One of my favorite novels of all time, Vanity Fair has been adapted once again for ITV for a new TV series. I remember when i watched the 1998 BBC version thinking there is no way this will be ever surpassed and so far my opinion has not changed. After the horrendous 2004 film featuring a heavily pregnant Reese Witherspoon who played a very watered down, much more romantic Becky, i have noticed writers tend to make her more likable than she is supposed to be. In this newest version, she's quirky, charming and delightful and that's all right but there seems to be no ulterior motive behind it, no calculation, no strategy. Becky Sharp is a social climbing opportunist who does pretty despicable things along the way.She weaves her way through situations to take advantage of what she can. Whatever she does, has an ultimate purpose; her friendship with Amelia leads her to brother Joseph who is wealthy. Her interest in Rawdon and Miss Crawley is the inheritance he is about to get once she passes away. Here it is portrayed like a fairytale, a rich heir who falls in love with a poor governess who we must root for. Olivia Cooke is a decent actress and i'm curious to see how she'll unveil Becky's wickedness as the story progresses. This is the Novel Without A Hero. We aren't supposed to like her and i don't understand why modern versions insist on it. Natasha Little was a fascinating Becky, both schemish and sly but also charming and cunning.
As for the rest of the cast it is baffling what they did with Pitt Crawley, Rawdon's brother. They replaced him with Bute who is in fact Sir Pitt's brother and i don't get why not just keep the characters as they are in the book. Modern music in period dramas has become a trend so i'll just ignore that altogether; there is a soapopera feel to the music score at times.
The whole thing looks as if it's been edited with an istagram filter making everything look overexposed.
This cast is fairly younger than in the rest of the adaptations which makes sense since the aim is to draw in a younger audience. George Osborne isn't as handsome or as snobbish as he should be and Amelia looks less naive for this role.
Overall, BBC kept it faithful to the novel with outstanding performances and not much fluff. I shall always love thay version more but i'll keep watching this one as well to see the outcome.
Review of Vanity Fair
