 "Great BBC Movie "Middlemarch"" | 2009-09-07 |
| - Reviewed By User: AXERKP6K4WWOT |
| I really enjoyed watching this DVD. It has a lot of good different stories in it and when there wasn't anything worth while on my TV I would just put it in and watch it from where I left off at. It kept me entertained for at least a week. I know that a lot of people don't like long movies which would be true if you had to sit threw it all at once. But it had the option to play all or just one part at a time. The movie in itself was very moving. Tells of how sometimes marrying for the wrong reasons that you might think are the right reasons can be unsatisfying and lead to a lonely life. Then the spouse can be very vendictive even in death. She loved her husband but he still was very reserved and unloving up to the end and even in his will. I really did enjoy the other stories in this movie too. It told of the difference in many situations and of how lying can hurt you even when you try to make ammends. |
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| "A Quality Experience" | 2009-07-27 |
| - Reviewed By jmsbndgal |
To say that a series is a "BBC British period production" is to say that the film was crafted with the kind of care and skill that is the standard for making a Rolls Royce engine. You expect quality and you get quality. Whether you are watching a series based on Charles Dickens or George Eliot novels, the BBC gives you a memorable experience. Perhaps it is because England has cultivated such a splendid assortment of credible actors specializing in this genre. Perhaps it is the quality of the screen-writing, the cinematography, direction or some combination of everything. Whatever it is, the "union" label here means something.
Middlemarch is named after a town in England, just prior to the Industrial Revolution, when social unrest was causing the entrenched political structure to unravel, and people were looking towards upward mobility and questioning the entitlements of the landed aristocracy. A young, idealistic doctor, moves into this very staid town where for generations business has been conducted the same way, and the same elite families held sway. He dreams of cutting edge medical research (actually dissecting corpses) and devoting his services for free to a charity hospital. A young, idealistic young woman chafes at the societal restraints around her desire to help the poor, especially by building cottages. Though the two marry different people and there is no romantic link between them, they end up with lives very different from their ideals.
This is a six part series on DVD and time flies when you are watching it. There are many plots and sub-plots and characters, all of them interesting and most interrelated. Highly recommended.
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| "What a pleasure!" | 2009-06-06 |
| - Reviewed By scott_fs |
I purchased Middlemarch because I had heard it was a good period piece. I was not disappointed; in fact, the mini-series exceeded my expectations by a good measure.
I'll confess right off that I've never read the book. However, I assume it follows pretty closely because the screenplay was written by the ever-reliable Andrew Davies (who also penned the superb 1995 definitive version of Pride and Prejudice, as well as many other films of Austen's novels). The film deftly blends multiple story lines and never loses track of any of them.
The main story line is that of the very bright Dorothea Brooke, played in an understated way by the lovely Juliet Aubrey. Dorothea is a young niece of the aristocratic Arthur Brooke (the always excellent Robert Hardy), who is painfully, but cheerfully trying to make the transition from the late-feudal Britain to a country marked by the rise of popular democracy.
Dorothea is attracted to men of intelligence and ideas. She is drawn to the much older scholar Rev. Edward Casaubon, who is engaged in an exhaustive study of mythology. He has spent copious amounts of time researching his subject, but little actual writing. Dorothea (or Dodo, as her sister Celia has dubbed her) yearns for a 'soulful life', though her sister doesn't see the attraction, nor for that matter does the rest of the family, including her father. Sir James Chettam, a family friend, who is wealthy and much interested in Dorothea's attractiveness as well as her intelligence, seems a much better choice, as he is closer to her age. But Dorothea is undaunted. She is excited by the idea of helping Dr. Lydgate in his study, and, at first, so is he. So, they marry.
All is not plum perfection in the new relationship, though, primarily once Rev. Casaubon's moody, restless cousin Will Ladislaw shows up. There is an instant attraction between Dorothea and Will, that is evident to everyone including Casaubon.
Meanwhile, Dr. Tertius Lydgate has arrived in Middlemarch (a fictitious town set in the Midlands of England in the mid-19th century, placing it between Jane Austen and Charles Dickens). He has ambition, and seeks to improve the medical profession and health care in the England that is removed from the big cities such as London. He has decided to remain a bachelor for the time being, though there is pressure on him to settle down in short order. One of the young ladies he is acquainted with is the pretty, but vacuous Rosamond Vincy, who is the niece of the pompous, dictatorial, but very rich Mr. Bulstrode, who is in charge of a group of city elders who control much of what goes on in Middlemarch. Rosamond is smitten by Dr. Lydgate, who is handsome, intelligent, but poor. Rosie, and Dr. Lydgate calls her, has misunderstood Dr. Lydgate's attentions to mean that he means to marry her. When he explains to her that he has had no such intention, she becomes hysterical and cries unceasingly. To calm her, Dr. Lydgate promises to marry her, a promise that will lead to much regret on his part.
It's a film with a multitude of plot lines, as the above description hints at, but the George Eliot (and Davies) pulls it off well, and the whole remains cohesive and neatly wrapped up in the end.
