ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies

YOU MAY WONDER if the world really needs another version of the Dickens novel ‘Oliver Twist’.  David Lean directed a masterful adaptation in 1948 with Alec Guinness as Fagin, and the musical in 1968 waltzed off with the Oscar as the year’s Best Film.

Roman Polanski is the man who dares to compete against such cherished landmarks. He takes the decision to accentuate the mud and misery of Victorian England which makes for an unusually dour version of a classic text.

Trimming the novel to fit the canvas of a two hour film, Polanski and screenwriter Ronald Harwood keep the focus on nine year-old Oliver (Barney Clark) and the rich gallery of characters he encounters.

Sent to the poor house to learn a trade, he has the temerity to demand an extra ration of gruel. Next, he is employed by an undertaker before running away to a new life in London.

Although filmed at Barrandov Studios in Czechoslovakia, the film works hard to create a mud-spattered vision of Victorian London. Cobbled streets are crowded and caked with filth. Rats scurry along dark alleys. The River Thames is murky and stagnant. Danger seems to lurk on every corner.

The young Oliver sees the best and worst of humankind as he is given sanctuary by kindly gentleman Mr Brownlow (Edward Hardwicke) and falls under the influence of Fagin (Sir Ben Kingsley) and his gang of pickpockets.

Taking its visual inspiration from the work of Gustav Dore, ‘Oliver Twist’ is atmospheric and well-crafted, but it feels monotonous and the cast fail to compete with some of their illustrious predecessors, especially Jamie Foreman whose Bill Sykes is all bluster and no substance. The film is perfectly respectable, but disappointing given the talents involved.

Nationwide release
Director: Roman Polanski
Stars: Sir Ben Kingsley, Jamie Foreman, Harry Eden, Leanne Rowe, Barney
Clark
Screenwriter: Ronald Harwood based on the novel by Charles Dickens
Certificate: PG
Running time: 130 mins
Country: UK/France/Czechoslovakia
Year: 2005

© Allan Hunter, 2005