Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6897 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-07-04
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 325 minutes

Synopsis
Follows the fortunes of Becky Sharp as she climbs the social ladder. Determined to reach the top, Becky schemes and seduces those who get in her way. Her progress is threatened, however, when she encounters real love... Based on the novel by William Makepeace Thackeray.

Customer Reviews

a great mini-series
I thought this was a great mini-series. There were a few points where I literally laughed out loud at the antics of the characters. Having not read the book yet, I found one or two little things that I didn't really understand but it didn't spoil the overall enjoyment.

I have nothing bad to say about this. I loved the costumes and settings and intend to watch this many more times in the future. It is also the reason I have bought the book, which otherwise, I probably wouldn't have bothered with.

Timeless classic brought to life
Anyone loving the book and wanting a faithful depiction of its events and characters is well advised to stick to this version rather than the more superficial and trivialised version with a (heavily pregnant) Reese Witherspoon.
Natasha Little is Becky Sharp personified, a beautiful but penniless social climber; and who better suited to be the faithful, plodding Dobbin than adorable Philip Glenister.
Becky Sharp is a complex, never entirely likeable character, always in control, always manipulative, as she schemes her way through life in the setting of England in the throes of the Napoleonic Wars; but Natasha Little and the rest of the cast do splendid justice to this timeless classic of love, friendship - and betrayal.

Fabulous
I can quite understand why some people don't warm to this adaptation of the book - it's very bold and 'in your face'. That, however, is very much in keeping with the style of the novel. I feel sure that Thackeray would have been delighted with the way his characters have been brought to life! In both the novel and this TV series, they are not so much characters as caricatures - they are designed to be 'over the top' and unrealistic. That is how Thackeray gets across his message - the greed, artificiality and hypocrisy of polite society in the 19th century.

This TV adaptation does indeed have a 'cop out' ending but Thackeray's own treatment of this area was not consistent - he shies away from actually confirming Becky as being guilty of this final crime as though that was a bit too much even for him! I don't think this detracts from the quality of the adaptation at all.

This is a richly filmed, brilliantly acted and hysterically funny series that I think is a 'must see'.