Vanity Fair (Repackaged) [DVD]

This is not Jane Austen or, (happily) Downton Abbey. This is by far the best adaptation I have ever seen of an 18th century novel. Thackeray was not polite and polished. He was writing before society had become dominated by prudish manners. It was an earthy, tough, dangerous world where life was relished because it could end so suddenly. It was a time of social turmoil when opportunists could become rich or ruined overnight. It was the age of Gilray cartoons, heavy drinking a high crime rate and sexual freedom. All this is captured in this glorious romp.

Becky is perfect, a designing minx but so charming and so alluring that it is entirely credible that man after man and women too fall at her feet. Yes of course the characters are comic caricatures. That is the whole point. This is a satire. But the production is so intelligent and all the actors so proficient that it matters enormously who wins or loses. From the smallest detail of the robust cuisine, (watch out for the tripe) through the gorgeous costumes to the moments of strong emotion at Waterloo, and Rawden's dicovery, I can't think how it could be better and I can't recommend this production enough. Gobble it up.

This was a well filmed and interesting story, which kept us enthralled over several evenings viewing. We will probably look at it again sometime. Very good value from Amazon UK.

It's years since I read Vanity Fair; vague memories suggest that it would be impossible to do the book full justice on screen, and I dare say Thackeray aficionados will probably find this adaption bears that out. However, putting faithfulness to the book to one side, how does this stand in its own right as a costume drama? Well, there's a lot that is wrong. The BBC's successful adaption of "Pride & Prejudice" was still fresh in everyone's minds when this version of Vanity Fair was made, and I suppose it's laudable that they didn't try and cash in with another period piece done in much the same fashion. However, in attempting to give this drama a fresh and individual identity, you actually end up with something so self-conciously trying to be different that it sometimes overwhelms the story. There's a fair bit of "look how clever we are" camera work (which only succeeds in irritating and distracting the viewer), but even worse is some of the most atrocious accompanying music I've ever heard in a classic serial. Discordant and raucous, if it had just been restricted to the opening credits it may have worked in setting the mood of the ensuing drama. However, it constantly intrudes into the programme, so loudly and so unpleasantly as to make parts almost unbearable to watch (or rather listen to). There is one brief interval of musical sanity late in the series, when the central figure, Becky, sings the sublime Dido's Lament, but this just reinforces how awful the rest of the music is!
There is some inconsistency in how characters are portrayed. Some are exaggerated caricatures (none more so than Miriam Margolyes as Matilda Crawley); granted that 19th century novelists did tend to draw some of their characters as such, but here it teeters perilously close to comic pantomime. Lord Steyne, one of Becky's many admirers, is also too much of a cartoon figure in this adaption, portrayed as a leering buffoon when we first encouter him, so that it's difficult to take him seriously as the vicious, unforgiving monster revealed later on.
I must be careful not to put a spoiler in here but the end was disappointing; I can't remember how the book finished but I'm sure there was more to it than was shown in this adaption which, in a way, left the viewer hanging in mid-air with several strands of the story seemingly unresolved.
All that said, the series still has plus points. Not everyone liked Natasha Little's portrayal of Becky but I thought she was brilliant as the beguiling but unscrupulous lead character. In an adaption where some performances were OTT, Nathaniel Parker provided a thoughful interpretation of Rawdon Crawley, and Philip Glenister was excellent as the long-suffering William Dobbin. It was quite amusing to see him playing a character so totally different from the larger than life Gene Hunt he was to create so memorably some years later! Tricksy camera work aside, the production is colourful and generally well-paced. Not the best costume drama TV has ever done but still fairly watchable, and at least it makes a change from yet another tired re-hash of Jane Austen or Charles Dickens*.

* Have nothing against Austen and Dickens; they're amongst my favourite authors, but they've been completely done to death on TV.