The Woman in White

The reviews for this have really baffled me. I have watched the 1982, 1997, and 2018 version of the woman in white. The 1982 has lots of merits though it is very much an early 80s low budget bbc tv adaptation. The 1997 is total rubbish - amends the plot, too short, no atmosphere, and poor acting. But this 2018 version was very impressive I thought. It is extremely faithful to the novel save for a few streamlined plot elements. And at 5 hours long everything gets covered the way it should. I watch a lot of period adaptations, Dickens, Austen, as well as a lot of theatre, Shakespeare etc. So I am very used to seeing the best of the best in the British acting pantheon take on many of the classic roles. There is no classic actor here in the main characters but nevertheless it is a rare case of a smaller profile adaptation being very good despite the lack of high profile cast and crew. What really impressed me is how you really got a sense in this version of how the many elements of the novel - detective, mystery, crime, drama, gothic - all play a part and mesh together to make a really great story. Plot wise the novel is quite difficult to follow as well because a lot of pivotal events take place before the novel begins and are gradually unveiled throughout the course of the story, so you have to keep a lot of detail in your mind as it is told rather than seen. This adaptation did a really good job with the script in making this really easy to follow the plot. Ok it was not life changing and not hugely emotionally affecting. But I don't think either is the novel. It is a classic novel which pioneered a number of features of modern storytelling we now take for granted, and I think this adaptation did as good as job as could be imagined in conveying the novel, it's tone, plot, and messages, to screen.

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.

So atmospheric and creepy. Great cast and acting. Hoorah for the BBC!

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.

The first episode (of 5, I believe) was excellent. Clever, absorbing, twisted, dark, entertaining. Well acted. I am completely pulled in, and will look forward to finding out what's going on!

UPDATE AFTER FOUR EPISODES: Ugh. Like many of these 8-hour adaptations, it would have made a great 2-hour movie, but in order to fill out 8 hours, they have to pad and pad and pad, and stretch and stretch and stretch. Every scene is too long. Every event happens three or four times. "Same stuff, different day." Why do they do that? Cut it down to a great 2-hour movie.

If you watch this, watch it with the remote in your hand. Fast-forward is your friend.