Great article from the Guardian re: Period Dramas.

[magog_83]

I just read this very interesting article in the Guardian about period novel adaptations and the changes made, or not made, and how different versions highlight different themes. Fascinating for any period drama fan.

Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights - Do we need new film versions?

I admit to being quite boring with regards to adaptations. Once I see a version I love, THAT is my version and I'm not interested in watching any other for the most part. However it seems to be an industry that will run and run :)

I think we're getting a new Great Expectations this Christmas too. So in one year we've had a new Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Great Expectations! Since 1995 we've also had two Pride and Prejudices, three Emmas, two Sense and Sensibilities, three Oliver Twists, and two Persuasions.

And yet no Agnes Grey. Woe.

Comments

[winterstorrm.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, I'm Ciaran Hinds for Persuasion, Colin Firth for P&P, Emma Thompson for Sense and Sensibility, indifferent over Emma, Toby Stephens for Jane Eyre (he took over from Timothy Dalton!) and totally unsure about which Heathcliff..!

Why no Agnes Grey? :-(

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

I am most definitely Ciaran Hinds for Persuasion, and Colin Firth for P&P and Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility. Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson will always be Jane and Rochester to me now (first adaptation to make me BELIEVE that they are perfectly matched and made for each other).

I don't have a Heathcliff because I've never enjoyed the novel or adaptations, he seems so unlikeable!

My favourite Oliver Twist is the ITV version with Andy Serkis as Bill Sykes and Robert Lindsay as Fagin. I enjoyed Romala Garai as Emma in the recent version, but I like her in most things.

I googled Agnes Grey to check, but it seems there really hasn't been any screen version of it. I don't understand why! Maybe it isn't cinematic but they could definitely make a TV drama out of it. Anne Bronte is so underrated, I always liked her writing style best, it's so clean and clear.

[jamie15.livejournal.com]

I think I'm pretty much like you when it comes to film adaptations - I just fall in love with the particular portrayal the actor gives of the character and am very reluctant to accept a new one ... but that doesn't mean I won't watch the new adaptation of Jane Eyre anyway :)! I'm very intrigued by what the article says about basically starting in the middle of the book when Jane runs away from Rochester - that's an interesting approach to it!

... I have yet to read or see Oliver Twist ... I know, I'm an ignorant fool ... :/ All I know is the cartoon version :D!

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

There was a cartoon version??

By all accounts, the new film starts with Jane running away from Thornfield and shows the main story through flashback which is certainly a unique way of doing it! I admit I've also been partially put off by some of the interviews from the film, the director saying how no other adaptation has looked at the dark aspects, they've all treated it as a period romance etc etc. It put my back up because I love the 2006 BBC one so much and found it incredibly faithful to the novel (AND it brought up the dark aspects, thank you very much Mr Hollywood Know-it-All).

I am very stubborn :D

[jamie15.livejournal.com]

Okay, that's not ... true at all I think - there were some VERY dark aspects in the 2006 adaptation, in my opinion! And I was actually quite scared at some points! Especially when little Jane was walking through the desert in the beginning for example! And what about everything that had to do with Bertha?!

What I find a bit weird is that I already saw some Jane Eyre books in Waterstones that had a new cover and 'Now a major motion picture' written across the front. Sorry, but I find that a bit premature ... I mean, I think it's great when people start to pick up a book again, because they're interested in the original but ... do we have to commercialise EVERYTHING?

[giecast.livejournal.com]

"The Twilight factor is extremely helpful to Wuthering Heights." -- Um. What? Are they planning to make it a vampire film? Please no. Though even if they don't, I probably still won't watch it. Heathcliff is too intense for me.

I've only seen one adaptation of Oliver Twist. The musical one. I really liked it. Has anyone ever done an adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities? I'll probably cry my way thru it. Sydney! *sobs*

PS: Have you seen my PM?

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

Ack! Yes I have, I'm sorry. I meant to reply and then got into ficcing and forgot :( I was so pleased your dvd arrived safely though, and that you've been able to play it. Have you watched the film yet? What did you think of Colin???

The Wuthering Heights/Twilight thing is because in the books it's Bella's favourite novel that she goes on and ON about - comparing herself and Edward to Cathy and Heathcliff and seeming to miss the fact that the book is about a deeply dysfunctional and unhealthy relationship in many ways. Recent editions of WH have been marketed (and I'm not even kidding) with 'Bella and Edward's favourite book!' emblazoned on the front cover :/

[giecast.livejournal.com]

Oh you were ficcing. I forgive you everything. =DD Haven't watched it yet though cos I am IN A MOOD. (side story: My wifi connection has been driving me batty for the past 2 weeks. It goes down for long stretches, goes up for about 5mins, then goes down again. I've been calling the service provider every other day to follow-up on it but still no go. *shakes fist*) I want to be in a happier frame of mind when I watch so I can properly enjoy the movie.

Hmmm yeah, I can see the similarities. Although I don't remember Heathcliff being described as gorgeous/beautiful/mesmerizing every other sentence. (There's another word she used that I can't remember, but I know it's sort of synonymous to "sparkly". What's the word I'm looking for?!)

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

Iridescent??

Your wifi sounds like it is being EVIL. My laptop is starting to get old and cranky because I refuse to update my browser. Why is technology so mean?

[colacube.livejournal.com]

Would it kill them to think of a new story? Apparently not! There's a new All Quiet on the Western Front adaptation filming next year. I am waiting in horror.

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

Really!?!

I just googled, and DANIEL RADCLIFFE IS IN IT? According to Wiki anyway. That should be interesting.

[colacube.livejournal.com]

According to wiki. *cries* It's not that that worries me, it's how the people making it are completely missing the point. 'Remarque's pacifist novel' - so you clearly didn't read it. 'Adding new actions scenes'.

Urgh. I just hope it's never made. Leave my favourite book alone!!

[animetionuk.livejournal.com]

Just be thankful they're not doing unnecessary prequels, that seems to be hollywood's latest craze...

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

Have you seen they're doing a Blade Runner prequel now??

I wouldn't be surprised if we someday got Heathcliff: The Early Years... :/

[animetionuk.livejournal.com]

It'll happen at some point! They're doing a prequel to Alien and The Thing as well.

The problem with prequels is that when they focus on the early life of a character, they're generally a less interesting person than you've gotten used to. One of the interesting things about characters like Heathcliff is that their past has twisted them and they need to be rescued or loved for who they are. The payoff is that they start dark and withdrawn but eventually meet someone who can see beneath their mask and love them, making them a better person in the process. In a prequel that same character would start off relatively well adjusted and over the course of the story become more unlikeable, which isn't a good way to endear your audience to them.

It's only a matter of time before they do it though, so get your fan rage prepared :)