It's taken me a few days to compose myself to write this. I had to look back at my copy of the 1973 version having watched the new episode 2 to focus what I really think of this version. It seems that everyone concerned has done a heroic job with what they have been given. Andrew Davies, with the best will in the world, does not have the screen time that Jack Pullman had in 1972. The result is that the story is pared down to the extreme limit. As a consequence, the characters are not having a chance to unfold naturally as they do in the book. Nor is the philosophical background having any chance at all to come through. In the 1973 version, plot, character and philosophy unfold in a beautiful and seamless fashion. Everything is together, like the unfolding of a flower or a great symphony. In the new version, the philosophy is almost entirely missing (at the moment) and the characters have been reduced to cardboard cut-outs. Again, I have to emphasise that this is the fault of the small amount of air-time the serial is being crushed into. The actors have done a great job with what they have been given. And there have still been some great moments. I am thinking especially of the death of Andrei's wife Lisa. This was beautifully done and very moving. Stephen Rea and Lily James were standouts also. Lily in particular could well turn out to be the entire productions saving grace. Once again, the locations and costumes (on which most of the budget was spent I suspect) took the breath away. I only wonder how much better it all might have been if the BBC had concentrated less on getting the locations right and thus had more money to give to air-time to let the story unfold at its proper pace. Then the 2-dimensional characters we are being given might perhaps have been given a fighting chance to become real flesh and blood and the true eternal beauty of Tolstoy's ideas might possibly have had a chance to reach our hearts...
I await episode 3...
....and again, many thanks to the BBC for the beautiful picture of the three lead characters...
I await episode 3...
....and again, many thanks to the BBC for the beautiful picture of the three lead characters...