Bleak House [Special Edition] [3 Discs] [Blu-ray]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

A trio of orphans becomes embroiled in a mysterious and long-running lawsuit in this sprawling BBC adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel. A legend in the legal circles of Victorian London, the messy inheritance case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce has been trickling through the courts for years with no end in sight. Nobleman John Jarndyce (Denis Lawson) has seen the case destroy more than one life, so when he becomes guardian to three young people -- beautiful Ada Clare (Carey Mulligan), Ada's cousin Richard Carstone (Patrick Kennedy), and her devoted companion, Esther Summerson (Anna Maxwell Martin) -- he vows to shield them from its pernicious effects by bringing them to the safety of his estate, the eponymous Bleak House. Richard, however, becomes obsessed with the unattainable Jarndyce inheritance, to the detriment of his career and mental health. Esther, meanwhile, remains haunted by her origins; the product of a scandalous pregnancy, she was raised by her aunt and knows nothing about her dead mother's identity. Meanwhile, imperious noblewoman Lady Dedlock (Gillian Anderson) plots to hide the evidence of her own mysterious past -- a quest that leads her to the intrigue surrounding Jarndyce and Jarndyce. She is but one of dozens of characters who find themselves drawn into the lawsuit's web of corruption, blackmail, and murder. Bleak House debuted October 27, 2005, on BBC One. It received its U.S. premiere on January 22, 2006, on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre, where the 15 British episodes were combined into six longer blocks. Britain's Royal Television Society named the series Best Drama Serial of 2005. A previous adaptation of Dickens' novel ran on Masterpiece Theatre in 1985. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Number of Discs: 3
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Audio: PCM Stereo
• Features:
  • Interviews with Gillian Anderson, Denis Lawson and Charles Dance
  • Commentaries with writer Andrew Davies, producer Nigel Stafford-Clark and directors Justin Chadwick and Susanna White
  • Photo gallery

AWARDS

• Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

•     Nominated Best Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special - 2006 (June Chadwick)
•     Nominated Best Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie - 2006 (Charles Dance)
•     Nominated Best Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie - 2006 (Gillian Anderson)
•     Nominated Best Miniseries - 2006
•     Nominated Best Supporting Actor - Miniseries or Movie - 2006 (Denis Lawson)
•     Nominated Best Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special - 2006 (Andrew Davies)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Nominated Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - 2006
•     Nominated Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Ma - 2006 (Gillian Anderson)

• Producers Guild of America

•     Nominated Producer of the Year in Long Form Television - 2006 (Nigel Stafford-Clark)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Gillian Anderson - Lady Dedlock
       Patrick Kennedy - Richard Carstone
       Carey Mulligan - Ada Clare
       Nathaniel Parker - Harold Skimpole
       Sevan Stephan - Mr. Tangle
       Alistair McGowan - Mr. Kenge
       Burn Gorman - Guppy
       Alun Armstrong

• Director:

  Justin Chadwick, Susanna White

• Producer:

  Nigel Stafford-Clark

• Screenwriter:

  Andrew Davies

• Book Author:

  Charles Dickens

• Cinematographer:

  Kieran McGuigan

• Composer (Music Score):

  John Lunn

• Editor:

  Paul Knight

• Production Designer:

  Simon Elliot

• Executive Producer:

  Rebecca Eaton, Laura Mackie, Sally Haynes

• Casting:

  Kate Rhodes James

• Line Producer:

  Alison Barnett

REVIEW:

• Enlivened by top-flight British character acting and an admirably nuanced performance from Gillian Anderson, this labyrinthine Charles Dickens adaptation seems neither rushed nor overstuffed -- a major achievement considering the epic source material. Although it functions as a deconstruction of the Victorian class and legal systems, Bleak House is, above all, a compelling story. Combining elements of mystery, drama, comedy, and romance, producer Nigel Stafford-Clark weaves dozens of characters and countless interlocking subplots into a nearly seamless tapestry. Like most Victorian fiction, the original novel was serialized, and Stafford-Clark retains that structure in 15 episodes whose time constraints and cliffhanger endings lend shape to what could have been a sprawling mess. As the imperious yet conflicted Lady Dedlock, Anderson betters her previous stellar work in the Edith Wharton adaptation House of Mirth; yet she's only one light among many. The real discovery is Anna Maxwell Martin, whose turn as Esther Summerson, the moral center of the story, never devolves into a virtuous Victorian stereotype. Eight hours long, Bleak House requires a bit of an investment, but the dividends are worth it. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi