phillipbrowning
I will keep this brief for the sake of anyone coming upon this classic gem of a mystery for the first time. Completely disregard any review of this mini-series that's been rated lower than a 4. The people giving it super low ratings will bang on about it being an unworthy adaption or that the spirit of Willie Collins is completely lost on the writers and directors of this series.
Ok I lied, not so brief of a review... but anyways these sour puss pretentious wanna be thespian mentioned above are people that have their minds made up before watching any literary classic adapted for the small screen. To them the book is always better no matter what. But guess what no duh... the books always better but that doesn't mean adapting a classic is a crime. I read the book. And having such I can tell you the makers of this show did a good job. The characters and sets were on point and the mystery delivered. I couldn't ask for more in an adaptation, much better than "the moonstone" another recently adapted Willie Collins story brought to the small screen. Sorry for the rant but I hate snobs. Watch and decide for yourself. The acting was great.
Tweekums
As this five-part series opens we are told that Laura Glyde, nee Fairlie, is dead and that there are suspicions about the cause. Over the course of the series we are shown what happened. Young London artist Walter Hartright is employed to go to Cumberland to catalogue Frederick Fairlie's art collection; while there he is also to tutor his nieces Laura and her half-sister Marian Halcombe. Shortly before heading north he meets a timid woman dressed all in white... when he gets to Cumberland he is surprised to discover that Laura is the spitting image of the woman. It soon emerges that the 'Woman in White' is Anne, a local girl who had been sent to a London asylum for reasons unstated at this point. Walter gets on well with the girls, in particular Laura, so her uncle sends him away. Shortly afterwards she is married to Sir Percival Glyde and moves to his remote house along with Marian, Sir Percival's friend Count Fosco and his wife, who is also Laura's aunt. It soon becomes obvious that Sir Percival only married her for her money and the sisters' situation becomes precarious.I really enjoyed this adaption of Wilkie Collins classic novel; the introduction may tell us that Laura is doomed but that only serves to raise tension; especially following her marriage. Sir Percival is fairly menacing from the moment we see him but gets worse after the marriage; Fosco and his wife are perhaps more frightening as we see them apparently helping the sisters while also scheming against them. There are some impressive twists that should surprise some viewers. As well as solid mystery the series has a lot to say about women's rights, or lack thereof, at the time... something that was obviously more radical at the time the original book was written. The cast does a fine job; most notably Olivia Vinall, in the dual roles of Laura and Anne; Jessie Buckley as Marian; Dougray Scott, as Sir Percival and Riccardo Scamarcio, as Fosco. There is also a fine performance from Art Malik as Erasmus Nash, the man employed to help discover the truth about what happened to Laura. While not essential to the story there is some impressive scenery to be admired during the series. Overall I thought this was a great drama; the central mystery is intriguing and there is a good sense of threat for much of the time.
Meredith Secaur
It continues to astonish me that one of the Western world's most beloved novels has yet to be given a proper film adaptation. Having slogged through the previous film and television adaptations of "The Woman in White," I hoped that this 2018 miniseries from the BBC might be an improvement. Sadly, I was sorely disappointed yet again.I never understand why screenwriters always feel the need to "improve" on Wilkie Collins's stories or tweak them to be more "accessible" to modern audiences. All his novels, particularly "The Woman in White," have more than enough plot and dialogue to make up an excellent film, and only need to be streamlined to better suit the medium. While the novel's original plot is followed more faithfully than either the 1997 or 1948 versions, rather than allow it to unfold in a linear fashion and let the mystery blossom before both the audience's and the main characters' eyes, the script jumps back and forth in time, using a frame story of various character giving their testimony to a lawyer investigating the case of Laura Glyde's death, a surprise that is ruined with the very first scene. A nice nod to Collins' use of multiple narrators, but the way it is used here disrupts the story's flow and saps any chance of mystery or suspense in the telling of it. I especially disliked how it was used to explain to the audience what they had just seen or were about to see, as if they were too stupid to understand otherwise. While a goodly amount original dialogue is left intact, too much is watered down into more modern-sounding language, which really ruins the sense of historical authenticity. Additionally, many of the story's most memorable moments are cut down or removed entirely in favor of new scenes that add nothing to the story or the plot but distraction.While I suppose it is a result of today's generation having no understanding of history or any kind of appreciation for subtlety, the production overall feels too modern and more telegraphed than I was hoping for. All the characters blurt out exactly what they are thinking, and even translate the subtext of the other character's dialogue. Talk about spoon-feeding your audience! The costumes are a terrible mix of clothes from the entire Victorian period, and the less said about the hairstyles the better. And when will filmmakers get it through their heads that "The Woman in White" is not a horror story? I agree with another reviewer that the constant "atmospheric" music and sound effects in the background are annoying, as is the insistence of maintaining a constantly creepy tone both visually and story-wise. Wilkie Collins was a master at creating suspense and tension by contrast, balancing big, dramatic events with small, more lighthearted moments. None of that is present here. With the tone unsettling and grim from the outset, and with no comic relief or breathers, the more shocking and suspenseful moments lose their impact, leaving the film limp and feeling much, much longer that it really is. But what I found most galling was the complete desecration of the characters. Part of the reason "The Woman in White" has endured for almost 160 years is that Wilkie Collins created some of his most indelible characters for it; you grow to love them and genuinely care about what happens to them, even the bad ones. In some combination of bad screenwriting and bad casting, all the life has been sucked out of them, and they are neither engaging nor interesting. I know Marian as written is a modern woman with uncommon looks and intelligence, but the sight of Jessie Buckley, who seems to spend most of her time scowling, prancing around in trousers and drinking was just too much. Ben Hardy is simply too young to play Walter, and I couldn't believe it when I saw him lolling about in his shirt-sleeves, sans waistcoat and tie. Dougray Scott as Sir Percival is boring but marvelously unsubtle, with his every vice telegraphed from his first scene, which in destroying the mystery as to who will be the villain of the piece creates another: why is Marian so insistent that Laura marry him, a man who drinks and makes lecherous advances on women? And while I like Olivia Vinall as Laura, having her dressed in almost nothing but white negligees and running around with her hair constantly undone got on my nerves.But the worst insult of all is the "reenvisioning" of Count Fosco. As a fat scoundrel, for lack of a better phrase, the Fosco of the novel is an entertaining contradiction who provides as much comic relief as he does menace. While I understand the decision to make him a bit younger and thinner in order to play up his attraction to Marian (something Collins so deftly alluded to in the book but that is made far too explicit here), Riccardo Scamarcio is dull and totally charmless, and far less compelling than he should be. He no longer has his animals, his fondness for tarts, and in Scamarcio's hands he is tone-deaf as well. Wilkie Collins must be turning over in his grave.Boring, overlong, miscast, and far too modernized for my taste, I'm sorry I wasted five hours watching this travesty. While those unfamiliar with Collins' novel might enjoy this, anyone who loves the book should stay far away. The definitive adaptation still has yet to be made.
