Tuesday, November 20, 2012

My Expectations were Somewhat Less

Film: Great Expectations
Format: Streaming video from NetFlix on rockin’ flatscreen.

I should be up front when writing about Great Expectations. I’m not a fan of the writings of Charles Dickens. My mother is. This is a point of contention between us now and again. She touts Dickens, who I tend to think of as over-emotional and overwritten. I much prefer the work of Joseph Conrad, who my mother thinks is nothing but description, description, description. We’ll get to Conrad when I get around to Apocalypse Now; for today, it’s Dickens and all that that entails.

This is the story of Philip Pirrip (Anthony Wager as a boy, and John Mills as an adult), a name only Dickens could invent. Pip, as he is called, is an orphan living with his disagreeable sister (Freda Jackson) and her blacksmith husband Joe Gargery (Bernard Miles). As a lad, he encounters an escaped criminal named Abel Magwich (Finlay Currie). Pip helps him, but Magwich is recaptured. Not too long after that, Pip is summoned to the house of Miss Havisham (Martita Hunt).

Miss Havisham is a spinster living in a huge old house. She is a queer duck, leaving her house constantly shaded. In one of her rooms, there is a wedding feast laid out and rotted away, covered in cobwebs. Also there is a young girl named Estella (Jean Simmons as a girl, Valerie Hobson as an adult). Estella is beautiful, but viciously mean to Pip, who falls in love with her anyway. He also meets a young man named Herbert Pocket (John Forrest initially, Alec Guinness eventually).

Things change the day Pip turns 14 and begins his apprenticeship as a blacksmith. Estella leaves around the same time, and we jump forward a number of years. Pip’s sister/Joe’s wife has died, and Pip is still learning the blacksmith trade. One day, they are visited by a London lawyer named Jaggers (Francis L. Sullivan), who tells Pip he is to be brought up in the manner of a gentleman through the graces of an unknown benefactor. Pip suspects Miss Havisham, but has no proof. In London, he moves in with Herbert Pocket and learns that Miss Havisham was abandoned at the altar, hence the ruined wedding feast. Additionally, he learns that Estella was raised by Miss Havisham with the express purpose of being a bane to men. And of course, when Pip is summoned back to Miss Havisham’s presence and Estella has returned, the old feelings blossom, and Pip learns that Estella has learned her lessons in destroying men only too well.

I guess that I can understand the charm of the story even if it’s one that doesn’t particularly appeal to me. There’s something interesting and appealing about a period drama, especially if it is also a period romance. The costumes are pretty spectacular, particularly Pip’s first outfit when he starts his life as a gentleman. I’m not sure exactly what to call that style of hat, and his bow tie is approximately the width of his shoulders.

But it’s more than just that. There’s an air to the Victorian period that seems to appeal to a good many people. There is a sense, however false, of a more genteel nature and a more refined world. Manners are paramount, as is civility, and causing insult can make for a huge loss of status. I get that. There’s a real sense of nostalgia in seeing these people acting in a manner so unlike the social customs of today, and there’s a real attraction in that. There’re fancy clothes and dancing and a great deal of pageantry. I get it.

What I have a hard time getting around is just how nasty many of these characters are. Pip’s love for Estella is completely unjustified—all she’s ever done to deserve it is be beautiful, and it’s disappointing that evidently her physical beauty is not only her one appealing trait, but also sufficient to make every man who sees her fall madly for her.

On top of that, Dickens was noted for his coincidences, and there’s no shortage of them here. It seems to me a weakness of story to depend on coincidences.

For all that, it’s a pretty entertaining story, and one worth seeing. The romance might be a stretch only because Estella doesn’t deserve it and Pip’s life becomes what it is through a tiny act of kindness and a massive amount of pure dumb luck. It makes it difficult to be hopeful or even care much about someone whose main positive trait is being staggeringly fortunate.

Why to watch Great Expectations: Period drama as pretty as you’ll find.
Why not to watch: Everything happens by chance and not by anyone’s actions.

11 comments:

  1. Nice review, though I must disagree about Dickens, I love what little of his that I've read. I quite liked the film, but John Mills was far too old to play Pip (aged 38, playing aged 20-ish).

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    1. Yeah, you're right. Alec Guinness might have been a better choice, actually. He was pretty boyish.

      I may be in the minority on Dickens. I have some issues with the Victorians in general--it's evident to me that many of them were paid by the word.

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  2. HIGH FIVE ON DICKENS. Seriously, man, I didn't think anyone else out there felt the same way. AGREE AGREE AGREE. My lack of patience with the man stems initially from a ninth grade English teacher who was clearly a fan, and we read no less than three of his novels in one year and dissected each one. Overdosing on Dickens at an early age put me off the man forever.

    I have never been drawn to his stories, so movies made from his stories are virtually useless to me. But I agree with you in that this is a pretty good movie, just not my cup of tea. I would never, EVER choose to read Dickens or watch a Dickens adaptation, but I guess this is a pretty good adaptation. Sure, why not.

    "Estella doesn't deserve [the romance.]" I hate Estella. You're so spot on here. Why should she be happy?

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    1. I always thought the whole point was that both Estella and Pip were essentially dicks. They're both given everything, with the hope of it making them socially successful, but both cock it up along the way.

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    2. I don't see Pip as essentially a dick, though. Pip might be a bit selfish at times, but he's willing (for instance) to leave the country with his benefactor simply because the man needs protection. I guess I see Pip as more naive than anything. Estella, on the other hand, knows what she's doing and does it anyway. I'm with Siobhan on this one--why should she be happy? Why, in fact, would I want her to be?

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  3. You missed out on a chance to use the joke from one of the Loaded Weapon movies. Charlie Sheen puts down the book Great Expectations. Someone asks him how it was and he responds it wasn't all he'd hoped for.

    I was actually surprised by this film. I knew almost nothing about the story so I was expecting something very stuffy. I still related to the Pip character, though.

    I remember having to take several seconds to recognize both Jean Simmons and Alec Guiness. I hadn't seen either when they were that young. I agree with Jay that Mills was far too old to play Pip. I actually found it distracting.

    Overall, I liked this movie more than I had expected to. And for what it's worth, I've only ever read A Christmas Carol from Dickens.

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    1. I'm actually a little surprised that one of the versions of A Christmas Carol wasn't put on The List, particularly the one starring Alistair Sim.

      And yes, I actually rather like Pip, mostly because he seems so lost so much of the time.

      It turns out that this was Guinness's first non-extra role. If nothing else, this film gave a start to one of the truly great careers of one of the truly great actors in film history.

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  4. All style, barely any substance. It's a beautiful flick, no doubt about that, but the story and characters are pretty weak and I feel like the material deserved a way, way better movie. Good review SJ.

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    1. I might have enjoyed it more if it weren't so...Dickens-y.

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  5. When you expect the worst it can only impress. This one was better than i expected. You are right about coincidences. They take an almost surreal quality. Clearly they are there to lead the movie and Pip to a certain place, but I am not sure where that is.

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    1. You're right about why they're there, but they're there in all Dickens, or virtually all. I just get tired of it.

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