Crafted by the same team who produced the famous Pride & Prejudice mentioned in about every other post on this blog, Wives and Daughters is a marvel. The costumes are amazing, the sets are unbelievable, the acting superb and the script, fantastic. If you were asleep like I was in 2003 and missed this, see it soon!I loved the heroine of Molly Gibson so much. Her integrity and intelligence, her sense of right and fairness, her compassion and charm, her ability to be graceful in difficult situations all combine to represent that better self many of us hope to be.
The script explores many things, but most fascinatingly how we find ourselves in love with another person. Characters in the film represent so many differing avenues to this end. The father chooses love by appropriatenss and station. Cynthia chooses love by the desire to be desired. Her mother chooses love in order to be rescued. Molly chooses love by friendship and admiration.
I thought the following comments also presented very interesting aspects of the story:
"Davies, who wrote the scripts for such Masterpiece Theatre classics as A Rather English Marriage, Moll Flanders, the House of Cards trilogy, and Middlemarch, found Wives and Daughters to be perfect costume-drama material. It posed a rather interesting problem: Gaskell died just before completing the book. She was obviously aiming at a happy ending, and Davies has supplied the lost denouement with surprise and style. "
"Wives and Daughters is about the ordinary mysteries of life," says producer Sue Birtwistle, previously responsible for the BBC's Pride and Prejudice and Masterpiece Theatre's King Lear. "[It's about] where love comes from, how it grows, how it can break our hearts, how it can bring happiness and fulfillment. It's about the mistakes we make and the secrets we have to keep."
***This dvd is available through netflix and there are a few copies though Amazon.. for around $30..I think that if you liked Pride and Prejudice, you might find it worth owning.
8 comments:
SLC county library has it in their system as well. I just placed a hold for it. I am eager to watch it.
I can't wait to watch it, I'll add it to my queue.
My Mom gave this to me a while ago. I love it--it's beautifully done, and I admire Molly Gibson's character very much too.
Great review, Loveboxes! Yes, check it out, girls, it's a beautiful movie. I like the paragraph about how they each "love". Lovely.
Okay, I'm going to put this on hold myself.
Hope that means they have it in davis co library system! I need a new good movie. Lovely thoughtful review tif.
Hmm, now where am I going to get my hands on this in Vancouver? SOMEbody must have it.
It's amazing how certain words can be SO Powerful: integrity, compassion, grace. I think we should be learning these kinds of important words in school, and be trained to say them to others. What a gift that would be to our fellow beings :)
everywhere i visit... there you are. I read your comments all the time, I already feel like I know you. I felt that it was high time I actually check out your blog... and already I'm loving it. I'm a huge fan of the P&P series... so I'll have to check this out too. thanks for the suggestion.
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