Artivels
Undescribable Perfection
Lucybespro
It is a performances centric movie
Kayden
This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama
paul-743-899114
Utterly brilliant, with a cast as good as the 1994 one in Martin Chuzzelwit - and that's saying something.The BBC used to fail Dickens badly, but they have upped their game over the past 20 years. It just goes to show, if you pick the right cast and a decent (you don't need a great one with C.D.'s books) script writer, you cannot fail.Anna M.M. is one of the best actors on the planet - as she has shown many times since Bleak House. But the revelation here was Gillian Anderson. She was perfect. One thing about the "real" Bleak House (in Dickens imagination): it's obviously the terraced house at Lincoln's Inn Field, rather than the one called as such, at Broadstairs.
dane-92
Acting is good. Sets, costumes, etc., are good. Mood is spot-on Dickens. BUT...the directing makes me crazy. It's like "Bleak House Meets Lord of the Rings."Shaky-cam shots, wild zooms, synthesizer swooshes and whams, over-the-top digital colorization. This story doesn't need all that sci-fi/fantasy production value, and in my opinion, it damages the series.When style gets in the way of content, it takes away from the story, and regrettably, that's what I feel happens in this adaptation. I really hope directors will step back from this new faddish style, which everybody is copying now, and get back to good storytelling.
gregh2223
I've read this novel at least four times, always with rapt enjoyment. I advise viewers of this terrific drama to read the novel, too. You won't be bored. It has a texture and a wealth of character, as well as the great writing of Dickens, that even this fine drama can't match. There are also differences in character. Jarndyce is Jarndyce -- he couldn't be closer to the original. Esther, on the other hand, has lost a layer of hesitation and uncertainty that at least one important critic attributes to her being illegitimate. Esther has been blamed for this, and really bad critics, like the Sitwell character who prefaced the Oxford hardbound edition, dismiss Esther as grossly coy and self-absorbed. I wouldn't change a hair on her head and feel sure Dickens wouldn't either, if he were still with us. At any rate, the wonderful actress playing Esther has removed this seeming coyness from her portrayal, and she comes off as a rather harder character than in the book, though still admirable and lovable. I was surprised to read someone's comment that the actress has a tendency to simper. In my (fallible) view, that illusion of simpering (the product of a sadistically-induced complex) is exactly what the actress has refined OUT of Esther's character. I wouldn't want this drama to be otherwise, but it's not the book, and these differences alone, plus infinitely more detail, will make you love the book.
michaelstep2004
No need to write a long review -- others here say it very well. This version of 'Bleak House' is simply one of the best films ever made.It is the best adaptation of any Dickens work that I can remember, going go back to the wonderful 'A Tale of Two Cities' and 'Great Expectations' of the Golden Age of Hollywood. What is the real core of Dickens' message is highlighted, and the dated dross of sentiment eliminated.Every single aspect of the production is of the highest excellence. There's really nothing more to say. A must-see, if anything is.
