Great Expectations (1946)

Charles Dickens created some of his most beloved characters in his beautifully funny novel "Great Expectations," and this film does them justice. Considered to be one of the greatest British films of all time by legendary director David Lean, this is also one of the best film adaptations of a novel that I have ever seen.

The story is very Dickensian. The young orphaned Pip is raised as a blacksmith's apprentice at the hands of his domineering aunt and his simple, but oh so lovable uncle, Joe. His fortunes change, however, when he is called upon by the mysterious and eccentric Ms. Havisham to "play", and from there he meets the lovely, if cold, Estella. As he enters adulthood he learns that he is to become a gentleman--he has great expectations--and will come into property from an unknown benefactor. This rags to riches tale shows the effects of money on someone who came from nothing as much as it tells one of the greatest of all unrequited love stories.

First and foremost we must discuss characters as each one, played with the utmost conviction and skill, blend together to balance the macabre and the sublime, the hilarious and the devastating. Firstly there is our hero, Pip. The narrator as well as the main character, Pip becomes what Dickens hated. He becomes a snob, always unhappy at his misfortune, and unwise as to his mistakes. He has a tender heart, but money has corrupted him and it takes a very peculiar revelation for him to be redeemed.

Then there is Estella, beautiful and unforgiving who was constructed without a heart. I use that verb particularly as Estella was not the result of her own doing, but rather that of Ms. Havisham's. This latter character is one of the most interesting of puzzling of all great fictional figures. A wounded heart left her bitter, almost literally stuck in time at the day when her bridegroom left her at the alter. Since then she has sought to seek her vengeance on the male sex with Estella as her cutting tool. The time spent in Satis House where she dwells like a spider is disconcerting in the most gothic way.

Also there is Herbert Pocket, endlessly nice if somewhat of a buffoon, who becomes Pip's closest companion. And of course there is Magwitch, but we shan't discuss him.

There are smaller characters (who admittedly did have much larger parts in the novel), but each of them contributed something invaluable to the plot. Mr. Jaggers, Mr. Wemmick, Joe, Biddy, and all of the rest create layer after layer of wonderful involvement in the plot, the result of which is a lovely, lovely film. I tend to think that in more modern adaptations of Dickens's work directors are too afraid to allow their actors to give it everything they've got, to risk making their characters cartoonish even though Dickens had a flair for exaggeration. There was no restraint here making every person a treat to watch.

I feel as though the writers had something of a difficult time adapting the very long novel into the brisk two-hour film as they did. That said, they were triumphant even if they did leave out some of my favorite quotes from the book. It maintained the wit of the original source while still making it pleasant to the ear. The editing was done well, in that it cut out the more unnecessary bits in order to keep the pace moving which it did splendidly.

I have but one objection to the film which I regret to say as this was a great movie. I do my best to keep books and films separate if I can--they are two different mediums and needed to be treated as such. However, since this film was such a close adaptation to the novel (which I have just finished reading not too long ago) I find it hard to maintain that distance. My one qualm comes with the ending. The final chapter of the book was one of the most touching and romantic moments of any book I've read, in which Pip and Estella sit amongst the ruins of Satis House and reach some sort of agreement between each other which is not love, but leaves hope for the future. It is set in the moonlight, it has a somber tone, it is rich and enchanting. The film completely disregarded that, instead choosing to shift back to a darker mood followed by an inexplicable swelling of joy that was almost corny. Had they stuck to what the genius had penned then I would agree that this was one of the best film adaptations of all time.

I do not wish for this last point to dissuade viewers from watching the movie. It was a greatly enjoyable film, for readers of the novel especially, but not singularly. I highly recommend it as I think it is a brilliant introduction to one of the great writers of our time.

3.5/4