Impressions of Return of the Native, Lorna Doone and Silas Marner

[birdienl]

Next to keeping up with my favourite series, watching all the newest period dramas and just a silly romantic comedy now and then, I also like to watch some older period drama. There's a huge number I see in lists here and there that I've never watched. Because these older adaptations are often little known, I've deciden to write a little bit about them (calling this a review would be exaggerating) here on my journal. In the last few weeks I've watched the following three (possible spoilers under the cut)



Return of the Native 1994

Adapted from: the novel by Thomas Hardy
Length: 101 min

Summary: The beautiful Eustacia Vye wishes to leave the remote moorland village where she lives with her grandfather. Two  man claim her affection, the local inkeeper Damon Wildeve and Clym Yeobright, a diamond merchant recently returned from Paris.

Familiar faces: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Clive Owen, Steven Mackintosh (Our Mutual Friend), Joan Plowright, Celia Imrie (Cranford)

Watch this if:
- You're in the mood for a story about a complicated woman and the two men who woe her
- You like period dramas set in sweeping moorland
- You're interested in the work of Zeta-Jones and Owen before they became Hollywood stars

Don't watch this if:
- You don't like Hardy's melodramatic heroines and love for depressive endings

Best part (Spoilers!): How the quiet love of Steven Mackintosh's character gets rewarded in the end





Lorna Doone 2000

Adapted from: the novel by R.D. Blackmore
Length: 150 minutes

Summary: 17th century. A remote Exmoor valley is tormented by attacks from the murderous Doone clan. The father of farmer John Ridd has been murdered by them. When he meets the beautiful and shy Lorna Doone in the forest, he falls in love with her, despite her family name.

Familiar faces: Richard Coyle, Anthony Calf, Honeysuckle Weeks (Foyle's War!), Joanne Frogatt, James McAvoy, Barbara Flynn
and Micheal Kitchen (Foyle's War!)

Watch this if:
- Just watch it! It's great! It's got everything: sweet romances, villains, battles, beautiful costumes and countryside, great acting etc. Best period piece I've watched in months!

Don't watch this if:
- You really don't want to watch any period dramas with battles in them

Best part: Hmmm, hard to choose, but I think the first time Lorna smiles at John Ridd, so sweet!





Silas Marner 1985

Adapted from: the novel by George Eliot
Length: 92 minutes

Summary: The weaver Silas Marner lives as a recluse after being unjustly accused of theft. All he lives for now is his work and his money, until a little girl walks into his life.

Familiar faces: Ben Kingsley, Patsy Kensit, Jim Broadbent

Watch this if:
- You like hopeful character-driven stories

Don't watch this if:
- You don't like period dramas without a romantic plot

Best part (Spoilers!): The speech Eppie gave to the squire and his wife at the end about her love for her 'father' Silas. It reduced me to tears!

Comments

[kolibrichen.livejournal.com]

hi there ;)

thanks for the tips. besides LD I didn't knew this period dramas. one question without giving too much away:

Return of the Native

Don't watch this if:
- You don't like Hardy's melodramatic heroines and love for depressive endings

the depressing ending part: Is it so bad as in Tess? I'm thinking about buying it, but I'm not in the mood for a movie with a total lack of a happy end *g*

[birdienl.livejournal.com]

Well, it is somewhat comparable to Tess. There is a happy ending for two other characters though and maybe Eustacia is a less sympathetic character compared to Tess, so I felt less sorry for her

[epea-pteroenta.livejournal.com]

Return of the Native sounds great - except that I don't like sad endings! Hmm. Maybe will add it to list of books to read first! Steven Macintosh was lovely in Our Mutual Friend though.

[birdienl.livejournal.com]

I've not read the book, but I did read that the adaptation compares quite well to the original novel.

Steven Macintosh was so great as John Harmon! I hardly recognised him in Return of the Native though, his character is a reddleman (I still don't know exactly what that means, but it has something to do with marking sheep with a red dye) Anyway, his face is all read, looks very weird. But he's very sweet nonetheless!

[birdienl.livejournal.com]

I meant, his face is all red ofcourse, not read