13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"A Monstrous Regiment of Women", July 4, 2002
This review is from: Dorothy L. Sayers Mysteries - Gaudy Night (The Lord Peter Wimsey-Harriet Vane Collection) (DVD)
This BBC presentation is based on the third novel in the Wimsey/Vane series. Harriet, motivated by her memories of Oxford as an escape from worldly concerns (such as her involvement in two murders and persistent proposals from Lord Peter), attends a student reunion or gaudy night. In the course of this she allows herself to be drawn into the mystery of a poison pen writer who has crossed too far into the realms of bad taste and threats. Gradually she realizes that the matter is getting out of hand, and turns again to Wimsey for help and guidance.
There is no question but that the saboteur intends harm to Shrewsbury College itself, as well as the dons and students who are part of it. Ugly notes escalate to burnt effigies, and finally to attacks on properties and persons. Everyone, from Senior Common Room to the least student is under suspicion.
Harriet must labor under the triple complications of the crimes themselves, a mixed reception from the dons of Shrewsbury, and the ever-increasing complexity of her relationship with Lord Peter. This latter is the reason for Sayers decision to gradually shift the focus of these three novels from Lord Peter (in 'Strong Poison') to Harriet Vane. In the book, lesser characters appear more often than Wimsey does as the narrative focuses in on a woman who is struggling to find herself and who fears being overwhelmed by what Peter has to offer.
'Gaudy Night' has the best acting of the three BBC presentations, and the most interesting setting, the only women's college at Oxford. It is easy to fall into the plot and enjoy the intellectual byplay among the characters. Unfortunately, this production shares the same fault as its companion efforts, only this time it is much worse. Whereas before the director (Christopher Hodson) limited his deviations from the novels to providing romantic segues from video to video, this time he had made significant deviations from the novel in order to overemphasize the relationship between Harriet and Wimsey.
I hate to get up on a soapbox, but Dorothy Sayers had very good reasons for writing these books as she did. Harriet Vane is an intelligent, determined woman, who is facing one of the dilemmas of her times, how to be an independent woman and in love at the same time. In her society, precious few roles were available that permitted both behaviors. Thus, the primary subtext of 'Gaudy Night is the nature of these roles. But Hodson underplays this, and even goes so far as to create scenes in order to expand Wimsey's role, and thus weaken Harriet Vane's. Having read the book several times, I found this both distracting and irritating.
Had I not read 'Gaudy Night' I would have found the screenplay very satisfying. With nearly seventy years between the book's writing and the present day, the number of Sayers readers has dwindled with time. Hopefully, the availability of the BBC productions will reverse that trend and more people will discover the works of one of the English languages most remarkable mystery writes.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
As My Whimsy Takes Me, May 27, 2002
This review is from: Dorothy L. Sayers Mysteries - Gaudy Night (The Lord Peter Wimsey-Harriet Vane Collection) (DVD)
I never thought I'd see this series again, but miracle of miracles, The Powers That Be have released it and on DVD, no less! I first saw these episodes on PBS in the late eighties when I was entering junior high school. I've been watching those Friday night mystery programs on PBS for as long as I can remember, and no one can top these three adaptations of Dorothy L. Sayer's three most popular Wimsey novels: Strong Poison, Have His Carcass, and Gaudy Night. Absolutely brilliant performances by Edward Petherbridge as my quintessential Lord Peter and Harriet Walter as Harriet Vane. I hope that now this much-loved series will receive the long-awaited praise and recognition it richly deserves.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A Deep Disappointment, May 7, 2004
This review is from: Dorothy L. Sayers Mysteries - Gaudy Night (The Lord Peter Wimsey-Harriet Vane Collection) (DVD)
Gaudy Night has long been my favorite Lord Peter Wimsey--or perhaps I should say, Harriet Vane detective story. There's no doubt Sayers recreated Oxford lovingly and with extreme vividness. Harriet Vane fully comes into her own in this story. The TV adaptation, however, is truncated, simplified almost beyond recognition. The various characters are cardboard stereotypes. The deepening relationship between Wimsey and Harriet is reduced to cliches. Why in the world were 4 episodes lavished on a much lesser story, "Have His Carcase" and only three on "Gaudy Night". This version simply doesn't do the original story justice at all.
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