The first 20 minutes is excellent with the story constantly being moved forward yet never feeling rushed. Things seem to play out in real time, as though this was theatre and not just film. Much like other favoured female characters in Dicken's stories from those books written in the 1840s and 1850s Amy Dorrit is a dutiful kind daughter much like Florence Dombey, Little Nell or Agnes in David Copperfield. Nor does the story have a diabolical villain like Uriah Herp, Squeers or Quilp. The characters here are complex, some embody unhealthy off-putting attributes but that doesn't make them your typical TV or Film bad guys. This film operates with a high level of realism in that respect. The story though is happy to poke fun at some of the absurdities of Victorian society, Government departments, impossible to navigate or prisons were men are held because they haven't paid their debts, while being completely unable to work in order to pay off that debt.
The Little Dorrit we meet in part 1 is one we see very little of but think about a great deal. She's a kind sweet shy character, just like our hero and that's why I think they work so well together. You're longing for them to come together. Little Dorrit is slightly cruelly contrasted with Flora, a middle-aged, overweight, forward, outspoken, silly woman. Some of the production design and sound editing is also brilliant, the poverty we see at the end in the living quarters the sound of the shouting, the yelling coming through the thing walls, the sound of squalor, poverty and the flies buzzing around his room. The film also works at a symbolic level too, the needle work Little Dorrit does so well displaying the quiet patient nature of her personality.
The film doesn't rely on frantic editing, loud sound, jump scares, over the top performances or gag after gag. It's a mature film, asking it's audience to think and feel more deeply.
I love the sound design as our main character returns to his mothers home, the creaky floorboards and the wind howling away outside. The costumes are also superb and really inject some colour into the film. The casting is also excellent and then you have the original story by Dickens, a superb storyteller. When we meet Mr Dorrit played by Alec Guiness it's such an interesting character, despite his reduced circumstances it's made clear he's very much still a gentleman who has a great deal of sway inside the prison.
The actress playing Little Dorrit speaks very little to begin with, it's often as much about what she isn't saying than what she is. The actress has very dark eyes, dark hair, a very thin frame, and gives the character a slightly sickly look and a slightly mournful sad look. There's no trace of exuberance or vanity or anger within her. It's quite common among Dickens characters, she's a downtrodden outcast in a sense, like Oliver Twist or Little Nell who still retains her innocence and goodness.
In Part 1 every scene is seen through his eyes. It's quite a clever device as we really get to know him an see things from his perspective. Equally we wonder once he's left the room how the other characters who remain do next.
