Bleak House eps 1-8 (complete series)
Or at least, the series is 8 episodes as released in the US, but it was 15 in the UK. (8 hour long eps vs 1 hour long ep and 14 half hour eps.)
This is based on a Charles Dickens novel, but not one I’ve read. (Yet. I understand that it features Dickens’s only female narrator, and so am quite curious.) I’ve liked the Dickens books that I have read-A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities, and Great Expectations-but found them to be a bit on the slow side for me (So not surprised when I learned he was paid by the word.) and they seemed to lean on the Great Tales of Men side.
Bleak House is apparently Dickens’s commentary on Chancery. The series, at least, is largely divided into three parts. The first is chancery and those involved in it, particularly those involved in Jarndyce and Jarndyce, a case that has been debated over for years. The second is that of Lady Dedlock (who is awesome) a bored noblewoman with secrets, her husband, Sir Leicester (who is darling, if sometimes misguided and stubborn) and Leicester’s solicitor, Tulkinghorn (who is rather repulsive, if interesting) who is very devoted to Sir Leicester (or at least, the family name) and very suspicious of Lady Dedlock. The third is that of Esther Summerson (who is also awesome) an orphan who goes to live with her guardian, Mr. Jarndyce (who is one of the sweetest and most indulgent characters ever, though I despair over his romantic inclinations and choice of friends) to be his housekeeper and a companion for his other wards, Ada (who is also awesome) and Richard (who would probably be awesome if he had a brain capable of logic, self-control and sticking with anything but Ada and chancery for more than 5 minutes) who are also claimants in Jarndyce and Jarndyce. The three plots initially function mostly independently, but become more interconnected as the series proceeds.
I loved the plots involving Esther and Lady Dedlock in all their awesome gothic glory, but was often bored by the chancery parts, despite liking-or at least being interested in-a number of the characters involved, and sometimes missed things due to my attention drifting. It didn’t help that the series was structured to require a slow pace, which works well for gothic suspense and character moments, but not as well for legal drama. There’s also something of an “Oh, Charlotte Bronte, No!” element to Esther’s plotline, which I appreciate in this version, filtered through Andrew Davies’s POV, but which I suspect would irritate me unfiltered, as I doubt Charles Dickens and I have the same objections.
Well acted and beautifully shot (if sometimes a bit too dark), the story is overall interesting with lots of awesome women, a couple nice romances, female friendships, and yes, good men too, but some parts worked decidedly less so for me than others.
This is based on a Charles Dickens novel, but not one I’ve read. (Yet. I understand that it features Dickens’s only female narrator, and so am quite curious.) I’ve liked the Dickens books that I have read-A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities, and Great Expectations-but found them to be a bit on the slow side for me (So not surprised when I learned he was paid by the word.) and they seemed to lean on the Great Tales of Men side.
Bleak House is apparently Dickens’s commentary on Chancery. The series, at least, is largely divided into three parts. The first is chancery and those involved in it, particularly those involved in Jarndyce and Jarndyce, a case that has been debated over for years. The second is that of Lady Dedlock (who is awesome) a bored noblewoman with secrets, her husband, Sir Leicester (who is darling, if sometimes misguided and stubborn) and Leicester’s solicitor, Tulkinghorn (who is rather repulsive, if interesting) who is very devoted to Sir Leicester (or at least, the family name) and very suspicious of Lady Dedlock. The third is that of Esther Summerson (who is also awesome) an orphan who goes to live with her guardian, Mr. Jarndyce (who is one of the sweetest and most indulgent characters ever, though I despair over his romantic inclinations and choice of friends) to be his housekeeper and a companion for his other wards, Ada (who is also awesome) and Richard (who would probably be awesome if he had a brain capable of logic, self-control and sticking with anything but Ada and chancery for more than 5 minutes) who are also claimants in Jarndyce and Jarndyce. The three plots initially function mostly independently, but become more interconnected as the series proceeds.
I loved the plots involving Esther and Lady Dedlock in all their awesome gothic glory, but was often bored by the chancery parts, despite liking-or at least being interested in-a number of the characters involved, and sometimes missed things due to my attention drifting. It didn’t help that the series was structured to require a slow pace, which works well for gothic suspense and character moments, but not as well for legal drama. There’s also something of an “Oh, Charlotte Bronte, No!” element to Esther’s plotline, which I appreciate in this version, filtered through Andrew Davies’s POV, but which I suspect would irritate me unfiltered, as I doubt Charles Dickens and I have the same objections.
Well acted and beautifully shot (if sometimes a bit too dark), the story is overall interesting with lots of awesome women, a couple nice romances, female friendships, and yes, good men too, but some parts worked decidedly less so for me than others.