Great Expectations - Another version

[icetorch]

Apparently it's the bicentenary of Dickens' birth next year. The Royal Mint will be releasing a circulating two pound coin in his honour:


"Whereas it appears to Us desirable to order that, to commemorate the two-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, there should be made at Our Mint coins of the denomination of two pounds in gold, in silver, and in cupro-nickel and nickel-brass, having joined concentric inner and outer sections, being in gold with a different coloured gold outer section, in silver with a gold-plated outer section and in cupro-nickel and nickel-brass with a cupro-nickel inner section and a nickel-brass outer section

The design of the said coins shall be as follows:

‘For the obverse impression Our effigy with the inscription “ELIZABETH ∙ II ∙ D ∙ G ∙ REG ∙ FID ∙ DEF ∙”, the denomination “∙ TWO POUNDS ∙” and the date “2012”, and for the reverse a silhouette profile of the writer through the titles of his works, greater prominence being given to those that are more well known, with the inscription “1812 CHARLES DICKENS 1870” to the left. The said coins will have a graining upon the edge and in incuse letters the inscription “SOMETHING WILL TURN UP”, save for the gold coin where the incuse letters will be accompanied by a plain edge’.

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[faginsgirl]

This is for the BBC version.

BBC - Press Office - Gillian Anderson and David Suchet confirmed for BBC One's Great Expectations

A great reason to watch it if Gillian Anderson is in it, she was very good in Bleak house, not as good as Burn of course , but very good all the same.

[jaycad]

A great reason to watch it if Gillian Anderson is in it, she was very good in Bleak house, not as good as Burn of course , but very good all the same.

I watched 'Bleak House' in its entirety (yet again!) on Saturday and whilst Gillian Anderson,Johnny Vegas and Burn 'Mortified,I'm sure' Gorman were superb they were still in the shadow of Charles Dance and Phil Davis!

[faginsgirl]

I watched 'Bleak House' in its entirety (yet again!) on Saturday and whilst Gillian Anderson,Johnny Vegas and Burn 'Mortified,I'm sure' Gorman were superb they were still in the shadow of Charles Dance and Phil Davis!

I think Phil Davis was one of the best actors, but thought Charles Dance was just avarage in it most episodes.

[jaycad]

I think Phil Davis was one of the best actors, but thought Charles Dance was just avarage in it most episodes.

Really? I thought Charles Dance was excellent as 'Mr Tulkinghorn'-both his and Davis' characters needed to be embellished somewhat as they are nowhere near despicable enough (for TV) in the novel and both actors came through with flying colours!

[jimw1]

Gothic expectations: look at Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham | Film | guardian.co.uk

[Windyridge]

Was Martita Hunt really only 46 when she played Miss Havisham? She seemed an ancient crone to me when I first saw the film. But then she was one of those actors who always looked old IMO.

[jaycad]

I enjoyed Charlotte Ramplings 'Miss Havisham'.It seems that Helena Bonham Carter has achieved the most important aspect of the role which is to look like a mouldy wedding cake!

[jimw1]

Helena Bonham Carter's path to despair as Miss Havisham in Dickens' masterpiece | Mail Online

[faginsgirl]

Helena looks amazing!

Thanks for the pics Jim.

[jimw1]

Helena looks amazing!

Thanks for the pics Jim.

I think so too FG........

[CaptainWaggett]

BBC News - Great Expectations: New end penned for Dickens classic

Writer David Nicholls has revealed that he has written a new ending to Great Expectations for his movie "thriller" version of the Dickens classic.

The film, directed by Mike Newell, is currently being shot in the UK and stars Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham and Ralph Fiennes as Magwitch.

Nicholls, the author of hit novel One Day, was speaking at the launch of the BFI's Dickens on Screen season.

He said the ending was "somewhere in between" the two written by Dickens.

The BFI season is described as the largest retrospective of Dickens on film and television ever staged.

It will include David Lean's Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948), as well as rarely-seen silent adaptations like Scrooge - or Marley's Ghost (1901) and David Copperfield (1913).

"The David Lean film is a masterpiece and always will be a masterpiece," said Nicholls.

He said Dickens wrote "great action" which had helped influence the new screen version.

"It's very fast moving - with all kinds of twists and turns - so we're very much approaching it as a thriller."

Nicholls added: "What we didn't want to do was impose an anachronistic genre onto Dickens - we didn't want to turn it entirely into a film noir."

Continue reading the main story “Start QuoteWhen Pip goes to see Miss Havisham it's a bit like going to see Hannibal Lecter - it's a real set piece.”

End Quote David Nicholls
He said Magwitch's boat escape scenes were being filmed with Fiennes on Thursday in Kent.

"I'm incredibly excited about the film so far," he said.

"We're half-way through - we filmed Helena Bonham Carter's Miss Havisham scenes over the last two weeks and that was an extraordinary experience."

Other cast members include Jeremy Irvine as Pip, Robbie Coltrane as Mr Jaggers, Sally Hawkins as Mrs Joe, Holliday Grainger as Estella, Ewen Bremner as Wemmick, and David Walliams as Uncle Pumblechook.

Two endings

Nicholls said that turning a 500-page Dickens novel into a 120-minute film had meant leaving some things out.

"In the book, Pip goes to see Miss Havisham 14 times and we wanted to get it down to five times. When Pip goes to see her it's a bit like going to see Hannibal Lecter - it a real set piece."

He said the new film, out next year, would give a glimpse of Miss Havisham's wedding - not previously seen in movie versions.

The BFI season will include the epic two-part version of Little Dorrit (1988) with Derek Jacobi
The author revealed - to a few gasps in the room - that he had given Great Expectations a new ending.

"Dickens came up with two endings - one which is incredibly bleak and one which is unrealistically romantic and sentimental," Nicholls said.

"Neither are quite satisfactory and we've we've come up with an ending that it isn't in the book - and is somewhere in between.

"It draws on events in the book but takes them in a slightly different direction, but is in no way sacrilegious."

Dickens on Screen is at the BFI Southbank from January - March 2012. The season is part of Dickens 2012, the worldwide celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of his birth.

[jaycad]

I was worried that a 'bold' new adaptation would mean that the original plot had been messed around with-I suppose Dickens isn't good enough for 'Dickens Season'.

[icetorch]

The Royal Mint have released a picture of the 2012 two pound coin that commemorates Dickens. The designer of the coin is not named. Yes, Dickens dealt in words, and lots of them, but I do not think it is a worthy design, and I doubt that Dickens would have liked it either.