Vanity Fair
A big-screen version of William Makepeace Thackeray's novel. Set in the 1840s, it centers on a lower-class girl, Becky Sharp (Witherspoon), who defies her poverty-stricken background to climb the London social ladder with her best friend, Amelia, by her side.
Member Reviews
Worth watching - palmtree
This movie is pretty good. If you like happy period pieces like Jane Austen you might like this. It is a well done period piece; lovely costumes and sets. However it is not "happy"; the hero is really an anti-hero and the characters are all very flawed, human. But it has been made lighter than the book it is based on. The book was much darker. But it is still worth watching, just know what you are getting into.It is what it is - MonkeyKing
Period pieces are very tricky in that the language and customs of the time can be distracting. I was not particularly fond of the novel, but I gave this movie a chance. Reese Witherspoon plays the lead well; her character is an annoying social climber and Witherspoon gets this across clearly. However, if you can't stand the lead, how enjoyable is the movie? Jonathan Rhys Meyers is quite good in the movie, and the filming itself is done well. I would just never recommend this to anyone who doesn't really enjoy period pieces about high strung English women of this era.A firey woman only slightly tamed for the screen. - ScarlettLynn
I'm in the unique position of having finished reading the novel "Vanity Fair" just a few minutes before popping in the DVD of the movie for the first time. It stands up to comparison quite well and is a good and solid film.
Mira Nair is a bold director who brought a truly unique vision to the film. Her added flair of Indian influences only adds to the richness of the film and creates some breathtaking visuals. Starting with a credit sequence that I found both haunting and engaging. It sets a great tone for the film which follows.
The novel is an incredibly leisurely and dense tale that truly makes you feel the years passing as you read it. (Sometimes too slowly, sometimes not.) However, the film's pacing seemed rather rushed and too fast for certain elements of the story that suffered for it. (Amelia's story would have benefited from a slower film.)
Reese Witherspoon is dazzling and beautiful as Becky Sharp. She perfectly captures the witt and wildness of Becky's social climbing character. However, it's clear from what is said in the film, and from special features, that the film was afraid of making Becky too unsympathetic. It seems that her lack of maternal instinct was deemed too great a flaw for the film version of Becky Sharp.
Overall, however, I think almost all the changes made to the film are good ones and work for the movie as a whole. And I prefer the ending to the film to the one supplied by the Thackery novel. Definately worth watching if you enjoy period films.
Member Reviews
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Worth watching - palmtree
This movie is pretty good. If you like happy period pieces like Jane Austen you might like this. It is a well done period piece; lovely costumes and sets. However it is not "happy"; the hero is really an anti-hero and the characters are all very flawed, human. ...It is what it is - MonkeyKing
Period pieces are very tricky in that the language and customs of the time can be distracting. I was not particularly fond of the novel, but I gave this movie a chance. Reese Witherspoon plays the lead well; her character is an annoying social climber and ...A firey woman only slightly tamed for the screen. - ScarlettLynn
I'm in the unique position of having finished reading the novel "Vanity Fair" just a few minutes before popping in the DVD of the movie for the first time. It stands up to comparison quite well and is a good and solid film.
Mira Nair is a bold director ...