The period drama addict…Little Dorrit

The last period drama I’ve watched was „Little Dorrit” 2008 which is an adaptation of the novel with the same name by Charles Dickens.
The movie is actually a tele serial,with a one hour opening episode,12 half hour episodes and a one hour finale.

The story revolves around Amy Dorrit who was born and grew up in the Marshalsea prison,the debtor’s prison,becomes rich,turns poor again and then gets married to the man she loves and he will provide for her.
The movie stuck to the novel and it introduces you to a typical Charles Dickens universe, with characters from all levels of society,with real problems,not the light kind of problems,but with mistery,injustice,cruelty and extremely cruel characters;On the opposite end we find the extremely kind characters who have come to be so thoughtful by experiencing great dramas.
Also,and this is what you must love about Dickens,there are the characters who seem wicked and turn out to be the good ones and characters who seem to be the good ones and turn out to be the bad ones.
The two main characters,Arthur Clenham and Amy Dorrit are very selfless and not interested in possessing money but the plotline is very much about money and how not having money or having too much money can bring moral ruin.
There are more conclusions here I think.
Firstly,speculation is bad and it is not an honorable way to make money since somewhere,someone is losing the money you are wining.
Secondly,people shouldn’t put much stock in money since they come and go as they please.
And thirdly,the only thing of real importance is kindness and love.
So you see,”Little Dorrit” is the typical Dickens drama.
I give the movie thumbs up for sticking to the novel.After all it’s the author’s work and we must respect his vision.Also,thumbs up for image,costumes,acting(I don’t really like Mathew Macfadyen since he starred in the most horrid P&P version ever with Keira,but he was pretty good as Arthur Clenham and Claire Foy was a revelation,I want to see more of her),for credibility and for the sense of proportions.
What I really appreciated was that not everybody got a happy ending and I’m not only referring to the bad characters,but good characters also have relatively unhappy endings because everybody must live with the consequences of their actions.
In the end(this does sound vague but…) the movie is just plain sensible,it irks with common sense and it’s worth watching.
Unfortunately I’ve got lots of thumbs down.My sister says it’s actually only Dickens’s fault because I am cold as I am and no as tickleish as the next fellow while Dickens is a sensitive guy.
I guess the good characters are overreactedly kind.
Can’t they do anything mean?Or at least something that can make them individuals?They’re all kind and good for 8 long hours and say only nice things even when people treat them like dirt.
I like less sensitive characters.
Another thumb down goes to the length of the movie.The subplots are too developed and they tend to get boring at times.
Overall it’s a good period drama to watch,not even closely in my top of favorites,but it’s a grand movie and definetly the kind I’ll have my children watch instead of those weird cartoons they put on tv lately.

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