SEINFELD BLOG

Vanity Fair (A&E, 1998)

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780767052733
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
ISBN: 0767052730
Label: A&E Home Video
Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: A&E Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: March 25, 2003
Running Time: 300 minutes
Sales Rank: 13124
Studio: A&E Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: October 24, 1999

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Editorial Review:

Amazon.com:
Becky Sharp is 'poor and put-upon.' She's also 'a sharp little minx,' a 'treacherous little trollop,' and 'a heartless mother and faithless wife.' Yes, there's something about Becky in this impeccable BBC production based on William Makepeace Thackeray's classic novel. It speaks volumes about Thackeray's indomitable heroine and Natasha Little's seductively ingratiating performance that our hearts go out to her even as we eagerly await her comeuppance.

Becky is scorned for her lack of breeding, but as one admirer notes, 'she's got pluck.' Poised to begin her new job as a governess, Becky's calculated social climbing begins in the home of her friend, the naive Amelia Sedley (Frances Grey), whose father is a wealthy merchant. She immediately makes a play for Amelia's doofus brother, but their budding romance is sabotaged by Amelia's fiancé George Osborne (Tom Ward), an 'interfering, officious snob' who doesn't fancy a governess for a sister-in-law. And so it's out into the world, where Becky works her wiles on a gallery of memorable characters, including her lecherous new employer Sir Pitt; his imperious rich sister Miss Crawley (Miriam Margolyes), who takes Becky under her wing; and Pitt's dashing son Rawdon (Nathanial Perker), the first of Becky's misguided sexual entanglements.

Vanity Fair charts in lavish detail Becky's rise in London society and her scandalous downfall. Her story is counterpoint to that of the fair Amelia, who is clueless that her husband is a rake and that his best friend, the loyal, long-suffering Dobbin (Philip Glenistar), is in love with her and is her secret benefactor when times get bad for her bankrupt father. Adapted for the screen by Andrew Davies, who did the honors for the phenomenally successful Pride and Prejudice, Vanity Fair is another addictive miniseries that is the video equivalent of a compulsive page-turner. As yet another fancier remarks, 'Well done, Becky Sharp.' --Donald Liebenson




Rating: - vanity fair--
The acting was mediocre. The story just wasn't what I wanted it to be. There is a bit of nudity which ... Read More

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Rating: - Simply the best
The best movie adaptation. I love this movie and I love the book. The actors are brilliant.

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Rating: - Mute the Horns
The story is well done. The music is excruciating: either public dirge, or bad beerhall. Perhaps the makers ... Read More

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Rating: - The last word on Thackeray's satirical masterpiece
If you are considering a dramatic rendition of Vanity Fair, this BBC production is definitely the most superior. ... Read More

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Rating: - I loved it!!!!
Okay, I haven't seen the newer version with Reese Witherspoon or read the book, so maybe I'm not completely qualified ... Read More

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Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.