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List Price: $39.98 | | Label: BBC Warner
Salesrank: 2626
Released: February 28, 2006 |
| Our Price: $21.99 |
| Used Price: $18.69 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Movie DVD
Description of Bleak House:
Andrew Davies isn't much of household name in the U.S., but he's the king of the BBC mini-series. His skillfully adapted scripts for Pride & Prejudice (the beloved Colin Firth version) and many, many more are peerless examples of classic novels done right--cunningly edited and shaped to let all the rich emotion and sharp intelligence spill over with zip and vigor. Bleak House is no exception; it's one of the best Dickens adaptations to date. The mini-series form allows Dickens' panoramic view, brimming with eccentric characters and complex turns of plot, to sprawl out without losing an iota of suspense or momentum. Two innocent young orphans (Patrick Kennedy and Carey Mulligan) are the potential heirs to a fortune, but their fates are snarled in a monumental legal battle known as Jarndyce and Jarndyce. But the heart of the story is another orphan, Esther Summerson (Anna Maxwell Martin), whose mysterious parentage proves to be intertwined with the fate of the Jarndyce wards and the aloof Lady Dedlock (Gillian Anderson, The X-Files). Dickens' story twines through an excoriating vision of the legal system to heartbreaking domestic drama to a murder investigation to near-Gothic horror, all broken into utterly delicious half-hour segments (after the hour-long opening episode). Martin is utterly beguiling, homely at one moment and luminous the next; Anderson's grippingly eerie and brittle performance will delight her fans. But to single out anyone seems absurd, because every character--from the vicious lawyer Tulkinghorn (Charles Dance, White Mischief) to the foppish parasite Skimpole (Nathaniel Parker, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries) to the simpering clerk Guppy (Burn Gorman)--is intricately drawn, all hitting a mesmerizing balance between caricature and stark emotional honesty. Bleak House demonstrates that humor, pathos, and social criticism can all be contained in one wonderfully entertaining package. --Bret Fetzer
Bleak House Reviews:
Short Review 
2009-11-27 - Bottom Line: This adaptation is brilliantly acted. Anna Maxwell Martin and Gillian Anderson both shine in their roles. It is a bit long, but stick with it - you won't be disappointed!
broken and unresolved 
2009-11-17 - My order of "Bleak House" arrived October 5, 2009. I did not break the clear plastic factory seal but could tell from the rattling of many small pieces inside that the dvd's were broken. I e-mailed the seller, Buy Now Sip Now, for instructions and did exavtly what I was told to do. I printed-out our e-mail exchange, hand-wrote a personal not on it that I wanted a replacement and not a refund, put it all back in the shipping envelope, wrote on the envelope "Refused, Return to Sender," and put it back in the mail on October 7th. My credit card purchase has appeared on the bill. Since then, I have sent two more e-mails inquiring about the status of my order, and I have sent a typed letter to the seller's post office box; however, the only contact I have had from the seller is the one e-mail dated October 5th telling me what to do. I do not understand why the seller has ignored all further requests for contact. It is now six weeks later. I have heard nothing. I have paid the money, but I have no product. I would appreciate having this matter resolved as soon as possible.
Michael Mudge
101 Oak Street
Cumberland, Maryland 21502
Captivating
2009-11-12 - I started watching Bleak House and I was hooked. Wonderful, complicated, full of quirky Dickens characters. Must see!
Strong actors, jarring soundtrack, trendy filming 
2009-11-10 - This remake of Dickens' Bleak House was notable for its powerful acting. Unlike the more sedate series of the 1980s (with Diana Rigg and Denholm Elliott), this version draws you deeply into the characters' emotions. You laugh when Guppy proposes marriage, you cry when Esther weeps, you get mad at the Chancery Court. This is what drama is supposed to do, so in that sense the series was a rousing success.
The casting was virtually flawless. Gillian Anderson did a superb job as the remote, but anguished, Lady Dedlock. Charles Dance made a thoroughly nefarious Tulkinghorn, and Nathaniel Parker a quirky, yet devious, Skimpole. The only character who marched out of step was Esther, who, unfortunately, bore no resemblance to her mother. (A crucial plot point was that Esther was supposed to have been the spitting image of the great beauty. At the very least, Esther could have shown more backbone.)
Unfortunately, the jarring soundtrack (imagine an anvil being struck by a cannonball),one-second scene shifts, and trendy hand-held camera work interjected a look that was entirely inconsistent with the period. And the omission of dialogue which would have clarified the convoluted story line resulted in outright confusion at times. (Dickens wrote Bleak House as an overlong expose of Britain's corrupt judiciary, a theme which would have lent more coherence to this production, but which was often lost in the throes of high melodrama.) With a little more subtlety in the directing, less trendy filming, and a period-appropriate sound track this series could have been truly magnificent.
Classic entertainment
2009-10-06 - Well-filmed, excellent screenplay for Dickens' serial "Bleak House," full of superb actors and actresses. If you're interested in period films, dynamic character relationships, interesting sets and scenery, or the British judiciary system of the 1800's, check it out!
