Vanity Fair

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Adaptation of the Novel
Review: Vanity Fair is one of my favorite Victorian novels. This video is well adapted and well acted. It is slightly marred by the instrumental music, which not only seems later than early 19th century, but cacophonous. Rebecca Sharp was supposed to have been an excellent amateur pianist and singer, an important part of her charm. However, most of her vocals sound like husky, breathy 1940s cafe music.

Rating:
Summary: Nailed the spirit of the novel....
Review: Very Fine adaptation of Thackeray's work. Natasha
Little is a skilled actress who will be a force to be
reckoned with in years to come... Be prepared for the
dark undertones that are also present in the novel...
The only adaptation that tops it (by a slim margin)
is a mid 1980s miniseries produced by the CBC that was
shown here in the U S on PBS and/or A&E. British
Actress Eve Matheson accomplished the same flawless
performance that Little gave with her own take on
Becky Sharp....The opportunity to compare the two
may not be realized for many, as the Vanity Fair
film featuring Matheson is out of print and extremely
difficult to find...

Rating:
Summary: Vulgar!!
Review: Vulgar is the only word that completely describes this film. I have never been so sickend by a period movie. The first shot of the movie shows a woman picking her nose. It does not get any better later in the film. The music is hidious also. Don't bother!

Rating:
Summary: Terrible version
Review: What can I say? Being a great fan of BBC and A&E period dramas, after buying Vanity Fair, I was truly dissapointed. I don't know who was in charge of the casting, but I think it was all the out of work actors thrown together and an ugly bunch you couldn't relate to. The music score was totally innapropiate. I found it to be more of a second rate B movie and would highly recommend that nobody purchase this disastrous production. But on the BBC's behalf I have to recommend as a must for your collection Berkley Square, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Wives & Daughters and Tess of D'Urbervilles. Now these are first class movies, brilliantly cast and excellent performances.

Rating:
Summary: Falls short of the BBC reputation
Review: William Thackeray's classic novel about the opportunistic Becky Sharp (Natasha Little) and her climb toward social prominence receives the BBC treatment but fails to become more than an interesting, well-acted soap opera. The entire production seems curiously flat and misses many opportunities to comment upon the parade of human vanity on display here that lends the work its title. Becky's final actions in the last moments of the drama appear to conflict with the personality that has been established for her over the course of more than five hours. Still, it is an enjoyable production and the cast acquits itself well.