Vanity Fair | | Cast : | Gabriel Byrne, Reese Witherspoon, Romola Garai, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers | | Director : | Mira Nair | | Studio : | Universal Studios Ho | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | September 01, 2004 | | DVD Released Date : | May 31, 2005 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 06, 2005 | | Summary | Superb film of a great story with a terrific cast and fabulous costumes | Content
 | This is a wonderful movie on many levels. First, it is a good adaptation of Thackery's novel. Of course it is not the novel as any one of us read it and made it our own. And since it is not a mini-series it has to make many cuts and still keep the story going. Some of the scenes you wish were given more length as in the book have to be just a few important words and then to the next piece. This does help keep things moving for modern audiences and gets more beautiful images on the screen, still, there is a lot to be said for dialogue.
The next wonder is the magnificent Becky Sharp. Not that she is a sweet or noble creation, but that she is such a wonderful protagonist. She is so talented, brilliant, and ambitious that even her unlikable features are almost, but not quite, forgivable. She really cannot care for others and though the movie makes her more likable than the novel does, her coldness to her son shows in the way she never hugs him, never dotes on him, and is even willing to send him away to get ahead. There are also many other wonderful characters in the story. It seems to me that Margaret Mitchell got some aspects of Ashley Wilkes, Rhett Butler, Scarlett O'Hara and Melanie Hamilton from this story.
Then there are the exotic settings with wonderful costumes. We have Regency England with its great aristocratic wealth in London and the country estates along with otherworldly India contrasted with the slums and poverty that exist nearly invisibly however close in proximity to grandeur and privilege. The costumes in this film are terrific. We see the sumptuous garb of the truly wealthy, the worn expensive clothing of those whose wealth is past but who must keep up appearances, to the army, the middle class and the very poor. And, again, the Indian influence on the dress in this film is fantastic.
Finally, there are the performances. Reese Witherspoon is always a fine actor and this role lets her shine almost blindingly. I don't have space to list each of the actors in this film, but I wish I could because they are each special in the way they bring these characters to life and make them memorable even though they are nearly all unsympathetic in some ways. That is one of the great things Thackery pulls off. The characters have their good and bad moments. Sometimes they are awful, but most of them you end up finding something good about them anyway (although George makes it really difficult). What a treat compared to the one dimensional characters in most movies where each stays within the domain of being a good guy or a bad guy.
This is a real treat and I recommend it highly. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 28, 2005 | | Summary | If only this DVD had half of Becky's ambition . . . | Content
| I loved this movie, which I didn't expect. I had never read the novel, and my interest in seeing it had more to do with the people involved. I was not disappointed by any means with the film itself. Witherspoon gives an amazing performance made even more jaw-dropping by the fact that she was so very, VERY pregnant for pretty much the entire movie. Her pregnancy was worked into the script for a few scenes, but for the most part, they tried to hide it with costumes and oddly-placed or mighty convenient props, or simply made do by shooting her from the waist up. However, her pregnancy gave her not only a glow (I've never thought of her as truly beautiful, but she looks just stunning in this movie) but also a pleasing curve and buxom-ness that not only went better with the period but was a welcome change from the typical Hollywood skinny actress.
Fine performances abound; in fact no one was terrible or wasted. But especial kudos must go to Bob Hoskins and Jim Broadbent because I adore them both and their brilliance is well used in this film. And my hat is COMPLETELY off to Rhys Ifans! I had no IDEA the man could act. In EVERY movie I've ever seen him in, he's A) blonde and B) a complete buffon. I'd written him off as a British Rob Schnieder or something. Now I see how completely wrong I was. His character had me from the moment he gave Amelia the piano, and from then on, Captain Dobbin became the hero of the film for me. I know the novel's not supposed to have a hero, but Capatain (later Major) Dobbin really filled the role neatly here, with his long-suffering but steadfast love.
Having never read the novel, I am in a unique place to review the film. I felt that at times it didn't seem quite period (one character uses the phrase "suck up") and it seemed to lack continuity in places (Witherspoon's hair shifts between blonde and strawberry blonde depending on the scene -- did they have colorists back then, or was something wrong with my T.V. screen?) but it was surprisingly funny, and I laughed out loud in places. Best line: "I had thought her a mere social climber. I see now she's a mountaineer." I wanted that line to be the title of my review, but alas, someone beat me to it! Another great one from father-in-law to daughter: "There's no one in this family who doesn't wish you dead!"
The colors in this film are striking, and the lavish costumes and art direction and set design take the breath away. Kudos to Nair for eschewing the stodgy period palatte of black and grey and going full bore with a beautiful array of Indian-inspired finery. Occasionally it all looks a bit too new and bright to be believed, even for upper class people (Their clothes couldn't have been THAT spotless!) but she's not afraid to hose 'em down or rip 'em up a little bit, so it's not too unrealistic.
