Great Expectations - is this meeting your expectations?

[Ann]

Started watching this last night, as for some unknown reason I had never read the book! Continued with the story tonight, but am finding it very tedious, all the characters are portrayed as so miserable, not keen on the lead actor/actress, thought Miss Haversham should be older and dreading the ending (not going to look it up on wiki) Is anyone enjoying it? I find it quite depressing but want to see it through to the end. All my friends agree .... its a bit boring, probably not one of Charles Dickens' best?

[micmak]

It is a good story, but in my opinion a bad adaptation.

[jno]

I think they've produced a new ending for this serial.

I think it's generally agreed to be one of Dickens' best; but I haven't seen the current adaptation so I can't say if it does the book justice.

[Ann]

Who was in the original micmak? I thought these actors were a bit wooden ....

[Ann]

A new ending? Thats really silly .... why not keep to the original, old CD will be turning in his grave!

[missprim]

Stargazer put this on last night and I don't think anyone was impressed with it.
I mentioned that I fell asleep watching it and I did the same again tonight so I guess I'm finding it boring too.

http://www.theanswerb.../Question1089506.html

[jno]

old CD produced two endings himself (getting Pip and wossname together/keeping them apart), so he'd probably be okay with it.

[jno]

Estella, that's who I meant.

Also, "old CD" is of course to be distinguished from young China Doll.

[micmak]

It does nothing for the book, if you watched this you wouldn't read the book.

Ann, The only original is the book. I'm sure there have been other films but I have not seen any.

[Ann]

So are the two endings both in the original (classic) book?

[jno]

Ann, I don't know, it's up to the publisher I suppose; but the one I read at school included the two alternative endings. (He wrote the unhappy ending first, then changed his mind and made it happier.)

[Ann]

Despite me saying I didn't want to look the story up I was intrigued about the differences to the book - so read all about it on wiki
http://en.wikipedia.o...tions_%281946_film%29

[ichkeria]

To my shame I've not read the book yet, and wouldn't dream of watching a 3-hour Christmas version of it before doing so.

[pastafreak]

Unfortunately-this or any screen adaptation-will be a watered down version. As with so many Victorian novels, it's impossible to do justice to Dickens in such a short time frame.

[Ann]

Yes pasta - the story moved so quickly I had a job to determine who was who .......

[grandpajoe]

I bought the full works of Charles Dickens in the early 70s with the intention of reading the books but 40 years later I have just started!!!!! Am on Sketches By Boz and then Pickwick Papers next. I read somewhere "Sketches.." were the then equivalent of today's documentaries and so far I see the comparison. I can't imagine a play or film EVER depicting what Dickens saw and wrote about and i don't think directors try to because they can't!! Maybe they should try doing a "Docudrama" now that would be good. (Or have they)

[jno]

ichkeria, for what iot's worth, I didn't read War and Peace until I'd been spurred to do so by the lengthy TV adaptation about 40 years ago. I still remember Anthony Hopkins better than I remember the book, but I enjoyed both.

[ichkeria]

"ichkeria, for what iot's worth, I didn't read War and Peace until I'd been spurred to do so by the lengthy TV adaptation about 40 years ago. I still remember Anthony Hopkins better than I remember the book, but I enjoyed both. "

I must confess War and Peace is one I might succumb and simply watch on the TV! But, without wishing to cast aspersions on it too much as I've not seen it, I suspect the weighty WAP adaptation did more justice to the book than the current GE.
When listening to a preview of GE on the radio I heard the reviewer say that Jean Anderson was in the role of Miss Havisham which amazed me as I thought she'd died years ago. Of course she did die yearsa ago, and I now realise he'd said GILLIAN Anderson!! Again to my shame I only know the character of Miss Havisham from the Jasper Fforde novels, but Gillian Anderson doesn't strike me as ideal choice of actress for that part, other than to say "hey, we've got Gillian Anderson playing Miss H!"
The greatest TV adaptation I've seen was a Russian TV version of The Master and Margarita - they stuck literally to every scene and every word of the book!!

[cathfromsaron]

worth remembering the book was originally serialised (like a soap) and some characters don't carry through the whole story!

the book - as it now is - is brisker and very skillifully written!

cath x

[jno]

Anderson's a serious actress, despite still being best known for the X Files; she won a Bafta for the TV version of Bleak House.

I've never read Nicholas Nickleby; I've seen two films of it (the older one is a bit better); but what I actually remember is the stage version by the RSC: it took eight hours (in two shifts), and was marvellous.

But TV can't or won't devote the same amount of time to things these days. The recent adaptation of The Forsyte Saga had six episodes; the famous 1967 version had 26.

[Zacs-Master]

Well, I am thoroughly enjoying it. The camerawork is excellent as is the acting. For those who find it dull, I would remind them that but for the privileged few, Dickensian times were dire. Despite this dickens does have some numerous moments but these largely rely on the premiss of the privileged few getting one over on the underclasses which Mr Elton copied in Blackadder a plenty.