Before I read the book or saw any other adaptation, I fell in love with Hitchcock's Rebecca. I found it incredibly well made and directed with wonderful music, script and cast. I have since then read the book, and it is now one of my favourite books. The Hitchcock film was and still is one of my favourite movies, but like I try and do with all adaptations I love it on its own merits. I did enjoy the Charles Dance and Emilia Fox version mainly for Diana Rigg's Danvers, but seeing it for the first time a couple of days ago I was blown away by this mini-series. As an adaptation, it is the most faithful of the three, especially with Maxim and the fact that Rebecca is much more mysterious here than in the Dance-Fox version.
But what is also impressive about this Rebecca is how it succeeds on its own merits. Visually, it is not as Gothic as Hitchcock's but just as sumptuous and beautifully shot. The atmosphere is also very evocative and suspenseful. The score is haunting, with some inspired use of impressionist composers like Debussy, the story is faithful, compelling and doesn't feel too condensed or over-stretched and the writing is thoughtfully written. I can't praise enough the acting. Jeremy Brett is magnificent as Maxim, he is handsome with a commanding presence, he brings the darkness and angst of the character better than Laurence Olivier and Charles Dance(who I both still liked actually) and of the three he is closest age-wise to the Maxim of the book.
Joanna David had Joan Fontaine, a revelation in the Hitchcock film, to compete with, and as the second Mrs De Winter she is just as wonderful(and much more believable than her daughter Emilia Fox) shy without being too wan, plain without being too beautiful or elegant and awkward without being too confident. These may sound like negatives, but in my mind this is what the second Mrs De Winter should be like. Anna Massey, like Judith Anderson before and Diana Rigg after, is a chilling(but in a subtle way) presence, especially when she's smiling, as housekeeper Mrs Danvers. Julian Holloway doesn't quite match George Sanders' smarminess, a difficult task seeing as Sanders was a master as well as menace of that style of acting, but is still a very effective Jack Favell.
All in all, the best version, absolutely fantastic. I agree though that this should be on DVD, if there is one mini-series that does deserve it, it's this one. 10/10 Bethany Cox
But what is also impressive about this Rebecca is how it succeeds on its own merits. Visually, it is not as Gothic as Hitchcock's but just as sumptuous and beautifully shot. The atmosphere is also very evocative and suspenseful. The score is haunting, with some inspired use of impressionist composers like Debussy, the story is faithful, compelling and doesn't feel too condensed or over-stretched and the writing is thoughtfully written. I can't praise enough the acting. Jeremy Brett is magnificent as Maxim, he is handsome with a commanding presence, he brings the darkness and angst of the character better than Laurence Olivier and Charles Dance(who I both still liked actually) and of the three he is closest age-wise to the Maxim of the book.
Joanna David had Joan Fontaine, a revelation in the Hitchcock film, to compete with, and as the second Mrs De Winter she is just as wonderful(and much more believable than her daughter Emilia Fox) shy without being too wan, plain without being too beautiful or elegant and awkward without being too confident. These may sound like negatives, but in my mind this is what the second Mrs De Winter should be like. Anna Massey, like Judith Anderson before and Diana Rigg after, is a chilling(but in a subtle way) presence, especially when she's smiling, as housekeeper Mrs Danvers. Julian Holloway doesn't quite match George Sanders' smarminess, a difficult task seeing as Sanders was a master as well as menace of that style of acting, but is still a very effective Jack Favell.
All in all, the best version, absolutely fantastic. I agree though that this should be on DVD, if there is one mini-series that does deserve it, it's this one. 10/10 Bethany Cox