Review of Vanity Fair

Introduction

I never realised it before, but the British entertainment industry is in a crisis. Why else are so many actors from abroad, adopting an accent and heading the cast of British productions? In recent years we have had Gwyneth Paltrow and Renee Zellwegger filling very British roles, and now Reese Witherspoon takes the lead role in Vanity Fair, a quintessentially British novel. The answer of course is that it guarantees sales in the US if an American actor leads the cast, and British actors similarly succeed when cast in American roles. It also doesn`t hurt that when it comes to awards season, the ability to carry off an accent or act from beneath some disfiguring make-up can more than compensate for an otherwise unremarkable performance. However an accurate accent doesn`t guarantee a hit movie, and a costume drama set in the Regency period needs to tell a gripping story to succeed.

Vanity Fair tells the story of Becky Sharp, the daughter of a French opera singer and an artist who is orphaned at an early age. Raised in a finishing school for young ladies, she learns of etiquette and graces, despite being looked down on as being of low birth. She nevertheless vows to move upward in society, and to that end when she comes of age, she takes a position as the governess at Crawley Manor, tutoring Sir Pitt Crawley`s youngest children. It isn`t the ideal start that she is looking for though, and jumps at the chance to join Matilda Crawley`s house in London, where she meets the dashing Rawdon. She finds though, that for every step up the social ladder, there is a setback, and all through her life, there remains the enigmatic shadow of the Marquess of Steyne.

Video

Vanity Fair is presented in a 2.35:1 anamorphic ratio, and befitting such a recent film, the print is immaculate, with no print damage and no significant grain. There was the occasional moment of softness, and I felt that the reds were a little over saturated, but on the whole the transfer does justice to the lavish production, the immaculate costumes and the lush visuals. This film makes the most of the period it is set in, and it has a multicultural feel reflecting the burgeoning days of Empire in which the story is set.

Audio

A DD 5.1 English soundtrack is effective in reproducing the film. It isn`t an exceptionally surround intensive track, nevertheless the music and ambience is adequately conveyed using the speakers, other than that it is a fairly front-focussed film. The dialogue was a little muffled at times, making the presence of HOH English subtitles a useful one. The music is suited to the film, but I did find that the main theme became repetitive and annoying, especially as it is repeated on the disc`s menus.

Features

The disc starts with a procession of scenes from the film, so remember to keep your eyes closed lest you happen to glimpse any spoilers.

There are a couple of featurettes on this disc, beginning with The Women Behind Vanity Fair. This lasts 9 minutes and features talking heads from Mira Nair, Reese Witherspoon and three of the producers as they talk about the novel and the film, and the role of women behind the camera in Hollywood.

Welcome To Vanity Fair at 12 minutes is more of a making of, with the cast and crew talking about the story and the film, interspersed with some behind the scenes footage and film clips. It`s very EPK lite, which is usually the case on recent films making their debut on DVD.

There are 14 minutes of deleted scenes on the disc. Of most interest is the alternate ending, which gives the film a more downbeat and sombre climax in comparison to the ending used.

There are trailers for Wimbledon, Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason, Love Actually and Billy Elliot the Musical.

To top it all off, there is an audio commentary from director Mira Nair. It`s a pretty straightforward commentary, and initially an interesting listen as the director fills in the gaps with reference to the novel and the characters. The trouble is that the commentary loses steam halfway through, and in the latter half of the film peters out to the occasional interjection.

All the extras are subtitled, including the commentary, but it`s one of those commentaries that will display subtitles for the film`s dialogue when the director isn`t speaking.

Conclusion

This is a lavish production of Vanity Fair; no expense is spared on bringing the story to the screen. The sets are expansive, the costumes lavish, and the music and choreography in certain scenes all come together to create a piece of period eye candy that makes it hard to turn away from the screen. Yet the luxurious visuals do little to detract from a film that I just found lengthy yet piecemeal, ultimately an unsatisfying experience.

I haven`t read the original novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, but what appears on screen seems to be a set of highlights. We dip in and out of Becky Sharp`s life, seeing the significant moments in her life, but there is little opportunity to become comfortable with her character. In a matter of minutes whole years pass, most noticeably in the beginning of the film, which jumps from her childhood to the moment she leaves finishing school, intent on working her way up in society, yet the moments that defined her character up to this point, remain unknown to us. We never really stay with one portion of her life long enough to see her relationships develop and deepen, so what remains is the cultured and light dialogue of the costume drama, always ephemeral and lacking in subtext.

Reese Witherspoon is fine in the part, although the accent is just generic enough to be annoying. I think what bugged me more was the rather inconsistent aging. The story takes place over several years, but characters aged at different rates if at all. It seemed to me that Becky Sharp and her friend Amelia remained remarkably ageless, while other characters gained only a few grey hairs. The rest of the cast is variable, with some stand out performances from Bob Hoskins and Rhys Ifans.

The problem isn`t with the casting, or the direction, rather the pick and mix nature of the screenplay. Despite the sheer prettiness of the film, I never felt that I got to know any of the characters, and remained uninvolved with the story. Becky Sharp`s tale of class-consciousness and social climbing failed to stir me, but Amelia`s personal story was the more gripping and hers was the most sympathetic character. When there are so many story threads to follow, what is needed is either space for the story to breathe in the form of an extensive running time, or a ruthless editor to find the heart of the story and hack out what is redundant. Neither has happened here, and it was a chore for me to keep up with the ups and downs of Becky Sharp`s life.

A sumptuous feast for the eyes masks the eclectic nature of a screenplay that tries to tell too much in too little a time. The technical quality of the disc is up to the usual standards for new releases. If you want to see a vibrant contemporary take on costume dramas then Vanity Fair is worthy of a rent, but little more.