caz963: (LD Amy)
[personal profile] caz963
I haven't got a lot of time for telly watching, which is probably just as well considering that most of what's on isn't worth watching, but over the weekend, Elinor asked if we could re-watch Little Dorrit. We'd watched it before Christmas and I bought the DVD set when it came out, but hadn't watched it yet.

So we happily settled down to re-watching one of those star-studded adaptations that the Beeb does so well.

I enjoyed it over again - despite the fact that there were a few unexplained plot-holes and a major plot change at the end. I'm not a tyrannical purist when it comes to adaptations - I like them to be pretty true to the book, but recognise that sometimes things have to be changed for dramatic emphasis and things like that.

But what really struck me was the utter magnificence of Tom Courtenay's portrayal of William Dorrit. The whole cast was superb, of course, but he was truly outstanding. He caught every nuance of the character, the childish petulance, the snobbery... all of it was simply wonderful. I thought Claire Foy was very good as Amy - and I "noticed" Matthew MacFadyen more this time around. He's done a lot, I know, and has been very good in everything I've seen him in, but what I really noticed on a rewatch was this incredible ability he has to just... be still, for want of a better expression. I imagine Arthur Clenham must be a difficult character to portray, because he's... well, pretty ordinary, really, and in danger of being boring, as the 'good' characters often are. I haven't seen him as Darcy in the recent Pride and Prejudice, because I can't stand Keira Knightly, but I might just have to give it a go now :-)

I think I need to dig out all the other costume drama vids and DVDs I have. Elinor seems to like them, and she'll have fun spotting all the thesps she's seen in other things. I was thinking of starting with David Copperfield next weekend.

Date: 2009-03-10 07:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] caz963.livejournal.com
I'll allow a certain amount of leeway in adaptaions, but I switch off if they decided to disregard the original. I remember watching the recent Jane Eyre with Toby Stephens (guh!) but in almost the whole of the first episode I struggled to spot a Bronte line!

I have to agree that I don't think Macfadyen - good though he is - is really a Darcy. And the director sounds like a total tosser.
Maybe I'll give it a miss and stick to Colin Firth...

Profile

caz963: (Default)
caz963

December 2012

S M T W T F S
      1
23456 78
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 11th, 2025 07:03 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios