Daniel Deronda

The title gave me no clue to the absorbing romantic Victorian drama that was to follow. Said to be George Eliot's last great novel, it exposes in no uncertain manner the pitiful life of the Victorian woman, hardly more than an obedient slave and forced to respond to her husband's demands.

Hugh Bonneville stands out among the excellent cast as the nasty Henleigh Grandcourt who revels in watching women squirm under his aristocratic power and Romola Garai is perfect as Gwendolen who marries him, not for love, but to save her family from economic ruin.

Hugh Dancy in the title role of Daniel has immediate appeal with his handsome good looks touched with both shyness and sadness as he ponders over his past life and the unsolved mystery of his mother's identity.

After Daniel saves a woman from drowning in a river, the story takes an unexpected turn and concentrates on the Jewish problem of a permanent homeland. Daniel is much attracted to the woman he has saved and through his efforts to help her some mysteries of his own life are revealed to him.

The sets, costumes and photography capture exquisitely life in England in the Victorian era. Quite apart from the romantic drama, there is much to ponder over in this story. Thankfully to-day women have gained a degree of independence, though not entirely, and the Jews are still uncertain about the boundaries of their homeland.

I can recommend this film which is in 4 parts. Set aside a full evening to watch the story unfold. It's quite long (205 minutes) but a brilliant production.

I'm watching the British series Daniel Deronda every week on Swedish tv, and I will recommned it to everyone who fancies quality literary adaptations. The production values are impeccable, and the acting list very impressive. The one to catch your attention, though, is without a doubt Hugh Bonneville as the supervillain Grandcourt. He's everything a good oldfashioned villain from the 19.th century ought to be: suave, cool, arrogant, manipulative, morally corrupt, and with a razor sharp wit. In fact, he totally overshadows the meek and handsome, but oh so noble and earnest hero, poor Daniel Deronda! Hugh Dancy does his best, but it's hard work to make Deronda as interesting as Grandcourt! Likewise with the heroine. Romola Garai is beautiful to look at, but it's difficult to really care about Gwendolyn. She's such a silly, whiny, and cold person who would rather marry a man she dislikes than stoop to be a governess! It made me long to give her a good whipping! All in all, I think she and Deronda deserve each other, for being so awfully colourless and boring. I'd much rather spend the time watching the villain smirk, or wonder about miss Lapidoth's strange fate, among the Jews. As usual, being the villain pays off! Hugh Bonneville and David Bamber as Lush are the characters you remember! They really are perfectly selfish and dastardly mean!

This was one of the more exquisite costume drama adaptations I have seen, with attention to detail absolutely striking in an archery scene that sets the bar for the entire series. Like the novel, it is polarizing in its two stories in one - people seem to either love/hate Daniel's plight or love/hate Gwendolyn's.

Personally, I found Gwendolyn equally annoying in both novel and film. Hugh Darcy, as the eponymous hero, was pretty to look at and delivers a fine, if unremarkable, performance.

But it is Hugh Bonneville as the dastardly Henleigh Grandcourt who took my breath away! He is flawlessly reprehensible, stealing every scene he was in and when he wasn't in a scene, I couldn't wait to see him again! It was terrific seeing Hugh Bonneville in such a role, as he's usually cast in the "very nice guy" roles (Bridget Jones Diary, Iris, Tipping the Velvet, etc). Although he's fine in such roles, as Grandcourt he made my skin crawl with his morally bankrupt, wealthy and pugnacious swagger. LOVED him!

What this series could have used more of was Jodhi May and Greta Scacchi. In difficult supporting roles, both women shine as, respectively, a searching, haunted Jewess and a scorned, bitter mistress. Barbara Hershey makes an appearance late in the series in a pivotal plot device that I won't reveal lest some unsuspecting viewer be bitter with me, and in a limited role gives a performance that reminds us why she became famous in the first place (and at least for this viewer, made me forgive her 'Beaches').

Overall, this adaptation is very enjoyable and recommended viewing for fans of the genre.

George Eliot was a truly excellent writer, but 'Daniel Deronda' was perhaps not her best work. This may go some way to mitigating the rather average results that emerge from this adaptation. Intended to be an insightful and complex tale of love, greed, selfishness, prejudice, maturity, and self-knowledge, the film (like the novel) proceeds more like two almost-unconnected stories, neither of which is wildly interesting.

Tying the two plots together is Daniel Deronda, played by Hugh Dancy. Dancy walks his way through, somehow making most of his lines seem redundant. To be fair, acting out a novel that uses extensive narration and introspection can't be easy, but a more experienced actor might have been a better choice to tackle such a tough job. The character of Daniel is a young man on the path of self-discovery, with detours along the way for a bit of romance and a little aimlessness. His relationships with two women form the fabric of the story.

The first tale revolves around the young, pretty, and petty Gwendolen Harleth. Played well, if not spectacularly, by the radiant Romola Garai, she is impetuous and selfish (though usually without intent), thinking that she is and must be the centre of attention. Garai plays her as someone who thinks that she has mastered the world around her, but is in fact nothing more than an indulged child. When her family is virtually ruined financially, she must choose between making a loveless marriage to maintain her high living, or quiet penury in the country. Naturally, she chooses the former. However, what she does not realise is that her suitor, Henleigh Grandcourt, is actually a cold, calculating sadist whose only interest in her is as an item of torment. Grandcourt is played by Hugh Bonneville, the one real stand-out in the production. Bonneville delivers an excellent performance as the deceptive, thoroughly wicked abuser. His Grandcourt is a flint-hearted reptile who first tricks Gwendolen with false kindness and then, when he has her in his grasp, begins to crush her with his cruelty.

Plot two centres on Daniel's relationship with Mirah Lapidoth, a Jewish singer whom he saves from a suicide attempt. Mirah is played by Jodhi May, who is actually rather flat in her delivery. May seems to go in for the "hushed whisper" technique quiet a bit. I suspect the idea was to portray Mirah as a sensitive, troubled woman, but in the end she just seems dull and high-strung. Her search for (and eventual reunion with) her family draws Daniel down a path that he would probably not otherwise have visited, and it has a significant impact on his life.

Good supporting work shores things up a bit, though the screen time is limited. The first comes from Edward Fox as Sir Hugo, Daniel's benefactor, a kindly old man of great wealth who acts as a sort of father to him. The always-excellent Greta Scacchi, looking strikingly haggard in character, is a ghost from Grandcourt's past who comes back to haunt his new bride.

I rate it 6/10.

If you're familiar with George Eliot and have read her books, you'll most likely enjoy this adaptation.

But if you're a George Eliot purist, you may be dismayed by the film's romanticization of Daniel & Gwendolyn's relationship. I personally was okay with it and found it a forgivable artistic liberty, as it was handled delicately and tastefully and did not detract from the heart of the story. In fact, I liked the adapted screenplay for its restraint.

If you're a Jane Austen fan but not familiar with Eliot's work, you might find this story lacking in wit compared to Austen's stories, or just too glum. But George Eliot herself was a very different woman from Austen. The Jewish subplot--something that is also present in Eliot's more famous 'Middlemarch'--is enough to make the two authors different, but the sociopolitical depth and soberness of Eliot's work also sets them apart.

The casting was terrific all around (including the magnificently aging Greta Scacchi), and the costumes & scenery were perfect.

~NN