I'm not familiar with the novel, so I can't say how closely the characters as they are portrayed match any cognitive template, and I've only seen about half the episodes but that's enough to instigate a comment. Paul Scofield is old Anthony Chuzzlewit, supposedly rich beyond measure, but hoarding his wealth, living in a dreary inn in London with his grandchildren and some others in attendance. Most of his friends and relatives can't wait for him to kick it so they can get their hands on his money.
Of his friends, Mr. Pecksmith is the most appalling phony. Tom Pinch, weird looking and a little dumb, may be the nicest person in the story. He provides the church with music, gratis, or, as he puts it, "I touch the organ for my own amusement." John Mills is Mr. Chuffey, the addled and devoted servant who is dotty but genuine. Keith Allen is Jason Chuzzlewit, Martin's direct descendant who hovers over the wrinkled old fellow waiting for the last breath to be drawn. Allen is a fine actor. He was a outstanding supercilious serial murderer in the BBC's "The Life and Crimes of William Palmer." Here he's openly vicious and his manners are repugnant. He always seems be sneering and eating with his mouth open, both at the same time.
Anthony Chuzzlewit himself is no prize. "Aggravation flows through his veins, not blood." He loathes the fawners and the greedy and does no more than put up with the few decent people he meets. Mercifully he passes on. Shortly after, his brother Martin shows up for a visit, also Paul Scofield but a more mellow sort of Chuzzlewit, concerned not just about himself and his body sheath but about the happiness of others. That's about as far as I've gotten so far.
Here, as in so many other BBC series, no one can help being impressed by the direction, the acting, and the production values on display. It's a magnificent effort. London never looked quite so crummy and oily, nor its citizens so ragged. The older attempts to put Dickens on celluloid, the ones from Hollywood, were all filmed in sunny California and the cheery settings shed a different light on the proceedings. Lean's two shots at Dickens were more realistic but not as muddy and dark as this series. (Insert favorite vulgar imprecation here), it's depressing!
No wonder one of the younger characters takes off to make his fortune in America -- all that Hollywood sunshine. Actually Dickens himself made a trip to the States and had a chat with Edgar Allan Poe. One can only imagine what they had to talk about. One's demons were psychological, the other's social.
I'm happy when a classic English novel is given a proper miniseries treatment instead of being pruned down to two hours or so. But it generates problems too. There are half a dozen narrative threads that need to be followed. I had a hell of a time with Jason Chuzzlewit's courtship of one or another of the two sinister sisters, for instance. (He switches his pursuit at the last minute.) And at six or so hours of screen time, divided into many episodes, it's sometimes a little hard to keep the threads and the characters straight, to separate the warp from the woof. It must have been even more difficult when the episodes were originally presented on different nights. These multi-charactered plots represent one of the few instances in which recognizable faces, faces of popular actors, help us follow the goings on.
Of his friends, Mr. Pecksmith is the most appalling phony. Tom Pinch, weird looking and a little dumb, may be the nicest person in the story. He provides the church with music, gratis, or, as he puts it, "I touch the organ for my own amusement." John Mills is Mr. Chuffey, the addled and devoted servant who is dotty but genuine. Keith Allen is Jason Chuzzlewit, Martin's direct descendant who hovers over the wrinkled old fellow waiting for the last breath to be drawn. Allen is a fine actor. He was a outstanding supercilious serial murderer in the BBC's "The Life and Crimes of William Palmer." Here he's openly vicious and his manners are repugnant. He always seems be sneering and eating with his mouth open, both at the same time.
Anthony Chuzzlewit himself is no prize. "Aggravation flows through his veins, not blood." He loathes the fawners and the greedy and does no more than put up with the few decent people he meets. Mercifully he passes on. Shortly after, his brother Martin shows up for a visit, also Paul Scofield but a more mellow sort of Chuzzlewit, concerned not just about himself and his body sheath but about the happiness of others. That's about as far as I've gotten so far.
Here, as in so many other BBC series, no one can help being impressed by the direction, the acting, and the production values on display. It's a magnificent effort. London never looked quite so crummy and oily, nor its citizens so ragged. The older attempts to put Dickens on celluloid, the ones from Hollywood, were all filmed in sunny California and the cheery settings shed a different light on the proceedings. Lean's two shots at Dickens were more realistic but not as muddy and dark as this series. (Insert favorite vulgar imprecation here), it's depressing!
No wonder one of the younger characters takes off to make his fortune in America -- all that Hollywood sunshine. Actually Dickens himself made a trip to the States and had a chat with Edgar Allan Poe. One can only imagine what they had to talk about. One's demons were psychological, the other's social.
I'm happy when a classic English novel is given a proper miniseries treatment instead of being pruned down to two hours or so. But it generates problems too. There are half a dozen narrative threads that need to be followed. I had a hell of a time with Jason Chuzzlewit's courtship of one or another of the two sinister sisters, for instance. (He switches his pursuit at the last minute.) And at six or so hours of screen time, divided into many episodes, it's sometimes a little hard to keep the threads and the characters straight, to separate the warp from the woof. It must have been even more difficult when the episodes were originally presented on different nights. These multi-charactered plots represent one of the few instances in which recognizable faces, faces of popular actors, help us follow the goings on.