ellethekitty
it is not an easy thing to do Charles Dickens without being tedious, in my opinion. The first few episodes of this are a little bit slow, but once it gets in full swing, it is a great production. The adaptation, the music, the pace, for the most part are excellent. The main exception being Gillian Anderson, who I expected to like, but couldn't. It seems to me that she thinks she is being understated in her stiff, aloof portrayal of lady Dedlock. She succeeds in looking beautiful and being mysterious, but I think it is over-acted. I have never seen someone try so hard to be stoic and restrained, with no appearance of the presence of the emotions that supposedly need to be held back so. It seems to me that stony unsmiling face with a slight pucker of the lips is a default she uses in lieu of any actual acting. I have nothing against her in general, but she has done something similar in both The Fall and x-files, and I think its beginning to be a gimmicky aloofness that doesn't always work. The other characters are superbly cast and well acted.
johannes2000-1
Well, I don't say this often, but in this BBC-series I have met with sheer perfection! Everything - direction, script, dialogues, actors, photography, settings, costumes - is of the highest quality, better than this seems not possible. The BBC has a long-standing tradition of high standard renditions of classic British literature to television, but this production proves that such a tradition does not necessarily mean a stand-still, in many aspects it's quite modern. The editing is sharp and fast-paced, and they cut the whole production in short episodes of just a half hour with a cliff-hanger at every closure, which enhances the pulse of the story and suits the suspense and who-done-it-aspects very fine. Of course they are greatly helped by the novel of Dickens itself, which is in my opinion one of his best and most compelling. Bleak House has everything that a Dickens-novel should have: an involving story, great characterizations, an abundance of figures who are either hilarious (young Guppy and his mother, Mr. Turveydrop), extremely sinister (attorney Tulkinghorn, old Smallweed, slimy Skimpole) or endearing (Mrs. Flite, little Jo), and a very outspoken criticism on the abominable situation of the poor underclass of London. But Bleak House gives you even more: a story of crime and deceit with many intricate layers; a poignant story of class differences and the tangled ways in which the protagonists deal with these; and last but not least a story of love and sacrifice.The novel has some 1000 pages and even in a series of more than 7 hours it's impossible to do it all justice, so the makers had to make choices. Some of the secondary stories were minimized and I can understand that this hurts the scrupulous Dickens-lover. The Turveydrops for instance, or the relation between sergeant George and his friend Phil Squod are hardly touched-at. But you have to give the makers credit for trying to fit it all in anyway, albeit at times a tiny bit too cramped. As to the acting, I don't even know where to begin my praise. You keep wondering how the BBC does it: they seem to have picked the ideal actor for every character! Of course the central characters of the story stand out the most. Anna Maxwell Martin is perfect as the intelligent and civilized Esther, who always keeps her chin up, in spite of all the physical (smallpox!) and personal drama's the befall her. Denis Lawson is her wise and fatherly guardian who secretly hopes for more and has to maneuver delicately to not frighten her away and who in the end sacrifices his personal happiness for that of Esther. And Carey Mulligan and Patrick Kennedy do a fine job as the ill-fated Jarndyce-wardens; especially Kennedy convincingly plays a charming but slightly whimsical airhead who lets himself, through ill advice, be dragged into the mud of a (literally) life-consuming law-suit. Charles Dance is hair-raisingly sinister as the devious and machiavelistic attorney Tulkinghorn: ice-cold, unrelenting, full of ambition and fueled by hatred and envy of the upper-class, that he outwardly serves but in fact controls. What a marvelous actor Dance is, he has this enormous screen-presence and in whatever part you see him (like now in Game of Thrones) he always excels and fills-up every scene with his personality. But greatest surprise to me was Gillian Anderson as lady Lockwood. Every time she stepped (or better: floated) into the scene it made you sit on the edge of your chair. Her timeless and classical beauty, her majestic stature, her aloof expression, while in her eyes her fear of being found-out as a fraud and a start-up shone through, everything about her was breathtaking. I don't know what made them turn to her: an American actress with at that time (as far as I can see) no comparable productions in her résumé, but it was a choice made in heaven!Virtually all the smaller parts deserve equal praise, so it seems almost like an injustice to point-out only some of them. Alun Armstrong is absolutely great as the Columbo-like inspector Bucket, over-polite but very steadfast; Armstrong makes his character more than just comically annoying, this really is an inspector that one cannot trifle with. Philip Davis plays the dreadful and perfidious Mr. Smallweed to perfection, every scene with him ("Shake me up, Judy!!") oozes greed, evil and an almost tangible foul smell. And last but by no means least: Burn Gorman as Mr. Guppy. Gorman very believably makes Guppy hilarious, endearing and a brave warrior for justice all in one, Gorman's Guppy really is the comical backbone of this series, I was every episode hoping and waiting for Mr. Guppy to pop-up and to make me laugh out loud again. All the nervous tics and twinges, his pompous way of speaking, his love-sick wooing of Esther, his frustration with his giggling mother, it was all done by Gorman (I have to use the phrase yet again) to perfection! Oh, just let me name yet another one: Timothy West as sir Leicester Deadlock. His part was maybe small, but he was totally convincing as the old-school aristocrat who is at first just exasperated by all the trifles and sordid affairs of the common people, but later on breaks your heart as the forlorn husband who desperately longs to be reunited again with his beloved wife. West was equally great in both capacities, but his portrayal of the latter was deeply moving. In short, greatly, greatly recommended!!
canuckteach
I managed to obtain the DVD Blu-ray collection - tremendous casting, brilliant set-design, wonderful extra features (particularly the interviews), fabulous make-up and costumes. Only the Brits can pull off a 'period' piece such as this one, with everyone in the acting crew contributing amazing performances, no matter how small. Worthy of special note is the work of 'Charles Dance' as the grim Mr Tulkinghorn, 'Denis Lawson' (caught our eye in the old 'Local Hero' flick) as the affable Mr Jarndyce, 'Gillian Anderson' as the tragic Lady Dedlock, and 'Philip Davis' as the grotesque, psychopathic moneylender, Mr Smallweed.In addition to the above, the sound-editing and camera angles help create the dark under-currents and suspense in this presentation of the brilliant Dickens novel, outlining the frustration of the old Chauncery court system which plagued the Brits for decades.'Alun Armstrong' (of 'New Tricks' fame) also shows his versatility as a detective from another era (I believe the first true 'detective' in English literature). enjoy.
