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Vanity Fair [DVD]

Based on 327 reviews
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Arrives Friday, Nov 6
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At a glance

Condition
New
Format
DVD March 25, 2003
Model
AAE-70738
Dimensions
7.5 x 5.5 x 1.25 in; 8.8 oz
Language
English
Runtime
5 hours
MPAA rating
Unrated (Not Rated)

Specs 11

Format Closed-captioned, Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC, Full Screen
Contributor Anton Lesser, Jeremy Swift, Nathaniel Parker, Frances Grey, Tim Woodward, Janine Duvitski, Natasha Little, Tom Ward, Philip Glenister, Stephen Frost, Michele Dotrice, David Ross
Language English
Runtime 5 hours
MPAA rating Unrated (Not Rated)
Product Dimensions 7.5 x 5.5 x 1.25 inches; 8.8 Ounces
Media Format Closed-captioned, Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC, Full Screen
Run time 5 hours

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Top Amazon Reviews

Becky, Andrew and William
Andrew Davies is a very clever man with, I suspect, quite a tender heart. I don't know how he draws out these old novels for us the way he does, but he's done it again here. I have to admit, the first time I saw this production, I liked it, but was left a little cold. The second time I saw it, I knew it was just me, and that it takes a viewer accustomed to mediocrity some time to readjust to this kind of brilliance. The costumes and sets, in the hot Oriental colours of the real Regency instead of the too often misrendered pastels of the earlier Georgians, are well done and the acting and casting are great. Davies, cleverly, put some of the wry observations of the narrative passages into the mouths of the characters. "I must say, Dr. Hume, if a man's character is to be abused, there's nobody like a relation to do the business." David Bradley is old Sir Pitt is himself, in fact, the whole Queen's Crawley contingent will make you both laugh and squirm, just like they're supposed to. Janine Duvitski as marvelous as the ghastly, grasping Mrs. Bute Crawley. Natasha Little is luminously beautiful as Becky Sharp, her careless curls at unsettling contrast with her little smirk. Amelia Sedley is so wet you could ring her out (Thackeray predicted my criticism of her character, by the way) but Frances Grey plays her so well you admire her, as you do all of them, for just being the flawed creatures they are. You will find the inhabitants of this fair very much alive and not at all like puppets, as Thackeray disingenuously tells you they are all through his book. The visuals well support the spirit of the production. There is one scene of Dobbin and Osbourne conversing outside their barracks, and the camera then raises into an extreme high shot that makes them look exactly like toy soldiers or pictures on a chocolate box. It's the shot often used to film a football game or the square formations of the old battlefields, so we are reminded that what became almost quaint in the ensuing two hundred years was once very real. The battlefield scenes are up close and personal, noisy and ugly, from the grim patience of the Dobbins and Osbournes, the foot soldiers who carried the terrible day of the Battle of Waterloo, to the hard breathing and slamming together of metal and flesh as the cavalry engages. The score has disturbed some people, but it's as brilliant as the adaptation and delivers the feel of the period directly. It's hard to say why it works, but there's no question that it does, and anachronism only serves as a friend, here. Like Becky's wonderful, new remarks, which I'm sure she really made, "Baisez mon cul." and "I'm sorry I'm laughing, your ladyship, but I just can't help it." When I actually saw the band at Vauxhall Gardens, they provided me my bearings, like finding a "You Are Here" on a map. The songs are placed perfectly. When Becky's entertaining at home, her occasional flat notes don't seem to be noticed by the men in her thrall, and Becky similiarly winning over the gyneocracy with her "Dido's Lament" (sans the flat notes) at the Steyne House soiree is not to be missed. The story itself, whatever it's about, whether it's just a puppet show or one of the most profound, tender observations of human life ever put to paper, is delivered faithfully, without sentiment, but with more of the buried tenderness of the author than he would ever own up to. The ending, where these inhabitants of Vanity Fair learn to recover from glamorous war and get on with the business of becoming unexciting Victorians, and where a mysterious bad girl is saved by the intervention of a cheeky, innocent little boy is delivered in this production in all its beauty. But never mind that. As it was not about pastel interiors, the real Regency was not about sentimentality. Somebody said that all authors are in love with their childhood. Even though this was the work of a Victorian, born in 1811, and even if he did not properly approve of her, I think Thackeray was in love with his wicked, plucky little heroine, as he was in love with the period in which she flourished. Perhaps he is the curious little boy walking up the casino steps into the past and into that strange world of what appear to be grown-up people with their masks and secrets. When he gets there, he finds this particular grownup needs him. In fact, it's almost as if she's waiting for him to let him know she is not so strong on her own, and to remember her and to please be sure to write about her. We certainly need Andrew Davies and his adaptations. See what you think of this one. You won't be disappointed, and if you are, watch it again. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2004 by Liz
