Die großen Erwartungen

I read the novel decades ago, but from what I remember the major points and most of the minor points of the novel are intact. The novel and the film weave a tale of a 19th century England completely lacking in compassion, and that always went doubly so for orphans such as Pip, yet he does encounter more than his share of good luck.

Of course the most interesting character in the novel is Miss Haversham. In the film as in the novel she is dumped at the altar on her wedding day in her youth and has harbored a grudge against the entire male sex since then and has lived as though stuck in that day for decades, still wearing her rotting wedding dress. What I don't understand is why the film does not include her being financially defrauded by her fiance as the novel does. The novel weaves a tale of an unbelievably small world, but the film omits a couple of the more unbelievable plot turns to its credit.

The lawyer, Mr. Jaggers, who attends to Pip's affairs when he is in London, is also a most interesting character. He has a hangman's noose as a souvenir in his office and also seems to be actively collecting the death masks of the recently executed as a new one pops up every time Pip visits him. Yet when he discusses the matter of the death penalty and criminal justice in England Jaggers truly seems to get the cruel randomness of those institutions.

One thing I can say without spoiling anything is how completely unrecognizable Alec Guinness is as Herbert Pocket, Pip's roommate in London. He doesn't even have that trademark gravelly voice at this point, his first credited film appearance.

I don't even like costume dramas or period pieces, but I highly recommend this one. The fine acting by the cast and Lean's direction really drew me into the story.

I came to watch this film with no knowledge of the book, having never read it and only the vaguest knowledge of a couple of the characters - Magwitch the escaped convict and the jilted Miss Haversham. I had absolutely no idea how events would turn out or what would happen to the characters involved. Good for me - no baggage!!

Taken, then, in its own right I can say that I was quite staggered at the overall quality of this film in every respect and from the very opening shots: The acting, cinematography, costumes, sets, lighting, effects etc. etc. were all perfect and gave no hint of the film's vintage. Surprise surprise (or maybe no surprise), the storyline was quite superb - the ripe 'Dickensian' dialogue was a pleasure to hear and the plot was intelligent and interesting while maintaining a steady pace throughout.

All in all, a very pleasant experience for me and I'm glad it eventually found its way onto my radar!

So - a timeless masterpiece in my opinion and well worth watching by anyone looking for a break from modern CGI-laden disaster/action movies or who do not want to see yet another instance of the Americans saving the world from extra-terrestrial menace.

Nine out of ten without a moment's hesitation....

Charles Dickens certainly liked to write his novels from a child's point of view. Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations all start with the hero/protagonist as a child. Only young Oliver Twist of the three I mentioned ended still a child in the novel's conclusion. In Oliver Twist, young Oliver is reunited with his propertied and somewhat wealthy grandfather looking to rise in station from his humble background.

Young Pip, short for Philip Pirrup, is also of humble background in Great Expectations. His parents are killed when he's young, he lives with his sister and her husband who is a blacksmith. During his childhood he befriends a convict on the run. Later on for mysterious reasons to him, he comes under the protection of eccentric old Miss Haversham who wants him as a companion for her adopted child Estella.

Later on as an adult, he has a mysterious benefactor who provides him income enough to live as a gentlemen, something he fervently desired all his life. It seems to be a dream come true. But there are still quite a few bumps on Pip's road of life.

Charles Dickens despaired of the poverty he saw in early Victorian Great Britain. But he also knew that riches alone did not necessarily guarantee happiness. It didn't for Scrooge, for Ms. Havisham, and certainly not for John Mills as the adult Pip. Nor does it for Valerie Hobson who inherits Ms. Havisham's estate.

Mills and Hobson are a perfectly cast pair of leads in this version of Great Expectations. Alec Guinness began a long association with director David Lean as Herbert Pocket, Pip's friend and roommate.

Finlay Currie, the craggy Scot's player who usually played kindly old gentlemen, turns out to be kinder indeed than originally presented as convict Abel Magwitch. It's a different kind of part for him.

Martita Hunt as Ms. Havisham plays a part all to familiar to me. I had an elderly relative in my family a lot like her, bitter at the world and taking it out on all around her.

My favorite in the film though is Francis L. Sullivan. Usually Sullivan's characters are crooked and/or corrupt in most of his films. As attorney Jaggers who seems to have an unseen hand in all the proceedings he actually is working for the ultimate benefit of both of our leads.

In Dickens's world, wealth can corrupt as easily as poverty. It's the character inside you that counts and that fact is not better demonstrated than in this adaption of Great Expectations.

The term 'classic' is often banded about with regard to films but I feel this one does warrant the term. A masterpiece of film-making by one of the best director's to take the chair. From the opening on the flat marshland framed by the hangman's gantry, this is wonderfully atmospheric storytelling of the highest quality which manages to capture the feel of the novel. The inspired touches with the cows muttering to Pip when he takes the stolen food to the convict and the howling wind over London as Pip's past is about to knock on his door, stay in the mind. This film is rich in character and detail. A sumptuous film that is a real treat. I can still, even today, taste the pork pie that Pip steals from the larder and feel his fear as Joe's wife goes to look for it and the sadness as the older Pip is embarrassed by Joe in his upmarket London surroundings and watches his old friend leave London from his living room window. An absolute masterpiece of cinema.

As a fan of many so-called classic films, I am nonetheless aware that there is some validity to the criticism that early movies (say, anything before Brando in Streetcar) as a rule have less vitality than their modern counterparts, are formulaic to a fault, and strain the limits of modern attention spans more than can be fully blamed on the viewer. Great Expectations treads miles clear of any of these criticisms, and so I recommend it in particular to anyone who has a general disdain for films that a) were released in the first half of the 20th century and/or b) were shot in black and white. Here is one that can change your mind.

Naturally, given the talents of the author, the plot itself leaves little to be desired. Further, David Lean, his cast, and his crew, have done a splendid job translating Dickens to the screen. This is indeed, as the Criterion Collection folks have classified it, one of the "Great Adaptations." I doubt that there is a better cinematic adaptation of any Dickens novel and am almost certain there is none in which the Dickensian English dialogue flows more pleasantly and naturally. The actors herein deliver Dickens as Olivier himself delivered Shakespeare. Nor is this an unimportant accomplishment; having to spend a couple of hours listening to actors who sound more like they are delivering a series of quotes (though admittedly they are) than that they are actually conversing can be positively unbearable. Indeed I think that's the main thing that people are hitting upon when, with broad brush-strokes, they paint older films as tedious. Great Expectations is the antidote to just this attitude.

If you are a lover of classic films, you have likely already seen this one or will do so regardless of my review, but if, on the other hand, you entertain the possibility of watching Great Expectations with a deep-seated skepticism I implore you to give it a chance. I have every confidence you'll be pleasantly surprised and find yourself drawn into what is, after all, a fascinating story.