Customer Reviews

Anthony Trollope's The Way We Live Now [VHS]

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

How We Live Now is the 1870s novel written by Anthony Trollope (1815-1882, While Trollope is best known for his Barchester series dealing with the clergy and the Palliser series focusing on Victorian political life this novel of business and family life is considered one of his best novels (and he wrote 47!)
Mr. Melmotte is a European schemer who fleeces several prominent men to invest in a bogus railroad company. David Suchet stars in this role (best known for his Hercule Poirot
portrayal), The stout and middle aged Suchet plays Melmotte with genius and his presence is strong and memorable.
Shirley Henderson playing his abused and lovelorn daugher Marie is very well acted. Her love affair with the cad Felix
Carbury is drawn with superb depth in fine acting.
The love affair between Hettie Carbury and the engineer Paul
Montague (who has an American girfriend Winifred Hurtle who shows up to fight for her man) is very interesting as the triangle love affair is worked out during the course of the 6 hour Masterpiece miniseries.
The BBC production is sumptuous! Beautiful period costumes
and music add to the sheer enjoyment of this series!
Americans are sometimes bored because British programming
moves at a sloweer pace than many of our tv programs. They forget that these novels fulfilled the function of a soap opera as their stories were issued in monthly parts. Trollope is not as well known as George Eliot or the inimitable Dickens but any
of his novels portrayed on the screen is well worth the time to
view it.
Congratulations to the BBC and the outstanding cast of this
fine film!

The amazing David Suchet! I have read this novel twice, and never dreamed that anyone could fully, authentically play Melmotte, but after seeing a clip, I purchased this video. The actors are so perfectly cast, it is a delight to novel lovers and an inspiration to other filmmakers. It is a cast willing to open as wide as Trollope's vision. While admiring the spectacularly beautiful and talented Mr. Cillian Murphy, I must mention Shirley Henderson, who, next to Suchet, creates a character as difficult, wide-ranging, individual and authentic as one could imagine.

There are a few differences in the spirit of the book and the TV show: the book is satire, while the show is drama. Melmotte's decline, as written, is gradual, is more dramatic and less melodramatic than on screen, beginning with the Emperor's dinner party, which is a filmed as a truimph, but written as a disaster and the beginning of his fall.

I want to mention two important "compromises" to TV culture. I don't think these are "Spoilers", but use your judgement. First of all, Paul Montague did not sleep with Mrs. Hurtle. A man of his character would never have done such a thing. Secondly, Ruby Ruggles was not sleeping with Felix Carbury. It's very clear in the novel that she is naive and a "good girl".

Another "Spoiler"? I don't think so. I hope you'll read the novel, as in the book, many more people pair off and get married than are shown on screen.

I'm amazed at how many of the reviews here say "I've read the book twice". Not a compliment often extended to modern novels! If you can't face a read this long, rent it (unabridged!) on audio tape; it's a great experience. Trollope has created a world, and the BBC, given only four hours, has done a fantastic job in illuminating this often overlooked classic.

I love British period films. And am a huge fan of Matthew Macfadyen. But this film did not satisfy the hype. Every bit of detail was paid -- unfortunately making the entire film drag and leaving me wanting something... Although the story is strong, the cinematography beautiful and much of the dialogue clever, some weaknesses were hard to overcome. For example: Paul Montague's ex-fiance from America... Her southern accent is ridiculous and making her an utterly unbelievable character. Augustus Melmotte, although he reminded me of the Danny Devito's Penguine from Batman, was effectively dark and menacing. But because he is in much of the scenes, his character became strangely redundant, predictable. However, the rest of the cast was excellent. Matthew Macfadyen, as Sir Felix, was hilarious and charming as a cad. As good as this movie was, it could have been so much better had the director been more liberal with the editing... as is, it is extremely long and somewhat repetitive. But fans of period films will be forgiving and enjoy it nonetheless.

Everything about this BBC production was perfect. In particular, David Suchet shows that he can be much more than Poirot ;-). My wife and I recommend it highly.

I greatly enjoyed watching this on Masterpiece Theatre and I knew that when it came out on DVD, I would have to purchase it. It is a fantastic adaptation of Trollope's tale of the world in the 1870's where greed and corruption as well as nonsense was rampant. It was a delightful comedy that any adult, no matter the age can enjoy.

