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By FRANK BEHRENS
Some readers might have very
warm recollections of the 1967 black and white BBC
miniseries (telecast,, I believe, before the term
was coined) that brought to life in 26 episodes
and 21 hours all six of the nine novels written by
John Galsworthy under the super title "The Forsyte
Saga." Few video adaptations quite as good were to
come again -- until "The Pallisers" attracted
millions, and both would be very difficult to
improve upon. Well, Granada has tried with what
might be an 18-part remake of the Galsworthy saga;
and the first series of 6 is available on three
DVDs from Acorn Media.
Taken on its own terms, it is extremely good --
but not perfect -- and had me and my wife pretty
well riveted to the screen on three successive
evenings. It did not, however, erase fond memories
of the earlier version. Now the 1967 version was
"studio-bound, with static camera work, long
scenes and long speeches" (as the press release
puts it). What the release leaves out was superb
acting by established stars and by newcomer Susan
Hampshire whose Fleur made her a star.
For example, Eric Porter made Soames a sympathetic
human who hurt himself more than he hurt others,
especially his miserable first wife Irene. In the
2002 version, Damian Lewis, looking like a demonic
Steve McQueen, is 99% pure villain; and his
mother's recollection of how he loved a pet cat to
death does little to soften his character. It is
only in the very last minute of the last episode
that he softens -- but I will not tell you why.
Another problem is the actress playing Irene, Gina
McKee. The original Irene was portrayed by the
extremely beautiful Nyree Dawn Porter; and all of
the comments in the script about her looks were
not contradicted by what we saw of her. Here (at
the risk of being attacked for being another John
Simon), McKee is simply attractive but by no means
extremely beautiful. In fact, some of the profile
shots make her quite unattractive; and somehow all
the praises the other characters sing about her
are not justified visually. Then too, Soames'
sister, played in 1967 by Margaret Tyzack, was
always referred to as unattractive and lucky to
catch a husband at all, even if he is a "bounder."
Here Amanda Root, being very pretty indeed, draws
no such disparaging comments in this new script.
The rest of the cast -- Ioan Gruffudd, Rupert
Graves, Gillian Kearney, Corin Redgrave, and so
many more that I could only wish Acorn Media had
provided a booklet with the cast as it did for
"The Pallisers" -- can stand comparison with the
1967 actors.
The production values are just fine, but all too
often the camera work becomes annoyingly
"innovative" when one character close to the
camera is speaking to one further away, and they
are brought alternatively in and out of focus as
they speak or listen.
But, as a comic Shakespearean character says,
comparisons are odious. Again, on its own terms,
this is a very enjoyable if somewhat flawed remake
of (so far) the first two Forsyte novels; and I
can honestly recommend them for once and future
viewing as I look forward to the next releases
when they are filmed. |
