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Great Expectations

1999, Movie, NR, 180 mins

Great Expectations: Review

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Though David Lean’s 1946 version of Charles Dickens' novel remains definitive, screenwriter Tony Marchant’s adaptation — though abridged — is extremely faithful to the novel.
In an isolated riverside section of 19th-century England, orphaned Pip (Gabriel Thomson) lives with his resentful sister, Mrs. Joe (Lesley Sharp), and her kindly husband, blacksmith Joe Gargery (Clive Russell). While visiting his parents’ graves in the marshland, Pip encounters Abel Magwich (Bernard Hill), an escaped convict from a nearby prison ship. Pip goes behind his stingy sister’s back to feed Magwitch, who vows to someday repay the child's kindness. Mrs. Gargary is ready with the usual tongue-lashing when Pip receives an invitation from wealthy neighbor Miss Havisham (Charlotte Rampling), who became a spooky recluse after being jilted on her wedding day. Miss Havisham has raised her beautiful ward, Estella (Gemma Gregory), to be the instrument of her vengeance on the male sex and views young Pip as a sort of trial run. When Estella leaves for boarding school, Pip can no longer look forward to the welcome breaks in his monotonous routine her company provided and readies himself for an apprenticeship as a blacksmith. But some years later, fate smiles on the grown-up Pip (Ioan Gruffudd): An anonymous benefactor offers to pay for his education in London and liberate him from a life of hard labor. Newly ensconced in gentlemanly surroundings, Pip discovers the regal and heartless Estella (Justine Waddell) cutting a broad a swath through London society. Is Pip destined to become another trophy in Estella’s collection of broken hearts?
Director Julian Jarrold captures the teeming bustle of Pip’s aLondon years in this exquisite-looking production, but the film’s first half is undermined by overdrawn performances, those of veterans Sharp and Hill. leave a comment --Robert Pardi
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Charles Dickens' Great Expectations: The relationship between text and film (Screen Adaptations)
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Great Expectations (1998)
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