Lambie Reviews Great Expectations

Year: 1946
Accolades: One of 1001 Films You Must See Before You Die

This is David Lean's 1946 interpretation of the Dickens novel, and perhaps the most well-loved adaptation of the work amongst Dickens fans. Seeing the cast listing during the opening credits, I had, well, great expectations about what I was about to see. Alec Guinness? Jean Simmons? When you recognise actors in a Dickens adaptation, things are surely going to be good, right?

Unfortunately, it just doesn't hold up to a viewing unless you're a fan of the book, I guess. Having not read the book, I can't comment on how faithful it is, but the plot elements are so obvious that you can work out all the twists purely because of what's been shown or spoken on screen.

The film opens with what seems like an absolutely pointless scene in which our main character as a young boy helps an escaped convict (who is then caught and shipped off later). The convict and the event don't spur on the main story. Nope. The convict just disappears and life goes on as usual. Now, you wouldn't show such an event unless it had some bearing on either the plot or the character's psyche, and since it does nothing for the character psyche, we must assume the event is important in some way. Guess what? Turns out it is.

The entire film is like this. It becomes a series of events interspersed with predictable plot development or coincidence, or at the least doesn't dare introduce secondary characters. That kid who fights him in the garden? About 6 years later they coincidentally wind up as friends roommates for the rest of the film.

Only the third act had me watching with anything that formed what resembled interest and emotional investment. And then the film has its climax and ends rather abruptly and conveniently. There's no coda and not enough time for a satisfying conclusion. In fact, the climax of the love story, which seemingly acts as the climax of the film, felt brief that for a film that spans nearly two hours it felt like should have been a bit longer in order to satisfactorily close out the film.

The only thing I did enjoy about the film was it's Oscar winning cinematography. Some of the shots in the film are spectacular in their cinematic vision. The marshes look suitable creepy, and London (even upper-class London) feels suitably cramped. In a way, it becomes hard to imagine the story looking any other way, at least stylistically. Even a colour version just wouldn't look right.

But then again, if you're paying more attention to the cinematography than you are to the script, something is very wrong with the film.