Admiration for the abilities of screenwriter Andrew Davies led me to watch this miniseries. However, I'd have to call this a wasted effort on his part. Not having read the Trollope work on which it is based, nor having any desire to read it after viewing this film version, I can't say whether it is faithful to the original. But the main characters were generally too bizarre and unlikable for my taste, and two of the casting decisions--the parts of Paul Montague and Mrs. Hurtle--were positively grotesque.
Paul Montague, the apparent hero of the piece, was supposed to be an American engineer, a person of some experience and expertise; no doubt the role called for a youngish man unaccustomed to smoky business dens, but this actor made him look like a fresh-faced adolescent--it's asking too much to suppose he could be believable in such a role. And trust me, no normal woman would fall in love with a character so effeminate--that's preposterous.
And--bless my soul--Mrs. Hurtle; at first I was intrigued, thinking she was supposed to be a woman POSING as an American southern belle, a suspicious character in fact. I was astounded when it became apparent that she REALLY was supposed to be from the South; her accent was truly appalling, a caricature. A southern accent is generally so easy to mimic, it seems as though they must have searched hard for someone who couldn't do it. It was so gawd-awful that I still awaken sometimes in the middle of the night with her belabored diphthongs echoing in my nightmares.
If these two mistakes had been less glaring, it is possible that the strangeness of the Melmotte characters might have been more tolerable. They certainly were interesting, and very well acted by David Suchet and Shirley Henderson. The latter has a particular gift for playing neurotic women, but she also was able to endow Marie Melmotte with some sweetness, and in the end, some sympathetic traits.
4/10
Paul Montague, the apparent hero of the piece, was supposed to be an American engineer, a person of some experience and expertise; no doubt the role called for a youngish man unaccustomed to smoky business dens, but this actor made him look like a fresh-faced adolescent--it's asking too much to suppose he could be believable in such a role. And trust me, no normal woman would fall in love with a character so effeminate--that's preposterous.
And--bless my soul--Mrs. Hurtle; at first I was intrigued, thinking she was supposed to be a woman POSING as an American southern belle, a suspicious character in fact. I was astounded when it became apparent that she REALLY was supposed to be from the South; her accent was truly appalling, a caricature. A southern accent is generally so easy to mimic, it seems as though they must have searched hard for someone who couldn't do it. It was so gawd-awful that I still awaken sometimes in the middle of the night with her belabored diphthongs echoing in my nightmares.
If these two mistakes had been less glaring, it is possible that the strangeness of the Melmotte characters might have been more tolerable. They certainly were interesting, and very well acted by David Suchet and Shirley Henderson. The latter has a particular gift for playing neurotic women, but she also was able to endow Marie Melmotte with some sweetness, and in the end, some sympathetic traits.
4/10