Little Dorrit - Part Two: Little Dorrit's Story
by Christine Edzard
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Product details
Actor: Derek Jacobi, Joan Greenwood, Luke Duckett, Max Wall, Patricia HayesDirector: Christine Edzard
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
Release Date: 1994-12-03
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Studio: Warner Home Video
VHS Movie Reviews of Little Dorrit - Part Two: Little Dorrit's Story
Movie Review: Through Dorrit's Eyes
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this adaption of Little Dorrit several years ago on laserdisc and I enjoyed it, but I found that to fully appreciate this film it was necessary to watch it to the end. The point to this film adaption of a Dicken's book was to tell the same story twice but through differing viewpoints. Certainly the story is not as interesting or as gripping as Dickens more widely read novels and the film could have been improved by cutting and picking up the pace, but I believe the director accomplished his goal. The first half of the film is dark and bleak, people are seen suffering a miserable existence and you do have to wade through a rather pessimistic view of life; but in the second half of the film we see a differing view of life. We see the same scenes over again but now we see them through Dorrit's eyes. The world becomes a new place; it is bright and life itself is a joy. In the midst of squalor Dorrit's optimism colors everything new. Little Dorrit seen in the first half is a sad young woman but now she is a young woman full of life. Whatever Dickens is telling you in his novel this film is telling you that life is what you make it.
This is how I watched the film. And I enjoyed it.
Movie Review: Part two - A satisfactory conclusion
Summary: 4 Stars
Part two of this ambitious film is a definite improvement over part one. It develops themes and fills out the plot (as really any second half of a story should), though you could never watch part two without seeing part one. The most jarring thing about this part is the insistence of recreating most of part one scene for scene (only this time through the eyes of Little Dorrit). Perhaps the most notable thing about this film (for me anyway) is that it contains the last lead performance in a film from Alec Guinness (all his subsequent roles, up to his 1996 retirement, were cameos) and he is wonderful in his fourth screen interpretation of a Dickens character. The rest of the cast is also fabulous (including the last screen performance of Joan Greenwood as Mrs Clennam). It has been said before - you will either love this adaption, or hate it.Movie Review: Ambitious Dickens adaption on a low budget
Summary: 3 Stars
Made in 1987 and boasting a 200 plus cast and essentaially a 6 hour film in 2 parts, director Christine Edzard's adaption of one of Dickens' least read novels is only partially successful. It is told from the point of view of Arthur Clennam (Dereck Jacobi) who on his return to London becomes interested in the case of William Dorrit, locked in a debtor's prison for 25 years and his daughter, seamstress to Clennam's mother. Despite excellent performances and eye for detail part one is very slow moving and drawn out (and one can't believe that after 3 hours, it is only halfway through the story). One has to wait for part 2 for a satisfactory conclusion to the tale...Movie Review: Little Dorrit, On Video, Is Still A Misbegotten Failure
Summary: 1 Stars
I saw this adaptation of Little Dorrit at a local theater when it was first released. It had received such favorable reviews I thought I was in for a treat: Dickens translated to film impeccably. Instead, I found it to be the director's idea of Dorrit, a stale and rancid interpretation. I sat through the first part until intermission and then ran from the cinema, relieved to be in fresh air again.Little Dorrit is the only one of Dickens' novels I haven't read, but I can imagine the original characters are beautifully imagined and a joy to read. But the movie's counterparts a are either over the top or understated, and the film as a whole is a huge disappointment. Yesterday, I borrowed the video from our local library and gave the picture another chance. This time, I stood it for ten minutes and then gave it the hook, irritated once again by the wretched pauses, Derek Jacobi's unchanging countenance, and the ill-conceived whole. It's still an insufferably long-winded mess, abetted by a muffled soundtrack and unimaginative photography.
For truly delightful BBC video adaptations of Victorian novels, I highly recommend the recent Dickens' "Our Mutual Friend," and Trollope's "The Pallisers" (1974 vintage, but still splendidly acted and totally absorbing.)
Movie Review: Atmospheric but looong...
Summary: 2 Stars
Judging by the other very positive reviews here I am in the minority when I say this was heavy going. Watching this has actually served to put me off Dickens! The video undoubtedly captures the atmosphere of the times, but the story is sooo weak and cliched with characters and events that seem unbelievable even for a Dickens work. Characters were too nice or too nasty and came into and went out of money just a bit too conveniently for me to swallow. For diehard D fans only I think.
Summary of Little Dorrit - Part Two: Little Dorrit's Story
The trials & tribulations of a young woman born & raised in debtor's prison provides the basis for this two-part adaptation of a Charles Dickens novel.Melodrama Video
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