Bleak House
Tags: romantic, murder

Plot synopsis:
Sir Leicester Dedlock and his wife Lady Honoria live on his estate at Chesney Wold. Unknown to Sir Leicester, Lady Dedlock had a lover, Captain Hawdon, before she married and had a daughter by him. Lady Dedlock believes her daughter is dead.
The daughter, Esther, is in fact alive and being raised by Miss Barbary, Lady Dedlock's sister. Esther does not know Miss Barbary is her aunt. After Miss Barbary dies, John Jarndyce becomes Esther's guardian and assigns the Chancery lawyer "Conversation" Kenge to take charge of her future. After attending school for six years, Esther moves in with him at Bleak House.
Jarndyce simultaneously assumes custody of two other wards, Richard Carstone and Ada Clare (who are both his and one another's distant cousins). They are beneficiaries in one of the wills at issue in Jarndyce and Jarndyce; their guardian is a beneficiary under another will, and the two wills conflict. Richard and Ada soon fall in love, but though Mr Jarndyce does not oppose the match, he stipulates that Richard must first choose a profession. Richard first tries a career in medicine, and Esther meets Allan Woodcourt, a physician, at the house of Richard's tutor. When Richard mentions the prospect of gaining from the resolution of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, John Jarndyce beseeches him never to put faith in what he calls "the family curse".
Meanwhile, Lady Dedlock is also a beneficiary under one of the wills. Early in the book, while listening to the reading of an affidavit by the family solicitor, Mr Tulkinghorn, she recognises the handwriting on the copy. The sight affects her so much she almost faints, which Tulkinghorn notices and investigates. He traces the copyist, a pauper known only as "Nemo," in London. Nemo has recently died, and the only person to identify him is a street-sweeper, a poor homeless boy named Jo, who lives in a particularly grim and poverty-stricken part of the city known as Tom-All-Alone's.
Lady Dedlock is also investigating, disguised as her maid, Mademoiselle Hortense. Lady Dedlock pays Jo to take her to Nemo's grave. Meanwhile, Tulkinghorn is concerned Lady Dedlock's secret could threaten the interests of Sir Leicester and watches her constantly, even enlisting her maid to spy on her. He also enlists Inspector Bucket to run Jo out of town, to eliminate any loose ends that might connect Nemo to the Dedlocks.
Esther sees Lady Dedlock at church and talks with her later at Chesney Wold – though neither woman recognises their connection. Later, