webber-george It might take you a couple of attempts to sit down and watch this film, its a little slow to get going and certain characters might tempt you to give up. Don't! Please give it the respect it deserves and allow it to play on I promise you won't be disappointed. This is a beautiful yet powerful drama. Its true that some drama's push a certain political correctness at you this drama is more story telling in nature with a hint of liberalism in it. Its a thought provoking drama, which I myself thoroughly enjoyed. The production was beautifully done There has been criticism of the quality of acting with some calling it poor or wooden and I can see where they are coming from, but I myself found it very good, I just think compared to some of the shows around maybe I have different tastes to others.I think its wonderful and recommend you watch it and form your own opinions.

TheLittleSongbird Daniel Deronda is not quite the masterpiece that Middlemarch in book-terms, it's still a compelling read once you stick with it with a story that is beautiful and harrowing and characters that are not strictly likable initially but grow to root for. This adaptation as a stand alone and adaptation is outstanding. The only debit for me was the ending, with Daniel making his decision too abruptly and too hastily, a decision that didn't ring true from personal perspective because the chemistry between Daniel and Gwen was stronger and more developed than his and Mirah's(though theirs was hardly non-existent). The mini-series does look great too, the colours have so much warmth, the photography oozes with fluidity, the costumes are evocative and beautifully tailored and the scenery and locations enough to take the breath away. The music is suitably understated with plenty of charm and also some haunting parts too. Writing-wise, Daniel Deronda is very literate and the intelligently written dialogue is adapted with real fluency and grace, capturing all the themes and contrasts(very heavy, risky ones too like good and evil, lies and deception, prejudice and self-discovery and selfishness and honesty/humility) of the book beautifully, understated and not crass. The story is close in spirit to the book, while lengthy and taking its time to develop- necessary as there's a lot in the book, length and details wise- it is still movingly and hard-hittingly told. The characters all translate well in the adaptation, they're every bit as interesting and not distorted in personality at all. Gwen in particular is a complex character to pull off, a lot of people seem to dislike her and understandably, she does frustrate you to begin with but you do feel sorry for her by the end. The acting along with the way the mini-series looked and was written is what makes Daniel Deronda so good. In particular Hugh Bonneville who does bring some wit but essentially Grandcourt is a real evil piece of work, it's very easy to hate him but not in a pantomimic sense. Hugh Dancy characterises compassionately and gently, his moments of anguish genuinely poignant in alternative to underplayed while the contempt Daniel keeps within him is not overplayed. As said earlier, Gwen is a difficult character to pass off credibly and Romola Garai does that and it brilliantly comes off, very deeply felt and honest without ever feeling forced. Jodhi May is affecting and beautiful and Edward Fox comes off well as the benevolent benefactor. The direction is admirably restrained, refraining from being overly-languid or overly-complicated, which either way would have spoilt the impact of the story. To conclude, really outstanding in all aspects apart from the ending which only really feels like a small blemish in comparison. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Amy Smith Kudos to Andrew Davies who continues to spook me out with his grasp on the mores and idiosyncrasies of English society of yesteryear. (I think he is secretly utilizing a time machine) The casting is flawless; Bonneville's character is almost intrinsically wicked. Although he illustrates that he is a man who understands financial investments, his dearth of understanding of the necessity of genuine emotional investments becomes his undoing. It may seem simplistic, but one hand does wash the other.....I expected Scacci's spurned mistress to have more sympathy for one as blinded as indeed she was when still young and alluring. Greta is formidable as a woman facing the aspect of Grandcourt's ultimate disloyalty, as she herself was disloyal to a spouse who must have trusted her to some degree... Daniel Deronda himself is much more than highly likable; he is a hero of the first order......This film is truly worth watching.

Emma It was interesting to read the various comments put up here about the screen adaptation of Daniel Deronda. I watched it at the time it was first shown on television and thought it was really excellent. Then shortly afterwards, I came across the novel whilst on holiday and having enjoyed the television adaptation, I began to read the book and couldn't put it down. After that I felt compelled to go back to watch the televised version again and felt that although, as with any screenplay, it could not include every detail from the original novel, it captured the essence of the book extremely well and that it was truly inspiring. In fact I even re-read the book shortly afterwards. I thought the acting was superb and would certainly take issue with other user comments about both Gwendolyn and Daniel. Daniel was supposed to be almost saint-like and consequently somewhat removed from the other characters, although he did care deeply about them. I thought that Hugh Dancy did this very well, as it was so difficult to portray such a character. I certainly don't think he was in any way "wooden". He apparently said that having read the novel at university, he found it fascinating and helpful when filming to refer constantly to the original novel for guidance, and that needless to say, it gave him a much greater insight into the novel than when he had first read it. (Actually it was through watching Daniel Deronda that I became a loyal fan of Hugh Dancy.) I confess that I found myself quite illogically drawn to Gwendolyn's character as she advanced through the story to such an extent that the end of the screen version always makes me cry. Obviously she was intensely annoying to begin with, but she pays for her immaturity and her selfish and thoughtless behaviour by the end of the novel. I thought she was a far more interesting character than Mirah, not that I didn't think that Jodhi May was excellent in that role, but I loved the sexual tension between Gwendolyn and Deronda - the fact that they almost kissed but never did, so that in the end, even though you sensed it was a relationship going nowhere, you really wanted them to get physical. Of course Deronda was too honourable to do any such thing! Ah! Therein lies the attraction of the character for me: such purity and honour, (and of course Hugh Dancy is beautiful...) but there's not too much of that left these days - I refer to purity and honour.