Bleak House (2005) Miniseries Review
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- čas přidán 27. 08. 2024
- A review of another wonderful period drama. This 15-part Dickens adaptation stars (deep breath) Gillian Anderson, Alun Armstrong, Charles Dance, Burn Gorman, Denis Lawson, Anna Maxwell Martin, Carey Mulligan, and, oh my, a lot of other awesome people.
Great review. I thought this BBC version was an absolute masterpiece. The law was so tangled at that point, and some say Dickens' book may have led to reform via the Judicature Acts of 1873/75. From memory, I loved it when Guppy (the young, keen lawyer) tried to guide the hapless Richard Carstone in learning the law, and being more attentive to the subtleties in Jarndyce v Jarndyce. He said (paraphrased): 'You haven't got a very enquiring mind. You won't get far in the law like that'. This would have saved Richard a huge amount of stress, had he listened. Cheers.
I love this series! Bleak House might be my favorite Dickens book ever, even though it takes me a solid two weeks to read it. I thought the series was really good at following the book, and it helped me understand the book better too, since there were soooo many characters!
It's so great to hear from a fellow fan! It's true, the series does a great job keeping characters and plotlines straight, while still being incredibly entertaining. Glad to hear you love it!
I think that the TV versions of Bleak House and Little Dorrit that were made in the past ten years were the best Dickens miniseries ever made. For me I believe that Little Dorrit was the best with Bleak House a close second. It would be hard to make better Dickens adaptations than these for television. :)
I am a huge fan of this and it still remains my favorite period drama to this day. :) Its soo good.
Ah, my bones! Shake me up, Judy!!! --- Mr. Smallweed
Dickens does such good minor characters, often they're the best bit of a book
Kitty and I watched this several years ago (before we had kids), and watching this review reminded me how much I enjoyed it. We'll have to watch it again sometime. I love Guppy!
Charles Dance’s Tulkinghorn freaking TERRIFIES me, in the best possible way. And I love Anna Maxwell Martin’s Esther: she has a core of steel that stops the character from coming across too sweet and milquetoast-y.
Pretty good review and ur really underrated here in CZcams. Keep it up as a hobby, I'm trying my time in it too.👍
How wonderful to start this video and see such a wholesome and lovely face.
Please remember...Chris Reeve's Superman didn't watch television. He thought it too violent. Instead, he preferred to read Dickens. (See: Superman II). I can think of no higher recommendation.
Very good review :-). Bleak House, Wolf Hall and I, Claudius are probably my 3 favourite BBC costume dramas. There was a lot of criticism here in the UK initially about the casting of Gillian Anderson and the fact that Mrs Pardiggle is left out. Anderson is excellent as always and the show didn’t suffer with the exclusion of some characters.
the guy who wrote this (from the novel) Andrew Davies did the big, famous Pride & Prejudice and an excellent, addictive version of Middlemarch (that one, unlike Bleak House, is worth reading in itself). Interviewed, he said he found it important to put in a lot of movement because novels filmed get very static if you just recite the dialogue, i think that's what all the loud creepy music and jump-cuts is about
Late with this comment but no that was not "a stupid thing to say" because we all have a list like that with books or film even though we all know if we were in that situation we should spend all of our time trying to get off the island instead lol. I am currently showing this to my grandmother because I was originally going to read the book before rewatching the show since I have only seen half the show so idk how the story ends, but my logic was that I watched all of Little Dorrit and still want to read that one very badly so i figured the same would happen with this show. Plus I knew my grandmother would like it and I have also been in a major Charles Dance mood since seeing Rebecca (which I have watched like 5 times this week...eek!) and I realize that while I do love him best as a good guy, he is just so good at being evil and the actors who are equally good at opposite ends of the acting spectrum are the best (as I mentioned in my Rebecca review lol0. Also off topic, but PLEASE do a Rebecca video soon! When you mentioned you were planning on it, i would really love to see it.
So happy to hear that you decided to watch the whole thing, just because I can't imagine seeing the whole first half and not continuing on! I read the book after I'd seen the movie several times and found it to be just the right combination of "same but different" to make it worth it (if you know what I mean). I found it a surprisingly quick read, too, considering its size. Maybe I'll do a Rebecca review by the end of this month or early September. :)
+Jerome Weiselberry yes I think Bleak House must be included in my September TBR (assuming I finish War & Peace in August *fingers crossed*). I probably have asked before but do you have Voxer? I'd love to discuss the show with you but I don't want to put spoilers in the comments haha. Yay for a Rebecca review! Are you going to review both?