There are so many characters that I doubt all of them could have had a real resolution in one movie, and I've read book reviews saying that Thackery didn't give many of his characters real resolutions anyhow, so I guess that's par for the course. But I was particularly disappointed about George's character. He's played by the delectable Jonathan Rhys Myers (who scared me to death in "Titus" and made my heart flutter in "Bend It Like Beckham") but he is impossible to figure out. He's a snobby aristocrat, but he won't marry for money alone. He values honor, but he burns the pictures his fiancee sends him. He seems to have nothing but contempt for Amelia but he takes her to wife, and then (SPOILER!) he dies before we can investigate these contradictions. The fact that his scenes with Witherspoon are wonderful to watch, and among the best in the film only fanned the flame of my curiosity about this character, so I was very very disappointed to see him gone so soon.
Witherspoon's relationship with Rawden is well written and even better played by two fine actors. I regret only that Witherspoon's pregnancy prevented her from doing more passionate things with the love scenes. I don't mean nudity, but he obviously had to be careful how he handled her, and it made things a bit awkward. Amelia's character seemed a bit lifeless not just compared to Becky but on the whole. I felt she could have been more interesting, but then I am biased because I loved Dobbin so well.
This movie has a strong resemblance to "Gone With the Wind." I guess Mitchell must have been a fan! She does mention Thackery in her book (Melanie to Ashley: "I like Mr. Thackery, but I fear he is not the gentleman Mr. Dickens is.") so it stands to reason that she would have borrowed a few things. Rhett's first reply to Scarlett's long delayed confession of love is "That's your misfortune," and Rawden repeats it here in a similar scene when he finally tires of Becky's antics. He also tells someone else that "Cats are better mothers" than Becky, another Rhett-ism I thought Mitchell coined. Ah well, live and learn. It's still a great book!
I have rambled for a long time on the movie, but the reason for my subtracting a star has to do with the DVD which I will finally talk about now. There are no real extras! There's a commentary, but it's actually just the director sharing vcarious observations along the lines of "I really like this shot" and "this actor is so good" -- in other words, the usual dirctor's commentary B.S. No wonder Spielberg won't do this stuff. There's chapter selection, but this 2.5 hour movie is given only 18 chapters! Makes it rather a meal of finding the scene you want to see. There's also a half-assed "making of" doc that's really not so much "making of" as "here's a look at some of the people involved and what they have to say about the movie." Then there's an even shorter one on the women involved. Interesting, yes, but I for one am equally as interested in the men, and the doc didn't tell me much of anything informative that hadn't already been covered in the other one. There are deleted scenes, but they have no commentary, and they're all played at once instead of letting the viewer decide which ones to watch. I hate it when DVDs do that! The first one is an alternate opening credits sequence which to me seemed indistinguishable from the original. Therefore I viewed with the trepidation the so-called "alternate ending" -- DVDs are always touting this, and it usually turns out to be the same ending with different music or merely features the hero in a different color shirt. However, this one really was totally different. In the "real" ending (SPOILER!) Becky goes off to India with Amelia's weird brother. (I say "real" because apparently it's not that way in the book. But it works here.) The alternate one features Amelia going to her brother-in-law's funeral to try and reconnect with her son, who forgives her for abandoning him. In the first ending, we're lead to believe that she's washed her hands of the boy. I like the second one better. It features an extremely cheesy speech, but it also features her grown-up son, who's HOT and who I was curious to get a look at. Also, forgiveness is divine, which is why I'll forgive the filmmakers for this lame DVD and buy it anyway. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 06, 2005 | | Summary | REESE COULD HAVE DONE A BETTER MOVIE RATHER THEN THIS ONE!!!!! | Content
| I recently just saw this movie the other night and i was totally excited about seeing it!!!! When i watched it i was bored to death there was no real good story to this movie and i thought that Reese Witherspoon could have done another movie rather then this one!!!!!!! I wouldn't go and rent this movie again or even buy it!!!!!!! All i can say is that i wanted more and what i got was just another bad flick!!!!! |
| Rating | | | Date | June 24, 2005 | | Summary | VANITY FAIR | Content
| THE MOVIE IS BETTER THAN IT SEEMS IT WOULD BE. IT IS ABOUT A HOT SOCIAL CLIMBER BECKY SHARPP. I GOT IT AT WAL*MART FOR $13.72
IT IS WORT THE CHEAP PRICE. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 23, 2005 | | Summary | Harlot Francais | Content
| Becky Sharp comes off more as mischevious than evil (as Thackery clearly intended she be.) The characters motives are confusing, and Amilias poverty seems random at best. Among other things, George Osbornes "affair" with Becky seems very watered down, and seems to say "well, it wasn't Becky in particular, he just didn't love Amilia." Which is all wrong. The end of the movie seems to insinuate that Amilia's son is seduced by Becky and that Becky ultimately marries Jon, Amilia's blundering older brother. The worst of it was the costant singing, at every party she attended. We GET IT! SHe can sing! Now please, no more, we beg of you.
All in all, the movie was good, mainly thanks to the cinematography and vibrant colors or the film. The acting was well done if not too mild. |
|
Picture 01 (20)
