"Vanity Fair" (1998) (mini)TV mini-series

Regisseur:

Marc Munden

Drehbuchautoren:

Andrew Davies (writer)
William Makepeace Thackeray (novel)
(mehr)

Premierendatum:

24. Oktober 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Piano | Social Class | Rags To Riches | England | Estate

Filmpreise:

5 wins & 8 nominations

Nutzerkommentare:

Almost perfect ! Delightful.

Besetzung

Danielle Hawley	...	Little Becky Sharp
Paul Brightwell	...	Sharp
Natasha Little	...	Becky Sharp
Sara Powell	...	Miss Swartz
Frances Grey	...	Amelia Sedley
Pat Keen	...	Miss Pinkerton
Charlotte West-Oram	...	Jemima Pinkerton
Felix Dexter	...	Samuel
Michele Dotrice	...	Mrs Sedley
Carol Ann Crawford	...	Mrs Blenkinsop
Dean Bardini	...	Sedley's Footman
Jeremy Swift	...	Jos Sedley
David Ross	...	Mr Sedley
Tom Ward	...	George Osborne
Philip Glenister	...	William Dobbin
David Bradley	...	Sir Pitt Crawley
Patsy Rowlands	...	Mrs Tinker
Stephen Frost	...	Bute Crawley
Janine Duvitski	...	Mrs Bute Crawley
John Surman	...	Horrocks
Joanna Scanlan	...	Lady Crawley
Casey O'Connor	...	Little Violet
Zoe Chester	...	Little Rose
Anton Lesser	...	Mr Pitt Crawley
Miriam Margolyes	...	Miss Crawley
Nathaniel Parker	...	Rawdon Crawley
Daniel Hart	...	Ensign Stubble
Martin Hodgson	...	Ensign Spooney
Paddy Ward	...	Colonel Heavytop
Martin Wimbush	...	Jewellery Proprietor
Abigail Thaw	...	Jane Osborne
Tim Woodward	...	Mr. John Osborne
Janet Dale	...	Miss Briggs
Bryan Pringle	...	Raggles
Bill Thomas	...	Mr. Chopper
John Dallimore	...	Mr. Quill
Jeff Nuttall	...	Auctioneer
Linal Haft	...	Moss
Aedin Moloney	...	Molly
John Bett	...	Dr. Clump
Peter Kelly	...	Dr. Squills
John Leeson	...	Priest
Paul Bigley	...	Isidor
Frances Tomelty	...	Mrs. O'Dowd
Mark Lambert	...	Major O'Dowd
Mark Lewis	...	Captain Magenis
Jane Bertish	...	Mrs. Magenis
Eleanor Bron	...	Lady Bareacres
Sarah Crowden	...	Lady Blanche
Graham Crowden	...	Lord Bareacres
Windsor Davies	...	General Tufto
Sarah Ford	...	La Bonne
Angela Curran	...	Lady Bareacres' Maid
Caroline Olsson	...	French Maid
JB Blanc	...	Hussar (as Jean-Benoit Blanc)
Sylvestra Le Touzel	...	Lady Jane Crawley
Vicki Pepperdine	...	Ann Dobbin
Gerard Murphy	...	Lord Steyne
Crispin Letts	...	Fitzpugh
Hugh Simon	...	Firebrace
Robert Cole	...	Little Rawdon
Zohren Weiss	...	Little Georgey
Nick Dunning	...	Wenham
Pom Boyd	...	Glorvina O'Dowd
Roger Ashton-Griffiths	...	King George IV
Sian Thomas	...	Lady Steyne
Maurice Roëves	...	Captain MacMurdo
Rupert Vansittart	...	Smith
Mike Burnside	...	Brown
Richard Braine	...	Reverend Binney
Karl Johnson	...	Major Loder
Anthony Donovan	...	Baths Attendant
übrige Besetzung in alphabetischer Reihenfolge:
Robert Cole	...	Little Rawdon
Caroline Lena Olsson	...	French Maid

Regie
Marc Munden

Buch (In alphabetischer Reihenfolge)
Andrew Davies		writer
William Makepeace Thackeray		novel
William Makepeace Thackeray		story

Produktion
Delia Fine	....	executive producer: A&E Network
Suzan Harrison	....	executive producer
Gillian McNeill	....	producer
Nigel Taylor	....	associate producer
Michael Wearing	....	executive producer

Originalmusik
Murray Gold

Kamera
Oliver Curtis

Schnitt
William Diver		(as Bill Diver)

Casting
Jill Trevellick

Szenenbild
Malcolm Thornton

Bauten/Dekorationsbau (art directors)
Stevie Herbert

Kostüme
Rosalind Ebbutt

Maske/Frisuren
Christine Walmesley-Cotham	....	hair designer
Christine Walmesley-Cotham	....	makeup designer

Regieassistenten
Raoul Bolognini	....	third assistant director
Richard Burrell	....	first assistant director
Colin Wratten	....	second assistant director

