Vanity Fair

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I've always meant to read Vanity Fair, so when I saw the poster advertising the film, I decided to go ahead and read it, before watching the film. When I eventually finished the book and watched the DVD, I LOVED it! A lot was left out, but it had to be because otherwise the film would be an overly long, sprawling mess. The film was colourful and vibrant, and so what if Becky wasn't portrayed exactly as she was in the novel? I thought that this adaptation was wonderful, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone. Some people might complain that it hasn't stayed true to the novel, but it's still a very enjoyable film in its own right. If you liked Moulin Rouge try this!

I caught up with this film on DVD recently and since I have always been interested in Mira Nair's work ever since her "Salam Bombay", I felt very disappointed in her work in this one. What turned the film suddenly from a tolerable experience into a bizzar one was when Becky surprises us with what is supposed to be an Indian dance is accompanied with a quite recent popular Egyptian song "Al-Salam Alykom" by singer Hakim. Which raises the question ,what kind of research went into such big budget film that can fall into this trap, particularly in a period film. I guess Ms.Mira is fond of "Salam" word in the song . Even the musical instruments used for the song could never belong to the period of the film.Counting on that most western audiences will not notice is a rather silly excuse. On the other hand I assure Ms.Nair that Arabic speaking audiences would burst into laughter once this scene comes on.

You can't blame anyone from India for wanting revenge on those imperialist British bastards, but I don't see why you should take it out on Thackeray. He was just an author; what did he do to deserve such treatment? It's been a pretty long while since I read Vanity Fair, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't about India. If you want to make a movie about India from a book by a British author, Kipling would be a good idea. Or if you want to make a film about India, by all means, make a film about India. I'd like to see more films about India. How about Salman Rushdie? But this is just ripping off Thackeray's novel for revisionist self-indulgence. If you're not going to even remotely adhere to the novel, don't call it Vanity Fair; make your own movie and call it something else. One last thing, Becky Sharp has been utterly defanged for some reason. It's just not Vanity Fair if Becky Sharp isn't something of a conniving, amoral little hussy. That's what makes her interesting and entertaining. Yes, this Becky Sharp is much nicer, but she's also rather dull.