Having first read this novel in the 70s and re-read it many times since, I half expected to be disappointed by the TV version until I saw David Suchet as Melmotte. He is magnificent and Shirley Henderson (Bridget Jones' friend in the movie) is also wonderfully cast. Trollope painted a panaorama of Victorian society, warts and all, and the novel upset a lot of people when it was first published as people did not like reading the truth. I found the series very true to the characters in the novel, though a good deal was necessarily left out, as the book is very long. Anyone expecting only Austenesque charm from a period drama will probably be disappointed, but those who like more meat should love this. Some reviewer mentioned similarities with Enron, but in fact the Melmotte story could have been an uncannily spooky premonition of the Maxwell scandal in Britain in the 80s.
The performances of David Suchet and Shirley Henderson alone make this a wonderful 'watch'.

Matthew Macfadyen and David Suchet are great in this series! They are over-the-top in a wonderful, engrossing way. Definitely NOT a boring, period piece.

I have been slowly working my way through the Trollope novels, and have not yet read The Way We Live Now. If the book is even remotely similar to this production, it must be fabulous. David Suchet is wonderful, but I must admit that Shirley Henderson playing his daughter Marie steals every scene she is in. The two of them playing off each other is some of the funniest work I have seen in a very long time (the scene in which Marie is in her father's study to steal money and does a brief impersonation of him had me laughing out loud). I am embarassed to admit that my first though upon hearing her speak was "It's Moaning Myrtle from Harry Potter" (Ms. Henderson's speaking voice is somewhat unique), but that image is wiped from the viewers mind within minutes of her appearing on the screen. Because of this production, I can't wait to read the book version.

The Way We Live Now is a 2001 BBC production that is an adaptation of Anthony Trollope's novel of the same name. The story has at its center the story of Augustus Melmotte [a magnificent David Suchet], a European financier who comes to London to set up shop, accompanied by a docile wife and daughter, Marie [Shirley Henderson]. Melmotte is actually a swindler, but does such a good job of cloaking his true designs that it is not till much later that his chicanery is exposed.

Though Melmotte's story is the center of the story, there are numerous other sub-plots that keep the story fresh and intriguing - Matthew McFadyen [Mr Darcy of Pride and Prejudice 2005] plays Sir Felix Carbury, an impoverished baronet with a gambling addiction who tries to woo Marie Melmotte to get her inheritance, his sister Hetta Carbury [Paloma Baeza] plays a sensible girl who finds herself rejecting the advances of her cousin in favour of the attentions of a young engineer and railroad builder, Paul Montague [Cillian Murphy], Georgiana Longstaffe [Anne-Marie Duff] a young lady of noble birth who finds herself yearning to be married, yet lacking suitable suitors, and Mrs Hurtle [Miranda Otto] an American who comes to London hoping to rekindle her affair and regain the affections of Paul Montague.

It is indeed hard to compress Anthony Trollope's work into a 6 hour mini-series, and the series doesn't do the book justice in this aspect. But, it is nevertheless an entertaining, well-acted adaptation with a stellar cast that paints a vivid portrayal of London society in the late 19th century - characterised by greed, corruption, ambition, love, and human frailty. The attention to period detail adds a lot to one's enjoyment of the series and truly evokes the atmosphere of the times. Though I felt some of the characters lacked sufficient development -case in point being Marie Melmotte who goes from being a love-struck swooning damsel to a woman of resolve all too quickly, the story is well-told in general.

This is a series worth watching if you are an Anglophile, a fan of period dramas, or just interested in a well-told story. David Suchet's performance as the overly ambitious Melmotte alone makes it a compelling watch.

This DVD produced by non other than the BBC sticks fairly close to the book it was adapted from by Anthony Trollope. The cast was remarkable and the sets and costumes were all lavish indeed.

Short version of plot: Lady Carbury wants nothing more than to sustain her good name and in doing so, tries in vain to get her wayward son Felix , who is a cad if ever there was, to find a decent and, more importantly wealthy girl to marry. Should that plot fail, her daughter is available for the right price so to speak. There are too many sub-plots to this that are intriguing and although seemingly complicated, not hard to follow.

Overall, it was a fine adaptation although, not as finely detailed as the book . If you read the book you may find some of the casting decisions to be a bit quizzical.

It is a bit on the pricey side, so unless you are an Anthony Trollope fan, just rent it. I am not so sure that I will watch this again, although I have read the book twice.

Cheers!