Ausstattung (Stab)
Gill Farr	....	production buyer

Ton Stab
Tim Alban	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jens Christensen	....	adr recordist
Felicity Cottrell	....	foley artist
Paul Davies	....	supervising sound editor
Bernard O'Reilly	....	dialogue editor
Sandra Roth	....	foley editor
Jack Stew	....	foley artist
Bruce Wills	....	sound mixer

Stunts
Rowley Irlam	....	stunt double
Stuart St. Paul	....	stunt coordinator

Kamera und Elektrik (Stab)
Terry Hunt	....	gaffer
Tim Potter	....	focus puller
Hilda Sealy	....	clapper loader

Kostüm und Garderobe (Stab)
Lee Clayton	....	costume cutter
Lee Clayton	....	tailor
Amanda Keable	....	assistant costume designer

Schnitt (Stab)
Chris Reynolds	....	on-line editor

Musik (Stab)
Steve Parr	....	music mixer
Steve Parr	....	music recordist
Steve Parr	....	score recordist

Restlicher Stab
Simon Bird	....	location manager
Charles Bodycomb	....	armorer
Emma Pill	....	location manager

Produktionsfirmen

• A&E Television Networks
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Verleihfirmen

• A&E Television Networks (USA)
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Weitere Firmen

• ARRI Lighting Rental  lighting equipment
• Wood Hall Catering  catering

Länge:

50 Min (6 episodes)

Produktionsland:

UK | USA

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Farbe

Tonverfahren:

Stereo

Altersfreigabe:

Singapore:PG | UK:PG | USA:Not Rated

Drehorte:

Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, UK

Firma:

A&E Television Networks

Dies und das:

The green striped gown with velvet Spencer jacket Vicki Pepperdine (Ann Dobbin) wears in the park is the same costume previously worn by Anna Chancellor (Caroline Bingley) at Netherfield Hall in "Pride and Prejudice" (1995) (mini).

Dialogzitate:

Rawdon Crawley: You don't mind the smell of my cigar, I hope?
Becky Sharp: No, I love it. I wonder if I might...
Rawdon Crawley: Yes?
Becky Sharp: You... wouldn't tell?
Rawdon Crawley: What, me? No! Never, damn it! ...Ah, what?

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Neufassung von Vanity Fair (1922)

Soundtrack:

Savez-vous Planter Les Chous?

Almost perfect ! Delightful.

This is brisk, fun production that doesn't take itself any more seriously than it should, and doesn't mind winking at us with a secret smile at the same time. The story of Becky Sharp, a girl who is never any better than she needs to be, and her friend Amelia who is much too good for her own good.

Natasha Little is simply perfect as Becky. Little is the kind of woman that women find hard to like: delicately beautiful, exceptionally talented – making her perfect to play Becky. It is the subtle nuances in her moments that give her performance great depth and complexity – needed for accessibility for a selfish character who is the smartest person in any room she is in. Becky is a woman who would agree with the quote of another brilliant beauty, Hedy Lamar: "Any woman can be glamorous. All she has to do is stand still and look stupid." Little's Beky is not as likable or vulnerable as Reese Witherspoon – who played Becky in a major motion picture film version made right around the same time – but with a miniseries we have time to understand her more. Besides, not many actresses are as likable as Witherspoon.

As the story begins, this production does not look lavish, but the casting is so wonderful, the script so strong, the costumes simple but just right, that we are given the ability to focus on getting to know the people we will be following through 6 episodes.

It is this initial simplicity that is the brilliance of the production design by Malcolm Thornton. In the early stages, poverty is cramped and messy; work is dark, cluttered and rotting, and wealth is clean, and bright and airy… like freedom. As we progress through the story, wealth becomes more complex, overstuffed and overdecorated, echoing the complexity of the lives of Becky and Rawdon. Rawdon played by the handsome and overwhelmingly talented Nathaniel Parker (INSPECTOR LINLEY, BLEAK HOUSE).

Breathtaking Andrew Davies, possibly the most brilliant adapter of the classics of all time, gifts us with a screenplay of grace and subtlety, weaving the ease of modern speech perfectly into the period action in a way that feels classic, but is totally accessible.

It all bounces along to the ohm-pa-pa of a brass band. This band is one of the anachronistic touches of the production. While it passes as a military band, it also has a the raw, slightly under-rehearsed sound of a New Orleans jazz band, and sometimes a 1940s dance hall… meanwhile Becky's musical choices are straight from the pub… to the delight of the men around her. The band is really the only downfall of the production, in the moments of great serious importance, the band hits us over the head with a blaringly repetitive theme that gets very annoying after 6 episodes. It is the only "wrong note" in an otherwise witty and wise score. One of the nice subtle touches is that even Becky's singing, which at first seems flawless and delightful, begins to sound a bit flat in the episodes where we see dark results of her behavior on those around her.

The music for Amelia and William is completely different. Plaintive melodies played as quietly as loyalty and love that things only of the good of the beloved. Philip Glenister as William carries the heart of the piece with affecting restraint. Miriam Margoles does her best work EVER here, and Jeremy Swift as Jos is absolutely delightful in every moment he is on screen!

This entire miniseries is just marvelous, aspects of the production in tune with each other, in service to the whole piece. FANTASTIC.