For some reason someone decided to make a film of Great Expectations a year after a miniseries was made of it. What's stranger is the BBC was involved in making both versions.
I vastly prefer the 2011 series' opening to this one. This picture looks like the cover of a thriller novel, not an adaptation of a classic.
Adapting Charles Dickens' novels into films rarely works. They're so long and complicated that you have to cut practically everything except the main plot. So I knew before I watched this that a lot of the book would be missing.
I watched it immediately after the 2011 miniseries, so -- bizarrely -- I found I kept comparing this adaptation to that one instead of to the book. Like my review of the miniseries, this will mostly be a rambling list of things I did or didn't like.
Recognisable actors include:
Helena Bonham Carter (the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella 2015) as Miss Haversham
Holliday Grainger (Anastasia in Cinderella 2015) as Estella
Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort in Harry Potter) as Magwitch
Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid in Harry Potter) as Jaggers
Jason Flemyng (Azazel in X-Men: First Class) as Joe
Jessie Cave (Lavender Brown in Harry Potter) as Biddy
Like all versions of Great Expectations, the story starts with Pip meeting Magwitch. Then he goes to visit Miss Haversham and meets Estella... and Herbert. I don't remember Herbert finding Pip hiding under a carriage in the book, but it makes their fight a little bit more understandable than Herbert just demanding to fight Pip.
The film includes Biddy! I was disappointed the series left her out. And it shows her grandmother's "school", and her teaching Pip to read!
Mr. Jaggers' introduction is odd. Why was he lurking in the shadows watching Estella and Pip? He's supposed to be mysterious and menacing, but not that creepy!
Estella teaching Pip to dance is unexpected, but surprisingly cute for these two. Naturally Miss Haversham decides to ruin everything by telling Pip not to visit any more.
The story jumps forward several years to Jaggers' visit and Pip learning about his great expectations. So off he goes to London. The film depicts London as much dirtier and more chaotic than the series does, with more butchers cutting up pieces of meat and more animal blood (at least, I hope that's animal blood) on the ground.
Like the series, the film shows the crowds of people waiting to see Jaggers. Pip and Wemmick's conversation about the casts of criminals' faces and the criminals' property is both close to the book and a fine example of black comedy.
Pip meets Herbert again, and becomes more and more arrogant now he has his fortune.
Pip is still convinced that Miss Haversham is his benefactor, so he asks Herbert for more information about her. In this version we get a flashback to Miss Haversham's ill-fated wedding, and how she learnt Compeyson had jilted her. I'm not a fan of the way this scene is filmed. It's so blurry and distorted that the characters look like they're seen through a funhouse mirror. Why does "flashback" equate to "blurry" in so many directors' minds? It defeats the purpose if the viewers can't see things clearly.
There's a rather odd scene of Pip and Herbert going to a club where the members are... having a food fight? I don't remember anything like that in the book. But the film atones for that weirdness by including Wemmick's Aged Parent, and their habit of firing a cannon.
Pip visits Miss Haversham and meets Estella, who's now going to London. Why on earth did they have Estella walking on top of barrels? While in a long dress? I spent that whole scene expecting her to trip and fall.
My favourite line in the film is Mr. Jaggers' remark when he sees the amount of bills Pip has run up. "I suspected you would go wrong, Pip, but really, you are excelling yourself." That perfectly describes Pip's behaviour in London.
Estella gets engaged to Drummle, in spite of Pip's attempts to make her see reason. His "what do you think you're doing?" speech to her in the garden is the only time in the film he's shown any common sense. But Estella -- who has seen how Drummle behaves towards her -- doesn't listen. What an idiot.
After this Pip goes home -- to a house that's much grander in the film than in the book -- to find Magwitch. This scene is surprisingly eerie, even more than in the book. Pip doesn't cope well with learning the truth about his benefactor.
Miss Haversham's death is gruesome in all versions, but this one goes further and shows us glimpses of the aftermath *shudders*
Pip and Herbert try to get Magwitch out of England. Unfortunately, Compeyson and the police follow them. The film has a frightening scene of the steamship wheel running over Magwitch and Compeyson, and smashing the boat that Pip is in. Then there's Magwitch's death, which is just as sad here as in the series.
The film includes Joe paying Pip's debts and staying with him while he's ill! It improves on the series in that, at least. And then there's the final conversation between Pip and Estella. I'm still far from convinced that they would be happy if they married, but I get the impression that the film's version of them wouldn't be completely unhappy. That's probably the closest Great Expectations will ever get to a relatively cheerful ending.
Overall, the film is a pretty decent adaptation that in some ways is more faithful to the book than the series. But at the same time it's still rushed and trying to adapt a reallllly long book into two hours. It has its good moments and it has its flaws, but overall I think the good moments outnumber the flaws.
