version. This seems to be a trend of sorts in the filmmaking community as of late. “Much Ado About Nothing” was using the original text and it seems that “Great Expectations” also did so. Where they differ is in the setting itself. Much Ado was set in modern times where the characters had cell phones and computers and such, whereas “Great Expectations” took great pains to be period specific in nearly every aspect. Yet both have managed to do interesting things with the material.
I should say that my only other experience with the story of Great Expectations was in a South Park episode where one of the characters they supposedly based on Pip, the main character of the Dickens story, had his back story told in the form of “Great Expectations”. The basics of the story were there and many elements stayed the same but they went completely off script with the ending for comedic effect, but it did get me curious the other works of Dickens as I was most familiar with “A Christmas Carol” up until then which I watch every Christmas as well as several modern day adaptations.
Director Mike Newell took no such liberties with the story, although there were a few characters which were removed in order to keep the story moving according to the director’s Q&A afterwards. Despite that, I think that the film is a beautiful adaptation of the widely heralded story. One of the audience members who managed to ask a question of the director was the head of a local chapter of the Charles Dickens’ society, remarking that he believed that Charles Dickens would be very happy with this interpretation and while my opinion probably holds less weight, I would have to agree. He managed to make characters that were almost all miserable, angry and at times unlikeable people into sympathetic characters who you can at least understand the motivations of.
Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Jeremy Irvine and Holliday Grainger embodied Dickens’ classic characters in their adult roles. While Helena Barlow, Toby Irvine and Charlie Callaghan as young versions of the main characters managed to set up everything that their older versions needed really well for their ages.
How Great should your Expectations be? To quote Estella…
“I am bent and broken, though hopefully into a better shape.”
This film has been made into great shape.
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