Cranford Movie Review

I watched Cranford for the second time late June. I took notes and told myself I would do a review on my blog ASAP.... well, obviously that didn't happen. But I love Cranford and its inhabitants to itty bitty bits, so I must review it! :) ("'Why are you putting cologne on a handkerchief?' 'She seemed in such distress. She wrote in exclamation points!") Pardon me for the parentheses, I couldn't help myself. Although I am not in distress ;) 

Now, on to the review! For those of you who haven't seen or read Cranford, here is a brief description from the wonderful IMDb: "In the 1840s, Cranford is ruled by the ladies. They adore good gossip; and romance and change is in the air, as the unwelcome grasp of the Industrial Revolution rapidly approaches their beloved rural market-town."  While this description is good, it misses out on the feel and old fashioned loveliness of it all. (which is hard to do in one paragraph, I confess.) 

                       

First of all, the acting is fabulous. Wonderful Dame Judi Dench plays Miss Mattie, who is sweetness personified. The other wonderful and fantastically quirky and lovable characters are Mrs. Forrester, Miss Pole (her faces are priceless!), Miss Tomkinson, and Miss Jamieson. Miss Deborah was almost like Marilla Cuthbert, a bit prickly, but under it all is a good heart. 

                               
It is an account of all the comings-and-goings in a "typical" English village in the 1800s. Starting with the coming of Mary Smith-who comes to Cranford to get away from her new stepmother and her attempts to marry her off- to the new young doctor (who to my surprise was Mr. Bingley from P&P '05.) who had the audacity to wear a red coat. He was quickly corrected by the senior doctor and told to get a black coat. (In point of fact, I liked the red one better.) Then comes the blow of the news of the railroad coming to Cranford. Needless to say, it did not meet with the ladies approval. 

It would take me forever to chronicle all the sad and amusing moments of Cranford, so I suggest you watch it yourself and enjoy, as I did. I would like to warn you about a couple deaths (although it seems like everyone). I will not mention who, as that would spoil it for you, but I thought you ought to be semi-prepared. 

I feel I cannot do justice to the mini-series in one cohesive post, so I will just put down my jots and scribbles in a non-cohesive post and hope I catch some of its charm.

-Miss Deborah's face when Mary says she came by the railway is priceless!

- Miss Mattie's gossip when Mary first arrives is so amusing! Especially when she was talking of a pick cart that got wedged and tipped, and Mary asks if anyone was hurt, to which she replies "Oh no; BUT there was talk of calling the constable!" (astonishing, don't you agree?)

-I simply loved Miss Deborah and her gentle reproof of Martha, the maid. "Whatever-Martha-has-said- MADAM." haha

                       

-The orange scene is EPIC. "We shall consume our fruit in solitude."

-I was so proud of Dr. Harrison (Bingley) and his unheard of operation. Thank goodness it went well! And the dear ladies of Cranford offering up their candles for it was heartwarming.

-"No women is the equal of a man. She is superior in every place." -Miss Deborah :D

- Not only was Mr. Bingley in Cranford, but Willoughby from S&S '95 and Carson from Downton Abbey made appearances as well.

-I must mention the scene where the poor cat ate the lace stitched by hand by nuns in the 1400s!

- And I admit, I totally shipped Miss Galindo and Mr. Carter. It ought to have happend, Miss Gaskell!

-I wish Miss Mattie had gotten the turban she had wanted

                         

-Harry and Mr. Carter's relationship... leaves me speechless.

-I think my readers may find this quote of Miss Pole's to be amusing, I know I did! "My father was a man; I think I understand the sex." :) dear Miss Pole

-oh, Miss Mattie and her fear of a man being under the bed. The ball was a good idea. "Very well, there is no man concealed there." 

-I kind of also shipped Jack Marshland and Mary... did anyone else?

- Miss Pole bringing Thomas Holbrook's silhouette to Miss Mattie restored my faith in humanity

-Miss Mattie and her "dream baby" left me nonplussed... I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

       

- Sometimes I can't stand Lady Ludlow, and other times, I feel I can understand her perfectly. She and Aunt Hetty from Road to Avonlea do that to me.

-I was so pleased at Miss Jesse's happy ending. :D

-Peter! Oh, PETER PETER PETER! *ahem* Sorry, I had to get that off my chest.

-So, I was rather proud of myself this time- the little tears didn't appear until the end.

