I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Well, I don't say this often, but in this BBC-series I have met with sheer perfection! Everything - direction, script, dialogues, actors, photography, settings, costumes - is of the highest quality, better than this seems not possible. The BBC has a long-standing tradition of high standard renditions of classic British literature to television, but this production proves that such a tradition does not necessarily mean a stand-still, in many aspects it's quite modern. The editing is sharp and fast-paced, and they cut the whole production in short episodes of just a half hour with a cliff-hanger at every closure, which enhances the pulse of the story and suits the suspense and who-done-it-aspects very fine. Of course they are greatly helped by the novel of Dickens itself, which is in my opinion one of his best and most compelling. Bleak House has everything that a Dickens-novel should have: an involving story, great characterizations, an abundance of figures who are either hilarious (young Guppy and his mother, Mr. Turveydrop), extremely sinister (attorney Tulkinghorn, old Smallweed, slimy Skimpole) or endearing (Mrs. Flite, little Jo), and a very outspoken criticism on the abominable situation of the poor underclass of London. But Bleak House gives you even more: a story of crime and deceit with many intricate layers; a poignant story of class differences and the tangled ways in which the protagonists deal with these; and last but not least a story of love and sacrifice.The novel has some 1000 pages and even in a series of more than 7 hours it's impossible to do it all justice, so the makers had to make choices. Some of the secondary stories were minimized and I can understand that this hurts the scrupulous Dickens-lover. The Turveydrops for instance, or the relation between sergeant George and his friend Phil Squod are hardly touched-at. But you have to give the makers credit for trying to fit it all in anyway, albeit at times a tiny bit too cramped. As to the acting, I don't even know where to begin my praise. You keep wondering how the BBC does it: they seem to have picked the ideal actor for every character! Of course the central characters of the story stand out the most. Anna Maxwell Martin is perfect as the intelligent and civilized Esther, who always keeps her chin up, in spite of all the physical (smallpox!) and personal drama's the befall her. Denis Lawson is her wise and fatherly guardian who secretly hopes for more and has to maneuver delicately to not frighten her away and who in the end sacrifices his personal happiness for that of Esther. And Carey Mulligan and Patrick Kennedy do a fine job as the ill-fated Jarndyce-wardens; especially Kennedy convincingly plays a charming but slightly whimsical airhead who lets himself, through ill advice, be dragged into the mud of a (literally) life-consuming law-suit. Charles Dance is hair-raisingly sinister as the devious and machiavelistic attorney Tulkinghorn: ice-cold, unrelenting, full of ambition and fueled by hatred and envy of the upper-class, that he outwardly serves but in fact controls. What a marvelous actor Dance is, he has this enormous screen-presence and in whatever part you see him (like now in Game of Thrones) he always excels and fills-up every scene with his personality. But greatest surprise to me was Gillian Anderson as lady Lockwood. Every time she stepped (or better: floated) into the scene it made you sit on the edge of your chair. Her timeless and classical beauty, her majestic stature, her aloof expression, while in her eyes her fear of being found-out as a fraud and a start-up shone through, everything about her was breathtaking. I don't know what made them turn to her: an American actress with at that time (as far as I can see) no comparable productions in her résumé, but it was a choice made in heaven!Virtually all the smaller parts deserve equal praise, so it seems almost like an injustice to point-out only some of them. Alun Armstrong is absolutely great as the Columbo-like inspector Bucket, over-polite but very steadfast; Armstrong makes his character more than just comically annoying, this really is an inspector that one cannot trifle with. Philip Davis plays the dreadful and perfidious Mr. Smallweed to perfection, every scene with him ("Shake me up, Judy!!") oozes greed, evil and an almost tangible foul smell. And last but by no means least: Burn Gorman as Mr. Guppy. Gorman very believably makes Guppy hilarious, endearing and a brave warrior for justice all in one, Gorman's Guppy really is the comical backbone of this series, I was every episode hoping and waiting for Mr. Guppy to pop-up and to make me laugh out loud again. All the nervous tics and twinges, his pompous way of speaking, his love-sick wooing of Esther, his frustration with his giggling mother, it was all done by Gorman (I have to use the phrase yet again) to perfection! Oh, just let me name yet another one: Timothy West as sir Leicester Deadlock. His part was maybe small, but he was totally convincing as the old-school aristocrat who is at first just exasperated by all the trifles and sordid affairs of the common people, but later on breaks your heart as the forlorn husband who desperately longs to be reunited again with his beloved wife. West was equally great in both capacities, but his portrayal of the latter was deeply moving. In short, greatly, greatly recommended!!

