Reviews

The aerial video of British castles and churches which forms the heart of this production is magnificent and provides a colorful overview of the history of Great Britain. Naturally, in a film of this relative brevity, there are some significant gaps so a basic knowledge of the history of the monarchy would be helpful before viewing. I did not catch the name of the narrator but he has a pleasant voice and satisfying way of presenting the narrative. Of course, the film concludes before the death of Great Britain's longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, so will need to be supplemented with the reign of the new King Charles III. I found the last few minutes covering Windsor Castle to be particularly helpful.

I found this creative adaptation of Rostand's classic play delightful and engaging. The story line of the movie is basically faithful to the original drama. Peter Dinklage's interpretation of the Cyrano is, in my opinion, a most appropriate recasting of the character. Haley Bennett is impressive as the standoffish yet passionate Roxanne. Kelvin Harrison, Jr. Brings a new and engaging look to Christian. I enjoyed the interposition of musical dialogue and thought the music was marvelous throughout, though would agree that some of the choreography was probably unnecssary. Nevertheless, it all works for me as an enjoyable retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac.

Lord Jim is one of those great works of fiction that is best watched after having read the novel, or at least a solid summary of the book. Without this background, the movie could be hard to understand. I also found that it was helpful to watch the film twice. Since some of the details of the movie do not square with those of the novel, it was a bit confusing at times to follow the sequence of the movie, and a second viewing brought all of that into focus. In my opinion, the motion picture does capture quite well the spirit of the book, if not the absolute letter.

I actually found Peter O'Toole's depiction of the lead character to be a quite good representation. He is just as naive and disoriented a character in the movie as in the book. His heroics in the movie are appropriately tempered with self-doubt, and his ultimate fate squares with the novelist's intent for his hero/anti-hero.

I enjoy watching movies of this kind to see how a director and actors visualize the plot of their respective novels, and to me Lord Jim was not a disappointment.

Though it helps to have read the book before watching this or any other film version of Dicken's well-known and much-admired novel, this particular version stands solidly on its own. In fact, in some ways this 1980 made-for-television version integrates the plot more fluidly than the novel itself. It completely captures the spirit of the book and for the most part is faithful to the details, even to precise wording of dialogue. I watched after rereading the novel and enjoyed it even more than the renowned 1935 version, which I saw as a child. Ten unqualified stars!