Treasure amid the Ashes
DVD: Our Mutual Friend
Among my treasures is a book called The Good Old Days -- They Were Terrible! Discovered quite by chance one day at Olsson's Bethesda store, The Good Old Days has ever since been a part of my collection of books on the 19th century and serves as a warning against romanticizing that particular era. Consider, for example, what dramatic progress the human race has made in but two areas, sanitation and mental health care, and I think you'll agree that time travel back to the Victorian age doesn't seem such a good idea after all.
But I do recommend time travel of a different sort, via DVD, and that you make room for both romance and squalor -- and the aforementioned sanitation and mental health issues -- when you sit down to watch the BBC's splendid 1998 adaptation of Charles Dickens's Our Mutual Friend. This convoluted, colorful tale concerns the intertwined lives and fortunes of people in degraded and exalted conditions, though at times it becomes difficult to tell just who is who. The many characters include:
John Harmon (Steven Mackintosh), newly returned from abroad to collect his inheritance and enter an arranged marriage.
Bella Wilfer (Anna Friel), Harmon's intended, eager to escape poverty but vaguely ashamed of her acquisitive nature.
Mr. and Mrs. Boffin (Peter Vaughan and Pam Ferris), humble, hard-working people who experience a dramatic shift of fortune.
Lizzie Hexam (Keeley Hawes), a gentle young woman whose father (David Schofield) makes a living collecting the corpses of the drowned from the River Thames.
And a pair of lawyers who play a pivotal role in the action: the wonderfully decent Mortimer Lightwood (Dominic Mafham) and his jaded friend Eugene Wrayburn (Paul McGann).
This being Dickens, that doesn't even represent a fraction of the characters, nor by any means the weirdest of them. Believe me, there's ample competition for that last category, given the presence of Messrs. Venus, Sloppy, and Headstone.
As for the story's setting, it ranges from elegant lawns and ballrooms, where the desperate and the devious seek to rise in society, to the actual garbage dumps of London, where fortunes of another sort are made and lost. In fact, regardless of the setting, we're never very far from the subject of true worth, which, Dickens warns us, is not necessarily measured by possessions or social class.
To put it bluntly, the story deals with love and money, and the acts to which people are driven to acquire one or the other. That is not to say that we are among only mercenary people, though Bella Wilfer would shamefacedly admit to that label. But human desire propels much of the action, leading characters to blackmail and a good deal worse.
One event that stands out is an utterly terrifying marriage proposal ( in a graveyard, no less), made by the aforementioned Mr. Headstone. It's a tribute to David Morrissey's performance that he can render such a profoundly disturbed character resolutely human.
Now that I've warned you about Morrissey's meltdown, let's take a deep breath and turn to the other characters. Anna Friel (Chuck on Pushing Daisies), as Bella, is delightfully watchable, warmly appealing even in the character's less admirable moments. Her vivacity contrasts nicely with the gravity of Steven Mackintosh (a versatile and perhaps underappreciated actor).
And speaking of contrasts, it was a fine bit of casting that brought the cool and magnetic Paul McGann into this production. The man was born to play in period pieces, and I hope directors won't forget him if, say, Mr. Timothy or The Meaning of Night is ever brought to the screen.
His on-screen partner, Keeley Hawes, also no stranger to literary adaptations, has a quiet strength as Lizzie Hexam, a woman who in herself is proof enough that treasure can be found in unexpected places.
The DVD is a storytelling treasure, with nearly six hours of material on a two-sided disc, which includes a helpful menu listing all the scenes and extras. Of particular interest is side 2's documentary, Dickens: The Final Chapter, which contains production notes from cast and crew, paired with an unflinching look at the realities of life during the Victorian age. I'd recommend that you not make the same mistake I did and watch it during lunch. All I can say is, thank God for modern sanitation systems.
Among my treasures is a book called The Good Old Days -- They Were Terrible! Discovered quite by chance one day at Olsson's Bethesda store, The Good Old Days has ever since been a part of my collection of books on the 19th century and serves as a warning against romanticizing that particular era. Consider, for example, what dramatic progress the human race has made in but two areas, sanitation and mental health care, and I think you'll agree that time travel back to the Victorian age doesn't seem such a good idea after all.
But I do recommend time travel of a different sort, via DVD, and that you make room for both romance and squalor -- and the aforementioned sanitation and mental health issues -- when you sit down to watch the BBC's splendid 1998 adaptation of Charles Dickens's Our Mutual Friend. This convoluted, colorful tale concerns the intertwined lives and fortunes of people in degraded and exalted conditions, though at times it becomes difficult to tell just who is who. The many characters include:John Harmon (Steven Mackintosh), newly returned from abroad to collect his inheritance and enter an arranged marriage.
Bella Wilfer (Anna Friel), Harmon's intended, eager to escape poverty but vaguely ashamed of her acquisitive nature.
Mr. and Mrs. Boffin (Peter Vaughan and Pam Ferris), humble, hard-working people who experience a dramatic shift of fortune.
Lizzie Hexam (Keeley Hawes), a gentle young woman whose father (David Schofield) makes a living collecting the corpses of the drowned from the River Thames.
And a pair of lawyers who play a pivotal role in the action: the wonderfully decent Mortimer Lightwood (Dominic Mafham) and his jaded friend Eugene Wrayburn (Paul McGann).
This being Dickens, that doesn't even represent a fraction of the characters, nor by any means the weirdest of them. Believe me, there's ample competition for that last category, given the presence of Messrs. Venus, Sloppy, and Headstone.
As for the story's setting, it ranges from elegant lawns and ballrooms, where the desperate and the devious seek to rise in society, to the actual garbage dumps of London, where fortunes of another sort are made and lost. In fact, regardless of the setting, we're never very far from the subject of true worth, which, Dickens warns us, is not necessarily measured by possessions or social class.
To put it bluntly, the story deals with love and money, and the acts to which people are driven to acquire one or the other. That is not to say that we are among only mercenary people, though Bella Wilfer would shamefacedly admit to that label. But human desire propels much of the action, leading characters to blackmail and a good deal worse.
One event that stands out is an utterly terrifying marriage proposal ( in a graveyard, no less), made by the aforementioned Mr. Headstone. It's a tribute to David Morrissey's performance that he can render such a profoundly disturbed character resolutely human.
Now that I've warned you about Morrissey's meltdown, let's take a deep breath and turn to the other characters. Anna Friel (Chuck on Pushing Daisies), as Bella, is delightfully watchable, warmly appealing even in the character's less admirable moments. Her vivacity contrasts nicely with the gravity of Steven Mackintosh (a versatile and perhaps underappreciated actor).
And speaking of contrasts, it was a fine bit of casting that brought the cool and magnetic Paul McGann into this production. The man was born to play in period pieces, and I hope directors won't forget him if, say, Mr. Timothy or The Meaning of Night is ever brought to the screen.
His on-screen partner, Keeley Hawes, also no stranger to literary adaptations, has a quiet strength as Lizzie Hexam, a woman who in herself is proof enough that treasure can be found in unexpected places.
The DVD is a storytelling treasure, with nearly six hours of material on a two-sided disc, which includes a helpful menu listing all the scenes and extras. Of particular interest is side 2's documentary, Dickens: The Final Chapter, which contains production notes from cast and crew, paired with an unflinching look at the realities of life during the Victorian age. I'd recommend that you not make the same mistake I did and watch it during lunch. All I can say is, thank God for modern sanitation systems.
0 Comments:
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home