The Woman in White

The Woman in White was very entertaining and having read the book I was prepared to be either amazed or disappointed. It was the former. I had only seen one previous adaptation from 1982 but this one was every bit as good. Fosco was coprulent in the novel but in this adaptation they slimmed him down. That aside, it kept very much to the book and yes some things were tweaked here and there, it was still something that I would recommend. 5 episodes was enough. All in all, a brilliant effort and well done to all.

The reviews for this have really baffled me. I have watched the 1982, 1997, and 2018 version of the woman in white. The 1982 has lots of merits though it is very much an early 80s low budget bbc tv adaptation. The 1997 is total rubbish - amends the plot, too short, no atmosphere, and poor acting. But this 2018 version was very impressive I thought. It is extremely faithful to the novel save for a few streamlined plot elements. And at 5 hours long everything gets covered the way it should. I watch a lot of period adaptations, Dickens, Austen, as well as a lot of theatre, Shakespeare etc. So I am very used to seeing the best of the best in the British acting pantheon take on many of the classic roles. There is no classic actor here in the main characters but nevertheless it is a rare case of a smaller profile adaptation being very good despite the lack of high profile cast and crew. What really impressed me is how you really got a sense in this version of how the many elements of the novel - detective, mystery, crime, drama, gothic - all play a part and mesh together to make a really great story. Plot wise the novel is quite difficult to follow as well because a lot of pivotal events take place before the novel begins and are gradually unveiled throughout the course of the story, so you have to keep a lot of detail in your mind as it is told rather than seen. This adaptation did a really good job with the script in making this really easy to follow the plot. Ok it was not life changing and not hugely emotionally affecting. But I don't think either is the novel. It is a classic novel which pioneered a number of features of modern storytelling we now take for granted, and I think this adaptation did as good as job as could be imagined in conveying the novel, it's tone, plot, and messages, to screen.

The first episode (of 5, I believe) was excellent. Clever, absorbing, twisted, dark, entertaining. Well acted. I am completely pulled in, and will look forward to finding out what's going on!

UPDATE AFTER FOUR EPISODES: Ugh. Like many of these 8-hour adaptations, it would have made a great 2-hour movie, but in order to fill out 8 hours, they have to pad and pad and pad, and stretch and stretch and stretch. Every scene is too long. Every event happens three or four times. "Same stuff, different day." Why do they do that? Cut it down to a great 2-hour movie.

If you watch this, watch it with the remote in your hand. Fast-forward is your friend.

I will keep this brief for the sake of anyone coming upon this classic gem of a mystery for the first time. Completely disregard any review of this mini-series that's been rated lower than a 4. The people giving it super low ratings will bang on about it being an unworthy adaption or that the spirit of Willie Collins is completely lost on the writers and directors of this series. Ok I lied, not so brief of a review... but anyways these sour puss pretentious wanna be thespian mentioned above are people that have their minds made up before watching any literary classic adapted for the small screen. To them the book is always better no matter what. But guess what no duh... the books always better but that doesn't mean adapting a classic is a crime. I read the book. And having such I can tell you the makers of this show did a good job. The characters and sets were on point and the mystery delivered. I couldn't ask for more in an adaptation, much better than "the moonstone" another recently adapted Willie Collins story brought to the small screen. Sorry for the rant but I hate snobs. Watch and decide for yourself. The acting was great.

Although fairly predictable, I enjoyed this series which was recently on PBS. Being a fan of books and movies from the 1800s, I was glad to find one that I hadn't seen yet and which wasn't written by the Bronte sisters or Jane Austen. The most creepy character had to be Countess Fosco. Solid performances and gorgeous settings in the huge English countryside manors we love.