No, I don't. You can send me a private message if you like. :) I haven't decided yet what to do. I'll definitely mention the newer one in my review of the older one, but I probably won't do a comparison video like you did.
+Jerome Weiselberry Cool, I'll see if that works, sometimes I can't figure out how to send people messages on CZcams lol.
I can't figure out how half of this stuff works. :D
I could never get thru a Dickens novel but I love some adaptations. This Bleak House is one of my favorite adaptations. Real star power in the cast. The script distills all the best humor and drama of Dickens and combines it with beautiful imagery.
Alun Armstrong is one of my personal favorites as well Jerome. I’ve been wondering if I should dive into Bleak House, and his name in the credits is another reason to do so. Your favorable review is another. Thanks, Bye!
Oh, if you like Alun Armstrong, I definitely think you'd get a kick out of this!
Just wanted to say Liked the vid. Bleak house has to be my favorite dickens book but personally I hated the 2005 adaptation.As much as I like Anderson I think the 1985 Bleak house Adaptation With Dame Diana Rigg from (The Avengers circa 1965-1968) and Denholm Elliott ect. ect. to be by far better and far more faithful to the book than the 2005 Version was. Although it can be very tedious in some places it captures the atomopher of the book of dread ,joy sadness ,loss and hope of the book ,and the actores did a better job as well I think. It also captured I feel the early victorian era very well too .1840's .The 1985 mini series is over 4 hours long and you have to flip the dvd. so only watch if you both have the time and the attention span. I would highly recommend it to you and anybody else to watch and then give us your review of the 1985 series.
Dickens is not a favorite read for me. I just don't like his novels. I guess my aversion to his stories are that he often shows the very worst of people and I find a lot of his stuff bleak! On the other hand he writes very interesting characters who come to life in adaptations well. I hated the long read of his The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby but delighted in the 2002 adaptation. I couldn't even get through Bleak House. Yet, I did get through all of 2005's adaptation of Bleak House. While not as cheerful, it was wonderfully cast. They were perfect. This production gave us Gillian Anderson who was so memorable; as was Charles Dance and Anna Maxwell Martin. I enjoy those three in most everything they have done. But I can't fault any of the cast in this production. I like it better than the 1985 mini series.
Your review was very informative as usual. I always like your edits showing highlights of the production! It is another great review. (I decided to have a Jerome Weiselberry kind of festival today if you seem inundated with my comments this Monday!)
I know what you mean. Dickens' books can be a challenge to get through, not just because the stories are long and complex, but because he didn't shy away from the dark, ugly side of Victorian society. He's as likely to make me cry as he is to make me laugh, and the experience runs such a gamut of emotions that it can be exhausting. I love his writing, but his creations can certainly be easier to take in a visual and condensed format. Fortunately, there are so many adaptations out there that are so well done that I don't feel too guilty about loving them without having read some of the books they were based on. :)
Thank you! Not too many people come across this review, so it was nice when the notification popped up saying you had commented on it!
@@Weiselberry I know what you mean about Dickens not shying away from the dark side! So many tragic characters! I don't feel guilty watching some adaptations without reading the book either. Like 1998's Our Mutual Friend. David Morrissey's Bradley Headstone had me riveted and he was so pathetic. His unrequited love had a powerful effect on me! I felt for the character. I'm glad I got introduced to Morrissey and enjoy him in other things. Yet I never rewatch Our Mutual Friend, like I do Nicholas Nickleby! Once was enough with a lot of Dickens for me!
I would love to see you do a video on your five desert island period dramas.
Just watched Bleak House for the first time after many years of wanting to see it. It did not disappoint. Andrew Davies is one of the best screenwriters. What are your other four period movies?
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Let's see, I think my top five period dramas are Pride and Prejudice ('95), North & South ('04), Bleak House ('05), Jane Eyre (er, one of them), and... a fifth one. I'm not sure what, ha.
I liked it, but I liked the 80s series more.
Best thing i've ever seen on tv or movies. Mesmerizing.
Is it 4:3 or 16:9? Cause I got 16:9 which looks like it's been scaled..
Why all the whooshing noises when scenes change? Was this series edited by some enthusiastic amateur?
This book serves as a reminder not to do it, when it comes to doing litigation.
Tulkinghorn and Guppy are on screen way too much. Anderson is a perfect Lady Deadlock.