Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10
Cast: Michael Caine, Lena Hedley, Rafferty Law, Sophie Simnett, David Walliams, Rita Ora, Noel Clarke, Franz Drameh, Jason Maza, Samuel Leakey, Tanya Burr, Sally Collett,
There is a fine line between reinvention for art’s-sake and revolution for the gift of authentic uniqueness, and whatever your view on adapting a classic story for the modern age, the result must be one that installs a connection between the social conscious and the message intended and that of the one actively using their senses to understand that it is not just intended for them, but for all.
If the connection is seen as too pure then it loses its grip on the soul, therefore it must be part of the machine, the hammering home of the message that all must be instructed at some point in the revolution, that we must decide for ourselves if we stick or Twist on art as for the masses regardless of how it is presented, or if it is only for those who allegedly comprehend its meaning, or appreciate its monetary value.
To reduce art to a figure, an equation of pounds and pence, is to insist that it is a tool of the rich and the stock-market, and whilst the artist deserves recompense for their effort, it should also not be used to create false wealth, bought and sold by those who get rich on the back of the artist’s original thought.
A perennial favourite of book readers and audiences alike, Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist has undergone many adaptions, some catching the frame of reference of the past, others finding difficulty in finding empathy in the time it was released, but in Twist, the sense of capturing the modern day blight of homelessness, of the authentic artist voice is at least adhered to, followed in some way that doesn’t detract from the premise of the film being more of a heist than a social commentary on the poor and undervalued of London and the U.K. as a whole.
The gender inversion in two of the main roles as well, with the excellent Lena Headley in excellent form as the brutish, psychotic Sikes, is appreciated, and with Rita Ora leading the way in the criminal and dishonest stakes as Dodge, and Sophie Simnett as Red, a modern-day equivalent of the sympathetic character of Nancy, Twist is a cunning enough adaption that is sure to garner its own popularity by moving away from the intended grime and piercing the heart of reinvention.
The fine line of the artist’s brush is blurred and shaped in Twist, an adaption that uses the modern-day sickness of removing the authentic voice and misused by those with no appreciation for the art, only for the monetary value as its scenery.
Ian D. Hall