The immortal characters of Charles Dickens' classis novel, Oliver Twist...A penniless orphan in 17th century London... Poor but honest Oliver is fleeing the cruelty of the workhouse when he's forced in a band of young thieves headed by the notorious Fagin and the evil Bill Sikes. But when the greedy cutthroats threaten Oliver's only chance for happiness, the gentle-hearted boy must summon the courage to fight for his freedom and future.
It is safe to proclaim that it is merely a superb piece of motion picture art and, beyond doubt, one of the finest screen translations of a literary classic ever made.
It's Lean's direction that makes the production really pop. It's relentless, but fluid and deft, keeping us on our toes rather than wallowing in misery.
Despite compression of characters and charges of Alec Guinness' anti-Semitic potrayal of Fagin, David Lean's version is still the most dramatically compelling, historically atmopsheric, and flawlessly acted.
Beautiful and unrivaled adaptation of Oliver Twist. No amount of Food, Glorious Food is going to lay this gem to rest. Lean creates a visual masterpiece evident within the first couple of minutes, a dark and brooding storm that is reminiscent of many works of German expressionism. Dialogue is used only when absolutely
necessary making it a perfect cinematic piece. The performances are incredible from everybody. Newton gives a more subtle than some rendition of Sykes. Though still menacing his reaction after Nancy's death is pure unbelievable emotion. He's not just some cold bastard, but a man with serious anger issues. He's almost sympathetic. Guinness is brilliant as always, devious yet caring. Davies as Twist is another piece of inspired casting. He has the right melancholy face for the role and his angry outburst is almost reminiscent of Sykes', drawing a parallel and causing us to wonder what he would be capable of if he was older/bigger. The best performance though is by the dog that plays Bullseye. Watching him shake after Nancy's murder, and his begrudging advance towards Sykes as he plans on drowning him beg the question "how did they achieve that". The dog has an emotional range in his face lacking in many actors of today. The sets and backdrops of London and also the costumes complete a perfectly realised and realistic Dickensian London. One of the best adaptations you could possibly wish for.
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