Is it available online?: No, I don't think so.
Rating: 6/10.
I watched it immediately after the 2011 miniseries, so -- bizarrely -- I found I kept comparing this adaptation to that one instead of to the book. Like my review of the miniseries, this will mostly be a rambling list of things I did or didn't like.
Recognisable actors include:
Helena Bonham Carter (the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella 2015) as Miss Haversham
Holliday Grainger (Anastasia in Cinderella 2015) as Estella
Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort in Harry Potter) as Magwitch
Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid in Harry Potter) as Jaggers
Jason Flemyng (Azazel in X-Men: First Class) as Joe
Jessie Cave (Lavender Brown in Harry Potter) as Biddy
Like all versions of Great Expectations, the story starts with Pip meeting Magwitch. Then he goes to visit Miss Haversham and meets Estella... and Herbert. I don't remember Herbert finding Pip hiding under a carriage in the book, but it makes their fight a little bit more understandable than Herbert just demanding to fight Pip.
Miss Haversham
Young Estella and young Pip
The film includes Biddy! I was disappointed the series left her out. And it shows her grandmother's "school", and her teaching Pip to read!
Mr. Jaggers' introduction is odd. Why was he lurking in the shadows watching Estella and Pip? He's supposed to be mysterious and menacing, but not that creepy!
Estella teaching Pip to dance is unexpected, but surprisingly cute for these two. Naturally Miss Haversham decides to ruin everything by telling Pip not to visit any more.
The story jumps forward several years to Jaggers' visit and Pip learning about his great expectations. So off he goes to London. The film depicts London as much dirtier and more chaotic than the series does, with more butchers cutting up pieces of meat and more animal blood (at least, I hope that's animal blood) on the ground.
Like the series, the film shows the crowds of people waiting to see Jaggers. Pip and Wemmick's conversation about the casts of criminals' faces and the criminals' property is both close to the book and a fine example of black comedy.
Pip meets Herbert again, and becomes more and more arrogant now he has his fortune.
Pip
Herbert
Pip is still convinced that Miss Haversham is his benefactor, so he asks Herbert for more information about her. In this version we get a flashback to Miss Haversham's ill-fated wedding, and how she learnt Compeyson had jilted her. I'm not a fan of the way this scene is filmed. It's so blurry and distorted that the characters look like they're seen through a funhouse mirror. Why does "flashback" equate to "blurry" in so many directors' minds? It defeats the purpose if the viewers can't see things clearly.
There's a rather odd scene of Pip and Herbert going to a club where the members are... having a food fight? I don't remember anything like that in the book. But the film atones for that weirdness by including Wemmick's Aged Parent, and their habit of firing a cannon.
Pip visits Miss Haversham and meets Estella, who's now going to London. Why on earth did they have Estella walking on top of barrels? While in a long dress? I spent that whole scene expecting her to trip and fall.
Estella
My favourite line in the film is Mr. Jaggers' remark when he sees the amount of bills Pip has run up. "I suspected you would go wrong, Pip, but really, you are excelling yourself." That perfectly describes Pip's behaviour in London.
Estella gets engaged to Drummle, in spite of Pip's attempts to make her see reason. His "what do you think you're doing?" speech to her in the garden is the only time in the film he's shown any common sense. But Estella -- who has seen how Drummle behaves towards her -- doesn't listen. What an idiot.
After this Pip goes home -- to a house that's much grander in the film than in the book -- to find Magwitch. This scene is surprisingly eerie, even more than in the book. Pip doesn't cope well with learning the truth about his benefactor.
Pip and Magwitch
Miss Haversham's death is gruesome in all versions, but this one goes further and shows us glimpses of the aftermath *shudders*
Pip and Herbert try to get Magwitch out of England. Unfortunately, Compeyson and the police follow them. The film has a frightening scene of the steamship wheel running over Magwitch and Compeyson, and smashing the boat that Pip is in. Then there's Magwitch's death, which is just as sad here as in the series.
The film includes Joe paying Pip's debts and staying with him while he's ill! It improves on the series in that, at least. And then there's the final conversation between Pip and Estella. I'm still far from convinced that they would be happy if they married, but I get the impression that the film's version of them wouldn't be completely unhappy. That's probably the closest Great Expectations will ever get to a relatively cheerful ending.
The surprisingly sweet ending to a surprisingly good film.
Overall, the film is a pretty decent adaptation that in some ways is more faithful to the book than the series. But at the same time it's still rushed and trying to adapt a reallllly long book into two hours. It has its good moments and it has its flaws, but overall I think the good moments outnumber the flaws.
Is it available online?: No, I don't think so.
Rating: 6/10.
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