|
This was the first screen adaptation for over 50 years of one of Dickens'
longest and most complex novels. Adapter and director Christine Edzard presented
the story in two separate but overlapping films from the viewpoints of Arthur
Clennam and Amy Dorrit. Elaborate sets were constructed in Rotherhithe, south
London, to represent the Marshalsea Prison, the interiors of prosperous or
neglected middle-class houses, and London's teeming streets and docks. Hundreds
of costumes were painstakingly sewn by hand.
Three hundred of Britain's finest character actors - and Alan Bennett - were
drafted in to populate the world of Dickens' imagining, and audiences flocked to
see a story that for many was largely unknown outside the classroom or library.
But many critics were unimpressed, lamenting the static camerawork, finding
Edzard's adaptation clumsy and repetitious and disagreeing with her omissions,
especially the blackmailer Rigaud and his accomplice Miss Wade, and the Meagles'
servant Tattycoram.
Viewed over 20 years later, the film seems more like a television
serialisation, with its leisurely six hours running time. Filmed mainly in close
and medium shot, its scenes tend to focus intently on one or two characters, the
dark interiors and moody lighting evoking a sense of oppression. The
theatricality and stylisation are quite deliberate, signalled by Edzard's choice
of Verdi for the music soundtrack, full of tragic grandeur and operatic
fatalism, but used sparingly, along with birdsong, ticking clocks, and faint
sounds from outside.
In the eerily quiet interior scenes a tiny movement or gesture, like dropping
a shawl, can have a seismic effect. Occasionally, the long conversation pieces
are broken, quite brilliantly, by sudden bursts of activity in the wider world -
the print shops around St. Paul's, the bridge where Amy meets Arthur, the public
areas of the Marshalsea - where a noisy, purposeful crowd will appear, bustling
before the fixed camera. It's a simple, effective way of conjuring up the life
of the Victorian city.
The acting is impressive, although Derek Jacobi's lonely, sensitive Arthur is
at least a decade too old. Sarah Pickering, who never acted professionally
again, brings alive the self-effacing yet strong Amy Dorrit. Alec Guinness is
superb, especially in his mental collapse in the great set-piece of the
Merdles' dinner party, and the death scene that follows. Other standout
performances include those of Miriam Margolyes, Eleanor Bron and Amelda Brown.
Overall, even after Andrew Davies' 2008 BBC adaptation, it remains an impressive
achievement.
Janet Moat
|
