Bleak House Reviews

Sprawling, like most works based upon Charles Dickens, but completely enthralling, Bleak House is yet another great adaptation from BBC. Who knew that a tale of inheritance, mysterious lineage, murder, and a smallpox scare could be so engrossing?

 

This could have easily drifted towards glossy, handsome but incredibly dull stuff, but it’s not. Praise be to Andrew Davies script and the direction from Susanna White and Justin Chadwick for keeping this thing moving. And for being roughly eight hours, or so, it really does roll along with a fluid pace. No moments of dead weight or wheel-spinning.

 

There’s a large amount of characters to introduce, and there isn’t a bad performance in the bunch. Granted, there’s only a handful of characters that recur, and they’re performed brilliantly. Anna Maxwell Martin anchors the entire thing as Esther Summerson, an orphan with questionable paternal lineage. Carey Mulligan and Patrick Kennedy are the lovers embroiled in the inheritance lawsuit that occupies so much of the film. Kennedy makes the obsession believable, even as that particular plot line wears a bit as the series wraps.

 

But if the series belong to anyone, it’s Gillian Anderson as the dark, mysterious Lady Honoria Dedlock. Her eventual reveal is slightly obvious, but Anderson sells her material with the élan of an actress who knows her strengths and what a great part this is. Her bored intonations in her first appearance linger long after the final episode ends.

 

Consider me a sucker for a well-made mini-series from the BBC, and I am frankly, but this is definitely one of the better ones I’ve watched in some time. The cast is fantastic from the top down, the writing is solid moving through years, characters, and numerous subplots with consummate skill, and the whole thing is so vastly captivating and entertaining. 

Dickens wrote a (little known) masterpiece here, and it has been extremely well adapted by the BBC.
In brief, Bleak House is a tale about the injustices of the nineteenth century British legal system.

It is my opinion that Gillian Anderson is the only actress whose performance is not remarkably good. Everyone else is excellent, and puts on credible performances.
The costumes, the sets, the photography - everything is of a top notch quality.
Although the series' episodes are quite slow at first, each episode is worth watching entirely, if only to see how the story develops up to the very end.

If you enjoy period movies and television series, this should definitely be on your list to watch, if you haven't already.

This mini-series has the twin advantages of being one of Dickens’s best novels and being an extremely well made piece of drama. As proof of this it won 5 BAFTAs and received a further 7 nominations.

Anyone who likes a good period drama should watch this; similarly anyone who likes Dickens can't afford not to see it. The storyline follows the corruption of all those fighting to prove their right to the massive inheritance of deceased gentleman Mr Jarndyce.

I have seen my fair share of Dickens adaptations and this is definately one of, if not the best...and very close to the actual story as well.

Very few people will argue with the fact that Charles Dicken's is one of the greatest writers of all time, this adaptation of 'Bleak House' will give people the opportunity to experience the legendary yarn, even if they cannot be bothered to read the book.

Keep an eye out for a particularly good performance of Mrs Dedlock by Gillian Anderson.