Vanity Fair is a BBC television drama serial adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by Andrew Davies. Six episode mini-series.
For those who like leading ladies with spice and bite, director Marc Munden’s 1998 adaptation of Vanity Fair is for them. It portrays Becky Sharp just as William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) wrote her — as a cunning, unprincipled, manipulative social climber who is so beguiling that no man can resist her. Like a flame attracting moths, she lures men to the refulgence of her beauty and charm — and then the intrigue begins. Natasha Little portrays Becky. She is so deliciously devious in the role that the viewer almost roots for her as she connives and double-crosses. But will she change? Is she really an Austen-esque heroine in disguise who will doff her nasty ways after undergoing childbirth and other life events? Fans of the novel, in which Thackeray satirizes the pretensions of 19th century England’s middle and upper classes, already know the answer to that question. Andrew Davies, who wrote the script for the highly successful BBC production of Pride and Prejudice, also adapted Thackeray’s novel for this BBC-A&E production. The film contains much of the same kind of clever repartee as Pride and Prejudice, and the characters are well-drawn and the actors well-cast. Nathaniel Parker — with his good looks, mustache, and insouciant manner — bears a strong resemblance to Rhett Butler in his portrayal of Captain Rawdon Crawley, a card-playing rogue who has the same kind of stormy relationship with Becky as Butler does with Scarlett O’Hara. Other actors serve mostly as caricatures representing typical English men and women of the day: Jeremy Swift as the self-satisfied Jos Sedley, Frances Grey as the cloyingly sweet Amelia Sedly, and Philip Glenister as the long-suffering admirer of Amelia, Colonel Dobbin, who is the only honest and upright character in Vanity Fair. Filmed in England, Wales, France, and Germany, the production features lavish sets and period costumes — including redingotes, Regency evening gowns, and crisp military uniforms — to accentuate the 19th century ambience. However, Murray Gold’s musical score may be a bit too modern in its impudent sarcasm, at least for some viewers. – Mike Cummings
Starring Natasha Little, Frances Grey and Philip Glenister.
Included in the BBC Classic Drama Collection as DVDs 4, 5.