Great Expectations – a Contemporary Approach

Great Expectations is a remarkable Charles Dickens‘ novel, and this Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity) adaptation is no less than that, only that it’s just an inspiration, a pretext, if you like. The movie was released in 1998 and this is another review of mine from that extraordinary year. Soon, I’ll publish a whole list of my already watched 1998 movies, with comments and recommendations, of course.

This wonderful movie is actually borrowed from Dickens, Cuarón changed some names and more than that, he changed the setting, from Victorian England to Florida nowadays, so it is not the cinematic transcription of the original gloomy novel. It is a coming of age drama where the love story is more important than all the rest.

[source: childstarlets.com]
 

Great Expectations – Plot

Finnegan (Finn) is a kid who lives most of the time on a sunny empty Florida beach. He sometimes goes fishing in his uncle’s boat, Joe. One afternoon, he is approached by an escaped convict, for chain pliers and food. Finn helped him, but he’s very impressed by the event. In the mean time, when not fishing, he’s helping Joe with some gardening job he got from Ms Dinsmoor, an eccentric millionaire who lived in a decrepit mansion in the area. At their first visit there, when Joe went to talk with Ms. Dinsmoor, Finn meets Estella, the beautiful ten years old niece. She was like an eerie apparition who enthralled Finn.

Unlike Pip, who dreamed to become a gentleman, Finn got some real artistic talent, he’s a drawer and a painter. By the way, the artwork in the movie is made by the Italian Francesco Clemente. Ms. Dinsmoor developed here also a real sense of humor. She eventually pays for Finn to come there and play with Estella. From this moment on, my strong recommendation for you is to watch the movie.

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Great Expectations – Cast

It’s amazingly played by Ethan Hawke as Finnegan Bell, the modern Pip, Gwyneth Paltrow as Estella, Hank Azariaas Walter Plane, Estella’s pretender, Chris Cooper as Joe, Finn’s uncle who raised him after his wife Maggie, left away, Anne Bancroft as Ms. Dinsmoor, the millionaire who impersonates a hundred times better the character who ought to be Miss Havisham, Robert De Niro as Lustig, the Prisoner, Josh Mostel as Jerry Ragno the lawyer who represents Finn’s benefactor, Kim Dickens as Maggie, Finn’s sister, Jeremy James Kissner as Finnegan at Age 10, and Raquel Beaudene as Estella at Age 10.

Great Expectations – Trailer

Here’s the trailer, a little bit spoiling, but this is an universally known work, so nothing is actually spoiled.

If you haven’t watched it yet, don’t avoid it next time. These Great Expectations will be a revelation.

 

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