So, I hope you at least got the gist of what I am trying to say- if not.... well just go and watch it yourself and then you will understand. :)

Oh, I don't think I have mentioned before, but I have a sister. The reason I saw fit to mention her now is because she actually watched Cranford with me! She usually doesn't "do" period dramas. She even left a footnote at the bottom of my notes which reads as follows:

"Hi sissy :) You took wonderful notes :) Everyone thought that doctor dude was in love with them...like, I wouldn't be surprised if even the men thought the doc had a thing for them! Plus, so many people died!!! What a movie!"

My sister has a liking for emoticons... but I think she liked it. She won't admit it but... maybe she'll watch more! 

So, in the words of my sister, what a movie!

Here they all are, waving goodbye

P.S. I wonder if anyone knows how to make a blog button? I'd like to make one, but I do not know how... comment below if you know! :)

Wives and Daughters

I was first introduced to Elizabeth Gaskell and Wives and Daughters by fellow Blogger, Amy Dashwood from Yet Another Period Drama Blog here. I must admit a very shameful thing: I didn't finish the book. It was Christmas time, school exams were looming their ugly head and Miss Dashwood also was very busy, so everything got put off. I hope to pick it up again soon and finishing it. Because it was good. I have, however seen the delightful Wives and Daughters mini-series. For those of you who don't know what Wives and Daughters in, I'll give you a quick synopsis:
Molly Gibson, a young doctors daughter, suddenly must deal with many changes. Her dear father and her have lived all alone, ever since molly's mother died when Molly was very young. Molly and her father were very close. She was his dear "Goosey." Then her father announces that he is to be married to a Ms. Kirkpatrick, who Molly hardly knows. Molly was perfectly happy and thought her father had been too... So, Ms. Kirkpatrick turns into Mrs. Gibson. Molly tries patiently to adjust and please the new Mrs. Gibson.... but it just doesn't seem to be working. Then, Mrs. Gibson's daughter, young, pretty Miss Cynthia Kirkpatrick comes to stay. Molly and Cynthia are fast friends. Soon though, things get more complicated when Cynthia starts keeping secrets, the townspeople start gossiping, and the young man Molly likes starts falling for Cynthia!
This is all I will tell you; if you'd like to know more, I shall be aggravating and insist you either watch the movie or read the book. ;) I will now start on my view of the interesting characters:

                                                     Molly Gibson
I personally love Molly. She is young, naive, strong, feminine, and mature. All in one. Molly starts out as a young girl, anywhere from eight to ten, I would guess. She is at the annual... for lack of a better word, tour, of the "grand house" of the village. Molly gets tired and falls asleep, the governess, Claire Kirkpatrick finds her and takes her to her room and eats the food provided for Molly. She then promptly forgets about Molly and let's the tour leave without her. This is Molly's first impression of her-soon-to-be-stepmother. Molly is then picked up by her father, and you get to see their close relationship. Molly then is shown as a lovely seventeen. She is reading, in one of the nicest pictures, here, I'll post it for you.

She has her own r.h.y.m as Miss Dashwood pointed out. This Emily of New Moon reference amused me greatly. So, I shall put it in too. Emily is very kind to both young men who are training with her father. She has no idea that that r.h.y.m. is being a very silly coxcomb over her. When her father intercepts a letter by him meant for Molly, he decides Molly should take an extended visit to his friends,the Hamley's. Mrs. Hamley is lovely and Mr. Hamley is a hoot. My favorite line of his is, "I'm not saying she was very silly, but one of us was being silly, and it wasn't me." :) Molly is a very nice house guest  and everyone comes to love her. She is very good friends with them all, especially their sons, Roger and Osborne. Roger helps her through the shocking news of her father's upcoming nuptials. Molly shows her sweetness and perseverance when the exasperating Mrs. Gibson arrives to change everything Molly holds dear. Molly also shows a lovely sisterly bond with Cynthia Kirkpatrick, her new stepsister. She could be envious and sulky, as everyone seems to view Cynthia as a "belle" rather overshadowing poor Molly. (Personally, I think Molly's prettier, but that's just my opinion. Or maybe I'm just being biased, I don't know.) Instead, Molly delights in Cynthia's popularity and beauty, and thinks Cynthia is wonderful. She is rather wonderful in some ways, but not in others... more on her later.

