Season 21 - Adam Bede (1991-1992)
For about six years in the late eighties and early nineties everyone seemed to fall under the mass delusion that Patsy Kensit could act. She was everywhere. I don't know if it's because of her music career with Eighth Wonder or the, to me, completely baffling successful of Absolute Beginners, but she was the "it girl" of the moment. As an aside, if a movie stars David Bowie and I buy it for a dollar at Half Price Books yet am never able to bring myself to finish watching it, that is the definition of a bad movie. In fact Robert Altman takes the piss out of it in the first few minutes of The Player. Now that is a movie worth watching. As for Adam Bede, the only reason I have this on DVD is because it was included in The George Eliot Collection and it was cheaper to buy the whole set than to buy Middlemarch separately, and I needed my Rufus Sewell. I know you know what I'm talking about. When I got the set ironically the first adaptation I watched was Adam Bede because I was in the mood for some Iain Glen. This was long before Game of Thrones and therefore the reason I was mildly obsessed with him was because of Wives and Daughters. You know I really think Mr. Preston and Cynthia could have made a go of it. But that wasn't to be. And ironically Adam Bede is just another Iain Glen doesn't get the girl story. And yes, it's a recurring theme. The only lasting impression I have of that first viewing is thinking how depressing it was. I also remember that I had some disappointment that Patsy Kensit survived. I mean, if she's going to darken my door the least she could do is slump over and expire on the stoop. What annoys me most about her casting is this is peak early nineties casting, Iain Glenn, James Wilby, Susannah Harker, and Alan Cox! Think how good this could have been without her? Especially when the supporting roles are played by Jean Marsh, Julia McKenzie, Freddie Jones, Patsy Byrne, and George Innes. Oh, and George Innes, he is fabulous. Most known for his roles in The Italian Job and Upstairs, Downstairs, he has only one scene where he's in the witness box and he describes the dead child Patsy Kensit's character has left under a bush, and it's just heartbreaking. Even if she wasn't guilty as sin, for being Patsy Kensit AND for abandoning the child James Wilby got her with, I would have convicted her just due to the testimony against her. To have one actor outshine everyone made you realize how pedestrian this adaptation is. It's nothing more than a girl being seduced by the lord of the manor and getting with child, thus destroying the good village boy who truly loved her. AKA Iain Glenn not getting the girl. Again. So therefore I maybe shouldn't lay all the blame on Patsy Kensit? I mean, her casting technically just adds to the peak early nineties vibe... And it's not like this rather pedestrian story could have been improved. At the end of the day her character was transported to Australia and the much nicer girl played by Susannah Harker got the boy. So, win win in the end? Or maybe it was a Pyrrhic victory?
There are some authors who you just expect bleak and depressing stories from. It doesn't matter if you've read all their work. You might have read one or two of their books and were able to extrapolate the general vibe. George Eliot is just such an author. Not so depressing as Thomas Hardy, but it takes a lot to beat his bleak tales. I honestly had no idea what to expect from Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, I mean, it would be epic if there was some deep lore about the production wherein Ben Kingsley spent years learning how to properly use a loom and then literally only used it for perhaps five minutes of screen time, but that was just my wishful thinking in the vein of how Daniel Day-Lewis role prepares for a role. But good on Sir Ben for working those pedals like his life depended on it. And shoeless no less! In fact, he's giving us a very nicely turned out leg here. Too bad you were never invited to the dance up at the big house Silas, you might just have won the heart of fair maiden. Instead, this here is a tale of a man who is taken advantage of because he is disabled and only learns to trust again after raising a foundling. And yes, that is a lot to take it. I mean, really, this is a prime example of how evil people can be. Silas is again and again taken advantage of because of his condition. This was written and set in the 1800s so there was no available diagnosis of catalepsy, but it just shows how time and time again anyone viewed as "other" is ostracized. And characters openly plot against Silas because of his condition. His best friend frames him for stealing their congregation's funds and Silas is thrown to the wolves, losing his standing, his fiance, everything. He has a fit on the side of the road and Jim Broadbent of all people is like, he had money on him boys, let's go rob him! Of course someone who needed money more overheard this conversation and robbed him first. To treat a disability as an opening for exploitation is abhorrent. I was literally enraged and then to have his redemption be Patsy Kensit!?! Oh please. Spare me. Literally, spare me anything to do with Patsy Kensit, who is, of course, the legitimate daughter of the heir to the big house. Which means she could have a life of luxury once she discovers her hidden heritage, but instead decides to continue living with Silas and get married. I mean, there's loyalty and then there's stupidity. Couldn't they have worked something out that made everyone happy? Or at least financially viable? The problem is, clocking in at ninety minutes this tale is too short to do justice to what's going on. The heir to the big house is secretly married to an opium addict played by the incomparable Angela Pleasence and I don't think she's actually conscious for a single scene. Why would you hire such a wondrous talent and then not deign to use her? The tale needed to be fleshed out, the rich and the poor balanced. I wanted more and this felt like the CliffsNotes version. Just tacking on a happy ending where it's people and not money that makes life worthwhile doesn't sweep away the bitter taste in my mouth for how Silas was treated. It was only moments before after all. Mere moments.
