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At press previews, to which movie critics are lured on weekday mornings by platters of complimentary croissants and fruit segments, a special mood of resentment greets the unspooling of a franchise in its later instalments: the ninth Nightmare on Elm Street, say, or the 12th Friday the 13th. Relentless repetition of the same characters or set-up is viewed as proof of imaginative poverty and commercial opportunism.

via www.guardian.co.uk

As another Great Expectations, Wuthering Heights and Anna Karenina loom, Mark Lawson writes in the Guardian on why they still appeal. Very interesting and thoughtful but I keep asking myself do we really need another Great Expectations, Wuthering Heights or Anna Karenina? Why not try some other Victorian writers?

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2 responses to “Timeless taboos: why 19th-century novels appeal to film-makers | Film | The Guardian”

  1. Janelle Dvorak Avatar
    Janelle Dvorak

    Plenty more Trollope…

  2. Nicola Slade Avatar

    Agree absolutely. My favourite Victorian author is Charlotte Yonge and while most of her books wouldn’t work on screen, one of my favourites is The Clever Woman of The Family. Bit like Emma, the heroine is well-meaning but a bit interfering. She’s also very serious but is rewarded with a delightful hero who solemnly assures her that if she would like, their honeymoon can be spent visiting asylums for cretins in Switzerland. (This being one of her interests!) It would work brilliantly on television.
    And at an even lower-brow level, Mrs Henry Wood’s murder mysteries would be great, but they can never see beyond East Lynne!

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