Editor and columnist Martin Anderson argues for more accurate and detailed depictions of Victorian London in Dickens movies:
"Just once, I would like to see the vast and genuinely alien realms of the Victorian age given the same care and attention in movies that the rustic environments of Tolkien have enjoyed -- and, with the forthcoming Hobbit movies, will continue to enjoy -- over the past decade. If I concentrate on the works of Dickens in this regard, it's because I am a fan, and because these works have not only become iconographic in regards to the modern conception of the 19th century, but also share with Tolkien and other fantasy authors a truly unique and surreal flavour. . . .
"The BBC, of course, have built up a large stockpile of apparel and detritus from decades of Dickens adaptations, which inevitably get pressed into service for the latest -- but this economy doesn't begin to approach the problem of bringing to life the sheer atmosphere of Dickens best work, particularly within the restricted means of a TV serial."
I can't say I've ever given it that much thought, but it's an interesting argument. See what you think.
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