Customer Reviews

The Old Curiosity Shop

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The product description above should read, "VERY, VERY LOOSELY based on Dickens' classic novel." Almost everything about this production is wrong and the screenwriter and director should be ashamed of themselves; they have done a terrible disservice to those of us who love the novel and to those who have not yet read it and will mistakenly believe that this DVD tells its story. The worst crime commited by those involved in this travesty is the creation of a "happy ending" to make our hearts ache a little less. What idiotic rubbish! Please, spend your money on a copy of the book, read it, and cry your eyes out; as Dickens intended you to do.

I loved the new version -- except I feel that they cut way too much material. I'm guessing BBC concentrates on one major period drama in a given year, and remakes several other "short" versions of other works. Case in point: Jane Austen's works done in 2008: 1 substantial (Sense & Sensibility) and other very lacking works (Mansfield Park, etc.). That's too bad.

I am a huge fan of Charles Dickens, but this is not one of my favorite novels of his. This adaptation is beautifully filmed and the acting is good; however, this is one of Dickens' darker tales with an honest look at human frailties and an unhappy ending.

I have not read the Dickens original but I suspect that this is not a very satisfactory dramatization. Parts seem to go very slowly and other parts seem rushed. The story also is rather humdrum Dickens: incredibly angelic people and utterly despicable ones. The baddies come to a bad end, and usually the sweet and innocent ones find happiness at the end. In this case, Little Nell, who is sweetness itself, dies, so there is an unexpected twist there. The actress who plays her suffers from the "BBC affliction": she doesn't speak words much of the time but makes little mousy noises to show how sweet and demure she is. As a result you need to subtitles to know what she is saying. Happily, there are subtitles without which much of the DVD would not be intelligible. I like Dickens, but I got bored watching this one third of the way through and hurried through the subsequent scenes to get to the end. I may go back when I muster the patience to do so and watch it all the way through.

Fast Shipping, Took 3 days from time of purchase. I love a bunch of Dickens movies, but this is in the top five with Little Dorrit, Oliver Twist, and David Copperfield. All of the aforementioned movies were produced by the BBC within the past 10 years. Although, many of them were made in the 70's and 80's as well. The new versions show so much historical accuracy. If it weren't for the terrible medical care available and the pollution in the air from coal fires, I would love to live in 19th century England, maybe not London though. I wish Americans would start to speak the way they did in those days.

I would recommend this movie to anyone that loves this time period in England. The historical accuracy makes you feel like you are actually in this time period. Just light a bunch of candles, start a fire in the fireplace, and there you go.

My husband and I did not think this particular version of "The Old Curiosity Shop" was too worthwhile. The film was dark and hard to see and some of the acting was not to our liking. Just our opinion.

I do love Charles Dickens. I think he was a genius, a remarkable writer. However, This story is so very sad. It does show the period and the poverty in 19th century England but it ends so sadly. It is a good movie but is very sad.

Let me first say I am a fan of Dickens and a fan of BBC productions like this. Although I haven't read The Old Curiosity Shop, this DVD version was enough to convince me to skip the book. Even compared to other Dickens' works, the story here is overly dark, morbid and depressing. As for the production, the cinematography was fine as well as the casting. Unfortunately, there was not enough character development to make me care or sympathize with the main characters as they experienced tragedy after tragedy at the hands of a very creepy villain. The end came as a relief. Recommend you skip this one--maybe the book was better.

ITV's new adaptation of "The Old Curiosity Shop" centers on the heroine Nell Trent living with her grandfather. They are forced to flee his Old Curiosity Shop, however, when the gambling grandfather (who thinks he is doing that for her loving granddaughter) is heavily in debt to Daniel Quilp, who, it is suggested, wants not just the shop, but something else. While Quilp chases them, a mysterious lodger at the attorney Samson Brass's is also looking for the missing daughter.

Considering the meandering nature of the storytelling in Victorian novels, "The Old Curiosity Shop" (2007) is surprisingly faithful to the original book of Charles Dickens (published in book form in 1841). That is a good thing, to be sure, but there is something missing in the new adaptation, something like sense of humor.

Sophie Vavasseur ("Becoming Jane") plays the heroine Nell Trent (or "Little Nell") though she seems much older than she should be. Almost adult, I would say, which makes her suffering less poignant. Toby Jones ("Infamous") as Daniel Quilp is not very convincing, either, compared with Tom Courtenay in the 1995 adaptation. He makes the role too serious, and his turn as the "villain" lacks the Dickensian humor, which is essential to some of the comic scenes of the novel, including the famous line about his "Aquiline" nose.

Supporting actors fare much better. Adam Godley as Sampson Brass, Zoë Wanamaker as Mrs. Jarley and Charlene McKenna as "The Marchioness" are all very good, giving subtle nuances to roles that could easily become caricatures. The production designs and the photography are all respectable.

This is not a bad adaptation, but I am not still sure why they had to make another film based on this book.

(According to IMDb, the film's running time is 120 minutes, but my DVD copy from BBC America says its feature length is "approximately 93 minutes.")

The other 1994-version (4-stars) with Peter Ustinov as the grandfather is more lively. The villain in the 1994-version steals the show. You hate the villain, he annoys you, he reminds you of someone you know, and he is hot on the trail of Nell and her grandfather. You do not like the villain in this version either, but you are not yelling at the TV, and you do not feel his pursuit.

Each version has something the other versions are missing. This version does a better job with Mr. Swiveller and the little maid.

I am comparing this 2007-version to the 1994-version. Compared to TV today, this version is 3 or 4 stars. If you have not seen the 1994-version; you will probably like this OK.

I would take the characters and plot and re-write a moral to the story in any version and the book, re-write Nell and her grandfather just a little for a feel-good story. "Oliver Twist", "David Copperfield", and "A Christmas Carol" are perfect. This story has colorful-characters and promising-plot that needs to be changed just a little. You cannot re-write the Bible, but, as great as Dickens was; you can re-write Dickens. This story needed a little something. I go into more detail in my 4-star review of the other, 1994-version, under the comment-button there.

This version is better than the 1979-version. (I have seen all three versions).