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Daniel Deronda

2002, Movie, NR, 210 mins

Daniel Deronda: Review

With a brilliant 1995 UK mini-series adaptation of Pride and Prejudice under his belt, screenwriter Andrew Davies tackled another daunting task with this reworking of a lesser-known George Eliot novel. He emerged with his reputation not only intact but enhanced. Daniel Deronda (Hugh Dancy), the adopted son of Sir Hugo Mallinger (Edward Fox), brings credit to his wealthy father but always feels like an outsider. Unusually sensitive and compassionate for an aristocrat, Daniel becomes entangled in the lives of two disparate women in 1874. At a casino, he meets financially strapped socialite Gwendolen Harleath (Romola Garai), who's about to make what she thinks will be an advantageous marriage to Henleigh Grandcourt (Hugh Bonneville). The haughty Gwendolen soon realizes she's sold her soul to a sadistic devil — Grandcourt failed to divulge before their marriage that he already had a mistress and children — in the name of her family's well-being and her own creature comforts. Daniel quite literally rescues the second woman, outcast Mirah Lapidoth (Johdi May). He saves her from drowning and installs her in the home of friends. Proud of her Jewishness, Mirah yearns to locate the mother and brother she hasn’t seen since her father yanked her away during childhood. Through Daniel’s intervention, she commences a singing career and briefly reunites with her brother, a radical scholar. Daniel’s search on Mirah’s behalf forces him to explore his own shadowy origins: At the behest of Daniel’s mother, a celebrated Jewish actress, Sir Hugo Mallinger raised Daniel and camouflaged his ethnicity. Free to pursue her career, Daniel’s mother became the Contessa Alcharisi (Barbara Hershey) and now grants Daniel a deathbed audience. As Daniel sorts through his feelings for Gwendolen and Mirah, these two women must learn to control their own destinies. This somber but moving costume drama offers considerable insight into class struggle and bigotry in 19th-century England. In a film filled with remarkable performances Hershey's stands out; she's memorably imperious as an actress unsuited to the role of mother. leave a comment --Robert Pardi