Vanity Fair is a modern adaptation of the novel by William Makepeace Thackery which I must confess I’ve never read. I have also not seen any other film or TV versions of it, so I had no preconceptions whatsoever before watching it. It was one of those “shall I, shan’t I” films at the cinema that I never quite got round to watching but still wanted to see. So how did it fare?

The Plot

Becky Sharp spent most of her childhood as an unloved orphan. Despite this however she grew up into a very strong-minded young woman with great plans for herself. An example of her headstrong nature is shown at the very beginning of the film when as a small child, her father shortly before his death sold a painting of his wife and her mother. She demanded that the buyer pay ten guineas, more than twice the going rate. She succeeds in getting the full price but admits to still not being happy about the painting having to be sold. The buyer turns up later in the film but I’m saying no more than that about him.

She ventures into the world in the role of a Governess for a Baron’s family, though he’s not at all what she’d expect from a Baron. She keeps in constant contact by letter with her close friend Amelia, daughter of a merchant and engaged to a Captain of the British Army. Becky uses all her skills, wit, charm, and deviousness to begin her ascent of the social ladder. Many characters including the Baron’s cynical (but rich) sister, titled or regimental men who are interested in her for one reason or another, and even at one point the King become involved in her exploits. (As one character so aptly remarks: ”I thought her a mere social climber, but now I see she's a mountaineer”). Meanwhile all sorts of rivalries and episodes unrequited love are going on around her, sometimes helped, sometimes hindered by her actions and advice. When the war with Napoleon intensifies, it throws things into further chaos.

Analysis

As I understand it from what others have commented about the book, it portrayed the hypocrisy of regency England, with Becky Sharp herself being something of an unpleasant character in some ways. Director Mira Nair seemed to want to portray a little of that while making the whole thing more palatable to the average audience, and we are supposed to (I think) empathise with Becky and think she is a nice person. This approach fails in many ways because most of the characters are too obvious, though there is one notable exception to this. Personally I never felt much warmth for most of the characters. Amelia is just too pathetic to really feel much sympathy for, and Becky’s naivety gets the better for her. This is due to her self-centred determination to reach the top, but we’re still expected to feel sorry for her.

Well that’s the impression I got anyway. There are moments in the film that I enjoyed, some wry humour and a few great performances. James Purfoy as Rawdon Crawley was superb, while Bob Hoskins and Geraldine McEwan had enormous fun playing the Baron and his wife. Stars such as Jim Broadbent and Jonathon Rhys Myers gave solid performances, and most of the cast did pretty well. However, much as I like Reese Witherspoon, I feel that casting her as Becky Sharp was a mistake. Her accent wasn’t actually terrible but overall she just wasn’t convincing as a young English woman. She got away with her voice okay in The Importance of Being Earnest, but it just didn’t sound right in this. (Kate Beckinsdale or perhaps Keirra Knightly I could imagine in that role.) Her performance certainly wasn’t actually bad, but I just didn’t feel she was right for the role. Casting her in this is almost as daft as casting an American as Robin Hood… I mean, who would do a silly thing like that?!?!? (Or casting a Brit as George Washington, though that could be quite funny.)

The period details seemed about right and there wasn’t much wrong with the production standards or musical score. It’s just that the film felt flat and rather boring most of the time. Keeping it going for 2 hours 15 minutes may be part of the cause for that, but somehow I feel the length wasn’t really the issue here. It’s one of those films that having watched it, you have a nagging feeling that it should have worked… but it didn’t.

I was disappointed with Vanity Fair (you might have guesses that by now), but it wasn’t absolutely terrible. 3 stars, but not recommended.



Related Links

Pride & Prejudice - not as good as the BBC version but the recent film starring Keirra Knightly

Reese Witherspoon also starred in
Legally Blonde
Legally_Blonde_2: Red, White, and Blonde
Wildflower


This wasn’t one of the best films of 2004… see which were HERE (well, in my opinion, anyway).






Recommended: No