Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Fionn Whitehead, Olivia Colman, Ashley Thomas, Owen McDonnell, Johnny Harris, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Trystan Gravelle, Hayley Squires, Rudi Dharmalingham, Laurie Ogden, Matthew Needham, Tom Sweet, Matt Berry, Parth Thakerar, Chloe Lea, Jonathan Coy, Bronte Carmichael, Ben Moor, Emily Johnstone, James Foster, John Mackay, Eric Godon.

To wish or demand for the same outcome time and again shows that immovability and stagnation of the human spirit are sadly more common than we were led to believe, and whilst some change will often rub against the sentiment of the purist, to decry that which sparks revolution is to corrode and rust itself.

Great Expectations suffers from that which bares its name, that of being a much loved novel to which people turn to as arguably one of their first experiences of reading classic literature, couple that with the abundance, the sheer plethora of adaptions for cinema and television, and you are left with decades of directors’ visions which offer the same result, barely moving in its reference to that of knowing one’s place is an eventuality.

There is nothing wrong with feeling comfortable in what you watch on screen, after all in periods of universal drama, that which we seek to aid our recovery is always in the affluence of the content…but what if we stray a little, what if we dare to see the world not through our own eyes and feelings and instead take up arms in the value of another, how different could our lives be, not so much great expectations, but achievable recognition, that we can empathise with change and not struggle in its midst.

As with every adaption of Charles Dicken’s tale, there are characters that stand out because the focus has moved slightly away from that of the protagonist Philip Pirrip, and indeed in this latest tale two performances stand out in such a way that they add a greater definition to the tone of the story played out on the screen.

In amongst talk of Empire and relaxed views on opium, we have to remember that these places and times did exist, that just because the boy who left the furnace behind does not partake in the book, we must recall that if he were to have done so then the likelihood of the novel being published at that time would have been less than possible.

That is the point, we live in a period of time which is arguably more enlightened, more tolerant, more adaptable, so of the adaptor wishes to add to the persona of Pip’s sister by giving her the ability to engage in sadomasochism then that is a right, and as for the terrific performances by Ashley Thomas in the role of Jaggers, and Olivia Colman persuading the viewer of the complexity of Miss Havisham’s own brand of misandry then we reap the rewards of having allowed ourselves to have gone to the path of progressive politics and thought.

Great Expectations is what you make of it, if you go looking for more of the same then the best idea would be to stick with aversion you are comfortable with, whether in black and white then revel in John Mills delightful performance, or even look to the breath-taking despair with Gillian Anderson as she portrays the jilted bride with a melancholic brilliance, but times must and will always change, and to that end the latest version of the great man’s work is a champion of expression and reflection of our own blighted times. 

Ian D. Hall