An Inspector Calls

Inspector Goole arrives unannounced at the home of the Birling family. The family had been celebrating the engagement of daughter Sheila, to Gerald Croft, a match that would unite two powerful businesses. The Inspector informs the family of his business, that of the death of a young woman, Eva Smith. It turns out each member of the family has encountered Eva, and each in turn damaged her life in some way.

I must admit I had my doubts beforehand about this, I tend to think sometimes if it ain't broke don't fix it, I love both the 1954 and 1982 versions respectively. This though had me utterly engrossed, it was an outstanding version. It looked superb, the factory scenes looked incredibly authentic, as did the scenes in the house.

I liked how it began too, not straight into the dinner setting, we were given a little bit of background. From then on it kept to the story beautifully, it must have been tempting to have tweaked it in some way. Definitely the most serious version of it, no softer humorous side, this was pretty bleak. I couldn't pick a standout performance as I thought every cast member was wonderful.

Truly captivating, 10/10

I saw the 1954 version and although I liked it very much I didn't cry. I saw this version and I just couldn't stop crying. The ending was utterly heartbreaking and although I usually disagree with changing the endings of well known books, plays etc (for example Agatha Christie's works that on the newest adaptations it's some kind of a "norm" to change the endings) I hoped down to the last second of the movie for the ending to change. An amazing adaptation. One I will never forget.

After watching this movie adaptation of An Inspector Calls, I felt that this remake turned into a great success. At first the characters weren't what I expected, most of them seemed quite simple and bland and thought that the actors weren't suited to to their roles. But as the film progressed my attitude towards the characters changes, Eric and Sheila aren't the spoiled brats I thought they were- they actually care about the death of this young woman. Gerald, I realized has more emotional depth Han I gave him credit for, but Mr and Mrs Birling we're exactly what I thought they'd be like and their attitudes towards Eva didn't really change. As for the Inspector I thought that David Thewlis did a great job being the Inspector and his character was also amazing but what I didn't like about the Inspector was that towards the end of the film, he starts time traveling (Priestly hinted that the Inspector was supernatural) but I started getting very confused and became unsure of if he was there before she died and it was a flash back or he is the reason she is dead... I have no idea. But overall this was an amazing movie and I really enjoyed it.

Aisling Walsh's telefilm of the Priestley classic, first performed at London's Old Vic Theatre in 1945, opens out the action somewhat. It begins with a shot of Eva Smith (Lucy Rundle) writing in her diary in a lonely room, followed by a shot of some wooden floorboards, and two or three establishing shots of the Birling factory with a 1912 car moving out of the gates. Through this brief sequence we are given a clear idea of the class-differences permeating the film between the haves and the have-nots, the exploiters and the exploited, that forms one of Priestley's major themes.

Eva Smith does not appear in the Priestley text; in this version she is transformed into a hard-working girl who is not backward about coming forward. Hence she becomes an object of affection for factory-owner Arthur Birling (Ken Stott), his son Eric (Finn Cole), and Gerald Croft (Kyle Soller), the son of a rival factory-owner who is due to be affianced to Arthur's daughter Sheila (Chloe Pirrie). Yet it soon becomes clear that all of them treat her as an object to be picked up and cast aside at will; it's a tribute to Eva's strength of character that she manages to sustain her integrity throughout, until she gives up the ghost and commits suicide.

At the end of the film the floorboards shot is explained, as Eva describes herself as "a crack in the floorboards" - a member of the underclass who is allowed to fall through in a crassly unequal society. No one, it seems, is willing to treat her on her own terms as a human being.

Walsh's version also represents the Inspector (David Thewlis) as a mysterious figure moving slowly in the darkness towards the Birling residence, walking along a narrow slum in shadow, his bowler hat and long coat silhouetted, and visiting the dying Eva in hospital. We are left unsure as to whether he exists at all - especially at the end when he mysteriously disappears. But the question of his being isn't really important: what matters more is his ability to uncover the truth about the Birling family through patient, insistent questioning. Thewlis's expression remains impassive throughout - even if he despises the Birlings' superciliousness, he will never let his emotions get the better of him.

In the central moments of the drama, as the truth about the family was gradually revealed, Walsh used repeated close-ups to focus on the protagonists' changing expressions: Arthur's look of quiet confidence was transformed into an expression of utter despair as he ran his hands through his hair; his wife Sheila (Miranda Richardson) tried her best to retain an impassive exterior, but the tell-tale movements of her cheek and neck-bones betrayed her emotions. Her stoicism in the face of the inevitable truth-revelation was contrasted with Eric's expressions - at first he looked guiltily at everyone in full knowledge that he had been in some way responsible for Eva's death, but as the drama unfolded he acquired a strength of character as he tried to come to terms with his past.

Brilliantly performed and suggestively directed; this was a thoroughly televisual version of the play that reminded us of the persistence of social inequalities today.

Having seen the original movie and a rather strange stage version starring the late Barry Foster, I had no doubts about the content of this telemovie - but was curious about how this modern version would treat it. Brilliantly cast, it did not disappoint, although it did tend to drag at times. On the whole the suspense was well maintained and it stayed quite close to the original, although the later scenes after the Inspector left the house were new and added little to the overall story. In fact it would have been better without them. This is a story that has to be taken at face value (the mystical part aside) - it would be easy to question the possibility that all the persons gathered together in that household had the impact they are supposed to have had on one young woman. It was written as a morality play, very relevant to its times and even today relevance can be found in many of the disclosures made. It tells us to think before we act and to be less likely to prejudge and to take responsibility for our actions. An interesting story, that makes you think - what more can one ask for?