Well worth a look

Rating: Null/10 (26 September 2015)

I put off watching this movie for years, in part due to its length (over three hours long) and also in part because it came across to me as a laborious costume drama that didn't exactly scream interest or excitement. But I finally broke down and watched it today, and I am glad that I did. First, I feel I should tell people who may have been in my shoes that the movie is NOT boring. Although it follows the journey and adventures of one particular character, it is more or less told in a series of short vignettes. Told this way, the movie doesn't require viewers to keep a long mental note of who is who and what is happening - it is pretty easy to understand what is happening. And each vignette is interesting - some have a light comic touch, some are more serious, all are entertaining to watch. I kept asking myself, "I wonder what will happen next to this fellow?", and my curiosity also helped to keep me captivated.
What I also found interesting about this movie was how the title character is depicted. In the first half of the movie, although he does some shameful things, at the same time he is kind of sympathetic to the audience. But in the second half of the movie, after he has reached the top of society, he pretty much loses the sympathy he managed to generate. In another movie, this might have spoiled things. But the movie manages to keep us watching to see just how low he will fall. The narrator puts it best at one point when he says the tools the protagonist used to reach the top would also contribute to his downfall. At the end of the movie, I could see that was all well true.
If you are still hesitant about watching this movie, give the first fifteen minutes a try, as I did when I still had some reluctance in investing three hours of my time. It didn't take me long to get hooked, and I'm pretty sure you'll quickly find yourself captivated as well.