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This film reminds me of nothing more than the BBC TV productions of Dickens I watched as a kid.
I am not sure this is a criticism, but it might be.
Many of the backgrounds are obviously painted and Oliver's clearly southern middle class accent is a little on the ridiculous side for an orphan from Northhampton.
Ben Kingsley pantomimes Fagin.
However it does zip along and I really enjoyed it.
It would be ideal for kids, say, 9-14 doing Dickens at school who might let some of these things slide.
There isn't an overdose of blood or sex, but the atmospere of damp, dark decaying London is well set.
So, a bit of a mixed bag, but I would rcommend it especially for anyone who doesn't know Dickens...
Follow Ups:
According to the "Making Of" documentary that came with my rental copy, the scenery was all newly-built (and not painted backdrops). Only in one instance--the long shot down the main street--was a "blue screen" placed at the end of the street, allowing for additional architecture not in the budget. The rest of the buildings and locales were real and pretty believable, I thought.The problem I had with the Oliver was not his accent, but his rather flat emotional demeanor. He seemed fairly "inert" througout most of the movie. A comparison with the Oliver from the classic David Lean production of 1948 will demonstrate this kid's shortcomings.
As for Ben Kingsley's Fagin, I didn't find it all that bad, certainly not on the level of a "pantomime".
All in all, an enjoyable rendition of this classic, but I really want to see the David Lean version again (currently not available on DVD?).
Does that mean the view of St. Paul's in the background is in some way real?
Given the nearground is not in LOndon it seems unlikely...
I did not mean KIngsley was bad as Fagin... within the form of the film he was good, but it was not a film that seemed to aim for "real" in my opinion.
Yes, it would be good to compare the Lean version, especially the late scenes where Bill Sykes is cornered. I seem to remember some of the shots as being more or less identical.
Oliver himself seems somewhat flat.
I actually thought it could be to allow young viewers to identify more easily with him.
The image of St Paul's that you see in the distance is being projected (or however they do it) on the blue/green screen. Everything else in front of it is a real set that was built on the studio lot.
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