Smashingly entertaining and very moving 8 hour adaptation of the Dickens's classic, made for the BBC. Terrific performances in just about every role, with special note given to Gillian Anderson's amazingly complex Lady Dedlock. But Dennis Lawson and Charles Dance are also great, and the supporting cast is full of actors who get Dickens' tone just right; a touch larger and more colorful than life, but always real enough to believe in, care about, be frightened by or pity. I also liked that the young leads were played by actors who really did look young, so their naiveté never comes off as forced or phony. Beyond that, the photography is beautiful, as is the production and costume design. Full of directorial quirks that make the story feel energetic and modern, without feeling intrusive. The hand held cameras, swish pans, zooms serve to feed the energy of the story. Only towards the end of the series is there a little too much repetition of some of these tricks, causing them to lose some power, and become a touch annoying. But standing against all the strong elements, that's a very small fly in the ointment indeed.

There was a BBC series twenty years earlier with Diana Rigg, rather than Gillian Anderson, in the role of Lady Dedlock but this series from 2005 is superior.Not because of any noticeable differences in the acting skills of the leads. They're both good. In fact, all the performances in both series are of professional caliber. But this series is better written.The 1985 version was a genuine struggle to get through because of the lack of continuity. Each episode seemed to have been written by an author who was not on speaking terms with any of the other adapters. Events took place between episodes that were left unexplained. Characters came out of the shadows, did what they did, with or without motivation, and skulked away.And this long, involved plot has many many characters. Strangely, they all seem to KNOW one another or to have some sub rosa relationship. It reminded me of "Crime and Punishment", in which Petersberg has the qualities of a small, hick town rather than urban anomi. Even in this more recent version, I was lost trying to keep track of who knew whom and how. Sergeant George and the boy Joe, for instance. And the business about the Dedlocks' maid, Rosa, being sent away or not sent away. What was that about? I think it may help if you're a big fan of Dickens or have some familiarity with London, circa 1840 or 1830 or whenever the period is. Otherwise, institutions like the chancery are liable to slip past you and so may the importance of some of the social distinctions. They finessed their way past me because I may be old, but not that old.The production values are lavish for television. I'm convinced that London looked this crummy at the unbridled height of the industrial age and that people wore such elaborate but ugly clothes. Well -- except for the Dedlocks' servant, Mercury, a tall young man who wears breeches and white stockings of the sort common fifty years earlier. And he has the effete mannerisms to go with the garb.I gather that this is about as close as Dickens got to a woman's story. Usually he used kids or old men as the central figures. And in the leading role of Esther Sommersun, Anna Maxwell Martin is plain and perceptive. The smallpox of course doesn't enhance the more subtle beauty of her rather flat face but, at that, she was pretty lucky. In severe cases the pustules coalesced and whole patches of the outer skin were sloughed off. The rest of the performers are fine, but Charles Dance as the villainous Mr. Tulkinghorn is outstanding. He must have the frostiest blue eyes in the business and he wields them very effectively. What viewer cannot sigh with relief when he's murdered. (In "China Moon" he was a wife abuser who was murdered.) Carey Mulligan as Ada reaches her twenty-first birthday half way through but she has the pretty, chubby, cherubic face of a rather mature twelve year old. There are the tribulations we've come to expect from Dickens: the wealthy in their isolated mansions, the poor and sickly, the dying, the little boy who sweeps the street (lots of horses). There's a doctor too, one of the good guys, but he can't offer much help to anyone with the pox or pneumonia or anything. The germ theory of disease didn't exist yet. Quacks handed out black draughts. More respectable doctors ladled out opiates. Surgeons were limited to piercing carbuncles and sawing off limbs without regard for infections. No wonder Dickens has so many of his characters die off. At least, opium being freely available, they went out stoned.Anyway, this 2005 edition is a vast improvement over the 1985 version, if for no other reason than that more attention was paid to continuity.

The book Bleak House I found rather complicated to be honest with you, and I didn't understand much of the law stuff. But that didn't deter me from watching this superb mini-series, which in every aspect was infinitely better than I expected.The series' main merit is the period detail. I thought the series captured the Victorian Era perfectly, with its issue of class and the generally dangerous living conditions, just like the 1995 mini-series of Pride and Prejusice did with the late 18th century. The mini-series visually looked splendid, with excellent costumes and well designed sets.The script was very intelligent, and the direction was slick. The pace was perfectly fine, and the characters were easy to relate to. Excellent music as well.Another high point was the acting, with outstanding performances from Gillian Anderson as Lady Deadlock, Charles Dance as Tulkinghorn as Dennis Lawson as Jarndyce. Anna Maxwell Martin while not as impressive as Lawson, Anderson and Dance still turned in a lovely performance. In more secondary roles were Hugo Speer,Nathaniel Parker, Johnny Vegas, Burn Gorman Matthew Kelly and my favourite Allun Armstrong as Inspector Bucket. I loved Phil Davis as Smallweed too.All in all, a hugely satisfying period drama series, that is possibly the best TV drama of 2005. 10/10 Bethany Cox.