Vanity Unfair

[campbellconey]

Last night, I watched the most horrible film in the history of humankind.

Vanity Fair. Starring Reese Witherspoon, and the delectable James Purefoy. It was well acted, it was visually beautiful, but the whole thing left me so singularly disgusted that all of the good pieces of the film were lost on me.

Vanity Fair is one of those books that I,

Comments

[mikewelch]

I applaud you and your sense of right and wrong. I think it closely matches Aly's, and, to a slightly lesser degree, mine. Very respectable.

[campbellconey]

Thank you very much. Wow.

[bookyeti]

Funny you should mention this book (which I own and have enjoyed). I haven't seen the adaptation you've discussed, however, there was an older (mid 90's?) version put out by BBC which is fan-bloody-tastic. You'd love it, I'm sure. It's one of my favourites; and though I've only seen it once a while back, I haven't forgotten it. It aired on the A&E channel, so I don't know where you could ever find it. Maybe an online store? But it was really good.

[campbellconey]

I will have to check it out. Intrestingly, the film had an alternate ending in which Becky Sharpe DID come round, and went to Mr Pitt Crawley's funeral and made good with her lovely son, but the film ended with her working at a casino in Baden Baden, and then taking up with someone who had jilted her in the beginning and heading off to India, unchanged. I might have felt better if it had ended with the funeral. It made me wonder if the book ended with the funeral? The two women (Amelia and Becky) are so starkly different the whole thing made me wonder if it was not in fact some sort of morality tale, and that Hollywood had just removed the moral come-together at the end.

[frostythesuperv]

I thought much the same way about this film... it was like a female version of Barry Lyndon - an early Kubrick film. Again, beautifully acted and photographed, but the film's antagonist was such a douchebag that I could never muster any emotional involvement. You should see Barry Lyndon just to compare the two.

[campbellconey]

That's interesting. I'll have to check it out. Thank you!!! I was wondering if I was the only one who thought this way. I guess normally, I can deal with an irredemable character, but they need to suffer something. They need to lose something. There needs to be a point where they are faced with the crisis and realize what they've done and who the've hurt...and have to make a decision. And it is fine with me if that decision is to take off with some other man and ruin his life-- but there needs to be that moment of truth and reckoning.

[bluebirdgirl]

actually she is much more likable in the movie than the book. that was my main complaint about the movie. they dont make her heartless enough. and yet you like her more in the book cause she doesnt apologize for the way she is like the movie tries, and fails, to do. (this, however, does not imply the book is good by any stretch, just, you know, LESS BAD)(thats a lot of commas. did i need to use all those commas? the world may never know.)

on another note, how BEAUTIFUL was jonny in that movie?? OMG!! the scene where he confronts his father and the scene where he is fencing both a nearly swooned in the theatre.

[mrblonde97]

Yikes. That was a movie that rolled through the shop and I had already thought there was no way in hell I'm going to put the effort to see this flick. Then you say the main character's motivation and action are that of a complete turd who never really learns anything from her path of destruction is enough to make me flip the channel when it shows up on local tv.
And that woman's name is Jennifer Lopez.oow burn!