Gritty, highly original and compelling adaptation
Most of us period drama aficionados have been brought up on a fairly one-sided menu of Austen, and as a consequence some will be shocked by "Vanity Fair", which is a whole different ball-game. Austen may deal out the occasional pin-prick, but her social comedy remains well-mannered and has a basic sweetness. Thackeray provides a far more brutal kind of satire; "Vanity Fair", though nearly 200 years old, is a startlingly modern novel still. Rarely can a reader have been so hard put to find a single sympathetic character in a book. George Osborne is a heartless, vain opportunist; Jos Sedley a ridiculous coward; Amelia Sedley an insipid dreamer forever betting on the wrong horse; Dobbin on the other hand is just too good to be true and infuriatingly servile - et cetera. Only amidst such a cast are we tempted to feel a modicum of sympathy for viciously predatory Becky Sharp, who by modern standards would no doubt qualify as a psychopath. The tables only turn on her when she meets her equal in the vile lord Stayne (what's in a name), who warns her: "Don't overplay your hand, Mrs. Crawley - you're in very deep now...". She does overplay her hand, and her astonishing social climb is mercilessly reversed. It's all very Darwinian avant-la-lettre: survival of the fittest. Andrew Davies perfectly caught on to this in his gritty, highly original adaptation of Vanity Fair for TV. Apart from Becky Sharp (Natasha Little) the cast includes no pleasant beauties of either sex to please the eye. Murkiness and squalor are not eschewed and find their peak at Queen's Crawley, where maggots indeed crawl on Lady Crawley's dinner plate, and Sir Pitt senior devours his tripe with relish. Though not all viewers may be pleased, the fact is that the conditions shown in this series are far more realistic depictions of actual living conditions in late 18th and early 19th century England than the glossed-over prettiness presented in most Austen-films. And still many of the actors have much better teeth than they would have had in those days... The acting is quite excellent throughout, and the intensity of it is heightened by frequent use of close-ups. At other times camera movements are deliberately unsteady, lending a documentary feel to Amelia's visit of George's grave, and making the viewer share in the drunkenness when Osborne senior waxes sentimental over young George at his dinner table. In dialog, the camera may well very slowly pan across the room, taking in all the little trinkets and ornaments it meets underway before finally arriving at the face of the other character. Instead of the perfectly choreographed quadrilles of Pride and Prejudice, you may find a dance at a ball depicted by a mere quick succession of close-ups of feet and whirling skirts. It is all rather unconventional and extremely effective. So is the music - the score is dominated by several deliciously raucous wind-band themes that tell us we are, indeed, in a fairground. The DVD comes without any extra's. I'm unsure to judge the picture quality, as I am playing the disc to a PAL TV and don't know if this causes distortions. Still it looked more than acceptable, except that pale faces tended to go slightly blue in outdoor scenes, and that dark images looked a bit as if filmed through a slightly sooty lens, and sometimes had unsteady backgrounds. Though in the final reckoning this series may not quite aspire to the perfection of the latest BBC Pride & Prejudice, it is at least as worthwhile and involving to watch, and makes a very refreshing change from the usual period drama routines. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2004 by MartinP
Fell short of expectations
This was a much touted mini-series which I missed on TV and have now watched on DVD. I had high expectations. They were not realized, but by no means can one say that the show is a failure or even a waste of time. No urge to fast-forward here.... Yet..... there is a flatness about the whole production that keeps the emotions, the humor, at arms length. Becky Sharp remains the same, looks the same, inflects the same from beginning to end. The direction reveals no development, no nuance..... certainly charming rapaciousness is more varied than we are shown here. The script is not particularly memorable. BBC production values are top-notch except in the repeated use of extreme closeups to mask a penny-pinching budget..... the Belgium battle segments are particularly cheesy...... but overall, things are shot handsomely, and some visual commentary is downright witty e.g., pigs crossing the frame as we approach the Crawley manor. The music score, hilarious and anachronistic, is rather refreshing. This is nowhere as exhilarating a show as the BBC's Pride and Prejudice. Which leads me to the odd realization that perhaps the better writer for Vanity Fair would have been Balzac. Now.... why doesn't somebody do something with his stuff..... Lost Illusions, for example. There we have meatier stuff. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2004 by I. Martinez-Ybor
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