"Standing at its brink, like a swimmer who prepares, was the good man
. But he was not the good man that she had expected, and he was alone."
. But he was not the good man that she had expected, and he was alone." 
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
Its a great moment....in the book, and in the Merchant Ivory film too....."For a moment he had contemplated her, as one who had fallen out of heaven."...thats too much!
*Sigh*
That moment that Im referring to of course, is the one where Lucy finds George out in the field of flowers. The BBC version of the events is very similar to the MI version, even to the point where Lucy approaches from the left of the screen. But as Luke said, its the music in the MI which really pushes that adaptation right over the edge!
Over the edge all right... My favourite part of the MI version is when Cecil is swatting a bee away while drinking a cup of tea.
never fails to crack me up.
I definitely think that Daniel Day-Lewis is the ultimate Cecil. Poor Cecil. Hes so cultured but he really has no idea of life. Its funny how Lucy doesnt really realise all this until she has that episode with George.....despite the fact that she plays Beethoven all the time. Which is exactly what Mr beebe was pointing out from the beginning of the novel. "If Miss Honeychurch ever takes to live as she plays, it will be very exciting - both for us and for her."
A week ago I would have said DD-L was the ultimate Cecil, but the latest BBC version has made me look back on the old one and find some fault:
yeah, he's hilarious and plays the bookish fop to a tee, but in hindsight why does Lucy think she loves him? The new BBC Cecil was not so brilliant an actor, but you could at least see the attraction. The viewer was taken on the same journey with him as Lucy presumably travelled, with lots of evident charm, even wit, and only a gradual revealing of his non-tennis-playing ways.
And Julian Sands? Worst. Actor. Ever. I've always thought that it was a testament to the MI film's other strengths that it succeeded in spite of him. He wasn't cockney. He wasn't a riddle. He wasn't attractive. OK, he gave good manly striding, but so did the Italian coachman. The BBC George made me wince at first but I was won over by the fact that he seemed to have a soul. And he made the class-gap obvious. His speech to Charlotte at the end was totally convincing.
But he didn't make up for the absence of Denholm Elliot as Mr Emerson, Maggie Smith as Charlotte, Stephen Callow as Rev Bebe and that funny guy who all my female friends had a crush on as Freddy.
Have I ever told you, Beck, about discovering, in the middle of watching it, that my grandpa is in the MI version of "Maurice". Quite a shock, especially as he wordlessly tries to do unspeakable things to a young boy on a train. But he isn't in the book.
I see your take on DDL Luke, but i thought the whole point of the MI version with DDL as Cecil, was that Lucy was going through the motions and doing what everyone expected her to do, so whether he is appealing or not becomes pretty irrelevant, in fact the less appealing he is really emphasises how ridiculous Lucy is being in denying her feelings to fit what she believes other people expect from her.
As for the Maurice story, I hope you are ok! That would be quite a shock!
I actually think that Lucy just got engaged to Cecil because she had a taste of sex, wanted more and then was quite prepared to just marry anyone who admired her in order to feel it again. In her innocence she thought it would be the same with Cecil as it was with George.....until she sees George again and is overwhelmed and reminded of what real passion is like.....he really puts her in a quandry. She falls for him like she falls for Beethoven.
hey beck, i think if you join our comments together there is one coherent argument.
nice work.
NO Luke!...is that the one with Hugh Grant?...thats a really great interpretation i think!.....great book.
*Julian Sands. So bad he's great. Almost as great as Keanu.
*DD-L. Awesome. But about as sexy as he was as Christy Brown. Cecil makes me sad.
*Freddy's floppy hair. So floppy! It's such a shame how much Rupert Graves loses his funk in later years (think Forsyte Saga).
"Good manly striding"...thats so funny Luke, but please discuss!
Post a Comment