This really is a must-see for those who love Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, or the Bronte sisters. It's one of the best period pieces set in the 18th and 19th century England.
Not to be missed; I loved it. Very highly recommended! |
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| "Best watched over a long period of time..." | 2009-03-13 |
| - Reviewed By godssousinger |
After coming off from watching more light-hearted, but still fairly heavy BBC period dramas (North and South and Secret Garden). it was a very jarring change indeed to watch "MiddleMarch". Still, because I had always wanted to read MiddleMarch and "Silas Marner" by George Eliot is one of my favorite books, I pressed on through watching the first episode, which was very hard at first due to the amount of and breadth of the characters, and finished watched MiddleMarch very satisfied indeed.
It is very easy to see why "Pride and Prejudice" and "North and South" recieve almost unanimously great ratings, whereas this one tends to be either love or hate. George Eliot did not write in the manner Jane Austin did, Jane Austin usually (although not always) wrote about people who were in high society and were in some relational pursuit and it almost always ends well. Not to say bad things don't happen, they just don't feel as bleak as they do as in George Eliot's writing because she wrote from a far more realistic perspective. This does not discredit Jane Austin, but she uses a very different medium to get her message across than Eliot does most of the time.
The story of MiddleMarch is very complex and involves three major story lines, and a few minor ones, but all of these storylines and sub-plots are interwoven. It is not so much about one event, but it is about life and how the decisions we make can affect the course of not only our entire lives, but others as well. Both the characters of Dorethea and Tertius Lidgate rush into matrimonial unions with disasterous and unexpected results. Whereas, Tertius' wife Rosemand's brother Frederick comes from very low beginnings to bring his life out of the ashes for the one he loves.
To say that this movie has no happy endings is ludicrous, two of the main characters end up very happy, one just got scarred along the way. While the other lead character did not end up happy in the end because of the choices made.
These different characters choices contrast, it is almost impossible to say much without revealing the twist and turns and ending. It shows us what happens when we make hasty decisions to marry based on our feelings without actually knowing a person. These people had to face the consequences, divorce was not such an easy option in those days.
Probably the most enjoyable for me to watch was the relationship between Tertious and Rosemund. The dynamics in their relationship are amazing! Having been through a very trying and year with my fiance (whom I am certain is the right person for me), I have learned how not to deal with my fiance. Interestingly enough the very things he and I once did to eachother Tertius and Rosemund do. She constantly tries to undermine his authority and he constantly gives into her demands because he cares about her and is to weak and naive to realize what she really does need is to suffer for once in her life.
I read many of the negative reviews and I understand why they are given, but I do not agree with them in the least. Yes, this is long and a bit slow at times, but it is very gripping because the characters are very real and you want to know whether or not they will find happiness. Yes, there is some sensuality, but I didn't think it was gross; it was merely passionate kissing within a marriage relationship and it illustrated the immaturity of the relationship very well. I have already answered the question of whether or not there are happy endings, there are, but it is just a very long a tiring ride by the time you get there, which is WHY I very much recommend watching this over the course of a week or so. Personally, I finished it all in one day because I had to know what haoppened!
If you like geat acting, a gripping and very complicated story, and very complex and realistic characters as well as situations that are not sugar-coated, but true to life; then you will love MiddleMarch. If you do not like stories in this vein then you probably shouldn't waste your time.
God Bless ~Amy |
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 "The Worst BBC Production I've Seen" | 2009-01-25 |
| - Reviewed By User: APMYIC8QSC3PR |
| I tried 4 times to watch this movie and when I finally made it through it, I felt as though I had wasted my time. This has got to be the worst BBC production I have ever seen; and I am very fond of BBC. The story dragged on and on. It jumped around too much. The plot was almost non existent. There were too many characters that seem to be of no importance. I won't go on, even though I could. Save your time, don't even bother to watch this movie. It looked like it had promise but when I finally got to the end I discovered, I was wrong. |
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 "On the verge....but never quite the leap" | 2008-09-26 |
| - Reviewed By User: A31CXEZDNUT3OF |
I love BBC films and was very interested to watch MiddleMarch.
What a disappointment to discover that although the characters are acted well, and the storylines had promise.... the film in itself dragged terribly.
Each time there was a promise of drama, excitement, passion, intrigue....it would immediately fizzle out - or to be more descriptive - the scenes and characters would never fully reach their dramatic potential either in words or actions. The moment was cut off, the feeling didn't come across completely - for lack of better terms, things would never climax, situation to situation.
Do not get me wrong, it was a very compelling story with different personalities of scoundrels and saints. Dorothea is angelic and steadfast, and although the scenes with the doctor and his spoilt wife were the most "fully" dramatic in his angers and their troubles - he is still a man to be admired for how much he tried to do for others and his marriage. There are several love stories/couples within the film - but again, none of them seem epic, heart-felt, deep or passionate.
I did try to be captivated by the movie - but one shouldn't have to try. It is a bit too slow, with not enough "UMPH" ; All the chracters were fairly developed - but lacked the connectivity to make you really care about them collectively or be suprised how things turn out. |
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