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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
70 of 72 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
Christine Ezeard has allowed time, in her wonderful adaptation of Dickens' masterpiece 'Little Dorrit', for us to savour scenes, to understand character, motive and history. In some unique way she has exactly caught what we understand, from his writings, to be Dickens' perception of his world. It is as though a camera has been set up in the mid-Victorian world that is the background to the novel and somehow we are offered an insight into the mind of people of that time. The camera observes and does not attempt to manipulate the viewer. In this way Dickens' intent and the symbolism of this dark novel is plain and unadorned. All characters and scenes are unforgettable: Pancks, Flora, Afferty and Flintwich, Mrs Clennam, the Dorrits and all the other remarkable characters; the men lounging against the Marshalsea wall, the Clennam house slowly disintegrating, Bleeding Heart Yard...this is an adaptation which is quite unique. There is not one piece of acting in this fine film. It is being, the cast having the ability here to flesh out charcters straight from the writer's pages. We have not been offerd a modern interpretation of this story, there are no flashy camera angles, no fast cutting, no snatches designed for our time's alleged inability to cope with anything longer than a few minutes. Having experienced this version of Little Dorrit you will never want to see another. Remarkably we are able to watch the same story twice, from Clennam's perspective and from Little Dorrit and her father's perspective. Buy, watch and savour.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I need not add to the comments made as to the quality of the film given the superlatives already used.
It is interesting to compare with the new BBC series shown in miserly 30 minute chunks. Having 6 hours in which to immerse oneself makes all the difference.
The transfer of film to DVD is one of the best I have ever seen - the picture is razor sharp - but the cast interviews are showing their age.
It is interesting to compare with the new BBC series shown in miserly 30 minute chunks. Having 6 hours in which to immerse oneself makes all the difference.
The transfer of film to DVD is one of the best I have ever seen - the picture is razor sharp - but the cast interviews are showing their age.
52 of 55 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Christine Edzard's films (note the plural) of "Little Dorrit" make up perhaps the greatest and most comprehensive adaptation of Dickens ever produced for the big screen. I use the plural because the work comes in the form of two 3-hour films called "Nobody's Fault" and "Little Dorrit's Story". To get the best out of them, both must be viewed and in that order.
The film is studded with great names - Derek Jacobi, Alec Guinness, Cyril Cusack, Joan Greenwood (in her last film appearance) and a host of mostly British acting talent including Robert Morley, Michael Elphick, Bill Fraser and Eleanor Bron, all in little more than bit parts. But for me, the star of the show has to be Sarah Pickering, the unknown actress entrusted with the title role. I have tried, without success, to find just one other film in which she appeared.
The film is set mostly in the notorious Marshalsea debtors prison in Borough, south London, where Dickens' own father was once incarcerated. A debtors prison is a perfect example of what Joseph Heller would later dub "catch 22". A person imprisoned for debt was denied the right to work, hence had no means of earning the money to pay off the debt(s) of which he/she was accused.
The film is essentially a story of the love between Arthur Clennam, a man in his 40s (Jacobi) and Amy Dorrit, usually called Little Dorrit, a young woman of 22 though, according to Dickens, she looked half that age (Pickering). It is set in the period preceding the Reform Act of 1855, and indeed, the novel contributed in no small way to the debate leading up to that piece of legislation. It is a very complex plot (this is, after all, based on a Dickens novel) but one of the devices used is a government department called the Circumlocution Office, in which Dickens and the film makers parody bureaucratic processes by taking them to extremes. Dickens did not go as far as Kafka, who saw authority as actively plotting the destruction of its victims, but he savagely attacks the processes and procedures whereby government is carried out and the means whereby people found their way into high office. At that time, progress through a civil service career was mostly through family connections, a process that enabled illiterates to attain high office.
Edzard's 1987/89 adaptation of the novel is lovingly crafted and filmed exclusively on sets created for the purpose, i.e. there was no location shooting. The background music is adapted from the work of Dickens' Italian contemporary Guiseppe Verdi.