Doctor Gibson

I just love this picture. It shows Dr. Gibson and Molly's lovely relationship. :) Anyway, I was surprised to find that many people don't seem to like Dr. Gibson. They seem to feel he can be "creepy" or that it seems he doesn't seem to love Molly all that much. I think this stems from his way of showing affection. He is not a man to hug all the time and say "I love you." He has other ways of showing affection. He teases and calls Molly "Goosey." He really tries to do the best for Molly. I think some people blame him for not thinking of her when he remarries. I disagree with this entirety. Believe it or not, most of his reason for marrying Ms. Kirkpatrick was for Molly's sake. After the Mr. Cox fiasco, he decided Molly needed a "mother." I cannot excuse his pick of Ms. Kirkpatrick, but sometimes men can be so very dense. ;) Anyway, she wasn't the worst person he could choose. (She was pretty bad, but there are worse people! For some reason though, all the good examples left my head and all I can think of is Cinderella's stepmother...) Dr. Gibson is sometimes awkward, rough, and short tempered, but overall, he has a good heart and loves Molly dearly.

Hyacinth Gibson nee Kirkpatrick

Here she is in all her glory. Hyacinth Kirkpatrick Gibson is vain, silly, and rather thoughtless. I wouldn't say she is cruel. At least, not often. Most things are just.... thoughtless, like I said. Like the time she had Molly's room redone because she was making over Cynthia's new room. She meant it kindly, but Molly liked her room and didn't want it changed. She also was rather a social climber and bothered me with her haughtiness.  Like when dear Mr. Hamley comes and talks of having Molly visit poor Mrs. Hamley. Mrs. Gibson cuts in with her "an engagement is an engagement." ("did I say an engagement was an elephant?!" Sorry, couldn't help myself there.) And her meddling! When she finds out Osborne is *SPOILER* deathly ill, all the sudden Roger is welcome to come by, because he is set to inherit!*END OF SPOILER* So, in my opinion Ms. Gibson is no good. She's not bad, per se, but she is NOT good, if that makes sense. That is all.

Cynthia Kirkpatrick

Ah, now to Cynthia. What to say about Cynthia.... I like her but I don't love her. She can be very nice, funny, and the way she deals with her mother is rather laughable. On the other hand, she uses men very badly, she is flippant, and doesn't seem capable of deep affection in many cases. She plays havoc with several young man's hearts, keeps secrets from Molly, and is sometimes vain and silly. And not the good silly. But I do like her, I do. She is a wonderful sister to Molly and really seems to care about Dr. Gibson. So yeah, I guess that's it.

Roger Hamley

Ah, dear Roger. I liked him from the very beginning. I always love the underdog, and everyone seemed to like Osborne best, so I decided to like Roger. My feelings were justified when Roger came and helped dear Molly through her pain and confusion about her father remarrying. He was like a brother figure, caring for Molly. Which was wonderful... and bothersome. He treated Molly like a young child, when she was seventeen! Other than that though, he was lovely. Also, he and his father had a wonderful relationship. I also love how much he likes science and his job. It's always wonderful to see someone enjoying themselves so much. That's all I can say about Roger without giving too much away.

Osborne Hamley

So we are to Mr. Collins Osborne. That is literally how I thought of him throughout the movie. The idea of Osborne being the handsomest of the brothers, and the smartest, and a poet? No. Still, he did a good job. I liked him, but disliked his choices in life. A wife, with no prospects, no way to take care of her? Especially a wife with child? Bad idea. His love of her though was wonderful. When he spoke of her to Molly, my heart melted. And the way his mother doted on him was sweet. and you could tell how much he loved her. He always seemed to upstage poor Roger though, which made me mad. I was still very sad when *SPOILER* he died*END OF SPOILER* I was also sympathetic to his plight. Not too sympathetic  though, because he made those decisions himself.

Mr. and Mrs. Hamley

Mr. and Mrs. Hamley are an unusual couple, but very much in love, which is lovely to see. Mr. Hamley cracks me up. I've mentioned him several times already, and I love his brash, funny, loving manner. Mrs. Hamley is very ill, but she is almost always happy and she is so loving. She is like a mother figure and when she died, it just broke my heart. 

There are other minor characters, but there are so many it would take a while to go into them, and this post is already rather long.

This movie was a BBC adaptation, and was done well, as always. Trust BBC for accurate, entertaining adaptations of classic literature. There was a wonderful movie soundtrack, and the houses and costumes were lovely. The hairstyles were elaborate, to say the least. Overall, I highly recommend Wives and Daughters. Now, I will leave you with this lovely clip from the series!