I've never read the book and I didn't know the story at all and David Lean movies have been hit or miss for me so far, so my expectations were not great. I make funny.
The story is kind of slow moving, especially considering it starts out with a genuinely creepy scene of Pip being accosted by an escaped convict who is strangely obsessed with young boys' livers. Pip's genorisity towards the convict plays a crucial role in the story, but at the time it seemed somewhat superfluous.
Pip is an orphan who lives with his sister and her husband in poverty, and is eventually taken in as a servant for a strange lady named Miss Haversham. She lives in a delapidated mansion with a young lady named Estella. Miss Haversham was stood up at the altar by an old beau, and hasn't exactly moved on. There is a particularly hideous wedding cake featured prominantly in her room.
Jean Simmons has been someone I have been crushin' on lately, having just recently watched her in 1947's Black Narcissus as in Indian girl, and in 1960's Spartacus, as Spartacus' wife. I had never heard of her before, but she is quite a good actress, and she has really striking features, and an expressive face. I have heard her described as 'impossibly beautiful', which is about as well as I could describe. Anyway she plays the younger version of Estella in this and she is very good as a strange young lady who torments and taunts Pip with insults and kisses.
The story moves slowly with Pip eventually receiving the wealth of a mysterious benefactor, which allows him to pursue Estella in London's high society. Anyway the story starts to tie together in a way I found surprising, and made alot of sense considering everything that had preceded it.
I wasn't especially engaged by the movie until the last 30 minutes or so when everything starts to make sense. Up until then I wasn't sure why the story was being told, but it actually comes together really nicely. I heard this Dickens character wrote some other books or pamphlets of some kind.
I should mention David Lean's direction in this movie, which might be its best feature. He makes really good use of the absense of color, by use shadows and darkness. There is one shot which is as good as anything I have ever seen, in which Mr Jaggers who is the lawyer for the mysterious benefactor visits Pip and his uncle Joe during Pip's apprenticeship. Jaggers enters through the doorway which is center screen and the shadows of Pip on the left and Joe on the right appear at each side creating the impression of three men standing all in a row, but only Mr. Jaggers is actual on camera. It's as good as anything Sergei Eisenstein does in Ivan the Terrible.
Another great shot appears at the end of the movie when Estella now back at the mansion she grew up in sits down in Miss Haversham's old chair, and it's incredible how she assumes her posture, like you get the connection right away, she is going to become Miss Haversham. It's a brilliant bit of acting by Valerie Hobson, and great direction by David Lean to convey such a small thing so powerfully.
It's also Alec Guiness' first movie. He doesn't play a major role but it did mark the start of his relationship with David Lean, and he would go on to play in 7 of his movies.
So far I am 2-1-1 on David Lean movies. This was good, The Bridge on the River Kwai was amazing, Lawrence of Arabia was pretty disappointing, and Dr. Zhivago was inconsistent as hell, but had enough good parts to recommend it. 1945's Brief Encounter shall decide it all.
The story is kind of slow moving, especially considering it starts out with a genuinely creepy scene of Pip being accosted by an escaped convict who is strangely obsessed with young boys' livers. Pip's genorisity towards the convict plays a crucial role in the story, but at the time it seemed somewhat superfluous.
Pip is an orphan who lives with his sister and her husband in poverty, and is eventually taken in as a servant for a strange lady named Miss Haversham. She lives in a delapidated mansion with a young lady named Estella. Miss Haversham was stood up at the altar by an old beau, and hasn't exactly moved on. There is a particularly hideous wedding cake featured prominantly in her room.
Jean Simmons has been someone I have been crushin' on lately, having just recently watched her in 1947's Black Narcissus as in Indian girl, and in 1960's Spartacus, as Spartacus' wife. I had never heard of her before, but she is quite a good actress, and she has really striking features, and an expressive face. I have heard her described as 'impossibly beautiful', which is about as well as I could describe. Anyway she plays the younger version of Estella in this and she is very good as a strange young lady who torments and taunts Pip with insults and kisses.
The story moves slowly with Pip eventually receiving the wealth of a mysterious benefactor, which allows him to pursue Estella in London's high society. Anyway the story starts to tie together in a way I found surprising, and made alot of sense considering everything that had preceded it.
I wasn't especially engaged by the movie until the last 30 minutes or so when everything starts to make sense. Up until then I wasn't sure why the story was being told, but it actually comes together really nicely. I heard this Dickens character wrote some other books or pamphlets of some kind.
I should mention David Lean's direction in this movie, which might be its best feature. He makes really good use of the absense of color, by use shadows and darkness. There is one shot which is as good as anything I have ever seen, in which Mr Jaggers who is the lawyer for the mysterious benefactor visits Pip and his uncle Joe during Pip's apprenticeship. Jaggers enters through the doorway which is center screen and the shadows of Pip on the left and Joe on the right appear at each side creating the impression of three men standing all in a row, but only Mr. Jaggers is actual on camera. It's as good as anything Sergei Eisenstein does in Ivan the Terrible.
Another great shot appears at the end of the movie when Estella now back at the mansion she grew up in sits down in Miss Haversham's old chair, and it's incredible how she assumes her posture, like you get the connection right away, she is going to become Miss Haversham. It's a brilliant bit of acting by Valerie Hobson, and great direction by David Lean to convey such a small thing so powerfully.
It's also Alec Guiness' first movie. He doesn't play a major role but it did mark the start of his relationship with David Lean, and he would go on to play in 7 of his movies.
So far I am 2-1-1 on David Lean movies. This was good, The Bridge on the River Kwai was amazing, Lawrence of Arabia was pretty disappointing, and Dr. Zhivago was inconsistent as hell, but had enough good parts to recommend it. 1945's Brief Encounter shall decide it all.
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