Hard Times

Made for British schools in 1994, this BBC version of HARD TIMES eschews the usual fancy costumes and elaborate sets of most BBC 'classics' and gets down to the story, focussing on the characters and their sometimes tragic lives and decisions. Don't let its origins put you off: this version boasts a cast most big budget films would kill for: Alan Bates, Richard E. Grant, Harriet Walter, Bill Paterson, and the late, great Bob Peck, magnificent as Gradgrind. Anyone tired of the respectful, white-glove treatment classic novels are usually given on TV will find this a refreshing change of pace: angry and passionate and bleak, with flashes of humour and humanity.

This little known version of Hard Times is a magnificent adaptation of Dickens' novel about the life of a Victorian Family, set in a grim, dark place in the north of England called Coketown. The stellar cast, in particular Alan Bates and Bob Peck, get to the heart of Dickens intentions. There is none of the sanitisation you usually get with Dickens adaptations, this is a full blooded, and sometimes angry, production. The whole point of Dickens writing was to show people the plight of the poor working classes, the underclass, the people forced to live in grinding poverty and suffer starvation, disease and unimaginable squalor. People who had no choice but to work in factories and mills for incredibly long hours, while the mill and factory owners grew rich at their expense. People who died in terrible accidents at work because they were considered expendable and the machines were never allowed to stop. This production captures some of these intended messages perfectly. But in nearly all Dickens' works there are moments of great humour to lighten the darkness and in Hard Times the Slearys of the circus bring a smile or two. This film was originally made for the English syllabus in UK schools by the BBC so it may not be easy to find, but if you like your Dickens raw and honest, you should track it down.

When announced as made by 'BBC Schools', a low cost production is expected. And the sparse sets and Coketown streets are indeed very basic. But this is more than compensated for by the quality of the cast. Bob Peck and Alan Bates lead a team of superb actors, who drive the story along, and provide the character so essential to Dickens through a glance or a gesture, in what is a very stripped down and shortened version of Dickens' classic novel.

Inevitably a lot of Dickens' complexity is lost, and the effect of its abridgement leads to a rather jerky approach, with abrupt shifts of time and scene. But overall this is a great success, substituting character development for fast-moving action. It is a tribute to the BBC's commitment (ten years ago) to quality educational films.

I was very disappointed when I purchased this DVD of "Hard Times" by Dickens. I cannot recommend it as a Dickens fan and as someone who is often blessed to see mostly Andrew Davies Adaptations of classic literature for the BBC. The music is creepy like a B movie horror flick, the acting is stiff, the lighting is horrible , and it is all too obvious that the scenes were mostly filmed in badly propped studio spaces. I was especially upset that I disliked the movie since it was filled with so many of my favorite actors such as Alan Bates and Richard E Grant. The actor who played Gradgrind gave the only acceptable performance in my eyes. The only consolation was that the short story TV classic "The Signalman" (adapted by Davies!) was added to fill the end of the Disk.

A basic adaptation of 'Hard Times' is lifted above the ordinary by the impressive cast - Bob Peck as Gradgrind, Alan Bates as Bounderby, Dilys Laye as Mrs Sparsit, Richard E Grant as Harthouse, Bill Paterson as Stephen Blackpool, and Harriet Walter as Rachel.

Of course the story is somewhat compacted in a running time not much over an hour and a half, but the omissions are not that puzzling and the story is left easy to follow. The quality of the acting and the script mean that this adaptation isn't taking its young audience for granted.

Now available as part of a DVD set of Dickens' works, and well worth buying.