This is not for everyone, but for those who like Dickens and like to see attempts to be true to his work it is an absolute must. Only now (2008) has it appeared on DVD, remastered from the negatives by the original production company. Guinness, Greenwood and Cusack are, sadly, no longer with us, but this serves as a wonderful reminder of the quality of their work
The film is studded with great names - Derek Jacobi, Alec Guinness, Cyril Cusack, Joan Greenwood (in her last film appearance) and a host of mostly British acting talent including Robert Morley, Michael Elphick, Bill Fraser and Eleanor Bron, all in little more than bit parts. But for me, the star of the show has to be Sarah Pickering, the unknown actress entrusted with the title role. I have tried, without success, to find just one other film in which she appeared.
The film is set mostly in the notorious Marshalsea debtors prison in Borough, south London, where Dickens' own father was once incarcerated. A debtors prison is a perfect example of what Joseph Heller would later dub "catch 22". A person imprisoned for debt was denied the right to work, hence had no means of earning the money to pay off the debt(s) of which he/she was accused.
The film is essentially a story of the love between Arthur Clennam, a man in his 40s (Jacobi) and Amy Dorrit, usually called Little Dorrit, a young woman of 22 though, according to Dickens, she looked half that age (Pickering). It is set in the period preceding the Reform Act of 1855, and indeed, the novel contributed in no small way to the debate leading up to that piece of legislation. It is a very complex plot (this is, after all, based on a Dickens novel) but one of the devices used is a government department called the Circumlocution Office, in which Dickens and the film makers parody bureaucratic processes by taking them to extremes. Dickens did not go as far as Kafka, who saw authority as actively plotting the destruction of its victims, but he savagely attacks the processes and procedures whereby government is carried out and the means whereby people found their way into high office. At that time, progress through a civil service career was mostly through family connections, a process that enabled illiterates to attain high office.
Edzard's 1987/89 adaptation of the novel is lovingly crafted and filmed exclusively on sets created for the purpose, i.e. there was no location shooting. The background music is adapted from the work of Dickens' Italian contemporary Guiseppe Verdi.
This is not for everyone, but for those who like Dickens and like to see attempts to be true to his work it is an absolute must. Only now (2008) has it appeared on DVD, remastered from the negatives by the original production company. Guinness, Greenwood and Cusack are, sadly, no longer with us, but this serves as a wonderful reminder of the quality of their work
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Pure theatre and I don't mean that as a compliment!
This is quite simply the worst 'adaptation' of Dickens I have ever watched. I gave up after the first DVD and regret not doing so earlier, as the production did not improve. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Pasquino
Flawed but still marvellous!
I own this DVD and also the Andrew Davies adaptation for the BBC and both are wonderful in their own ways. Read more
Published 14 months ago by D. Arrowsmith
Little Dorrit
An interpretation for the dedicated Dickensian. This film of the novel is more than true to the book. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Perdita
A work of art
These two films were made in 1987. They might well be the biggest surprise from all Dickens' adaptations for me. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Georg Fries
disappointment
I was very displeased to find out, that the product has no subtitles.My english is not that good,and it is unthinkable,nowdays,to be on the market,dvd's with not at least english... Read more
Published 18 months ago by katerina
Little Dorrit with Derek Jacobi /1987 - review
I saw this edition of Little Dorrit/ told in two films...through Arthur Clennam's eyes and then Little Dorrit's, when it came out in the cinema in 1987. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Rosemarie D
Underwhelmed
When I look at the plaudits from other reviewers regarding this production, I wonder if I've missed something. Read more
Published 22 months ago by J. Rottweiller Swinburne
Buyer beware - very poor sound track
For those whose hearing is absolutely perfect, this may well be a splendid production, with an excellent star-studded cast, wonderfully atmospheric sets, and with Verdi's music as... Read more
Published on 16 April 2010 by Triestino
Serious sound problems
This is a wonderful movie, but there are serious problems with the sound editing. It is impossible to hear/understand the spoken dialogue when background sounds also are audible. Read more
Published on 8 April 2010 by Rosa
A perfect adaptation
Allowing for the length of the novel, The Director Christine Edzard has not
only realized what, to my views, is the best cinematographic adaptation of a Dickens novel, but a... Read more
only realized what, to my views, is the best cinematographic adaptation of a Dickens novel, but a... Read more
Published on 29 Jan 2010 by Mr. J. B. Brisset
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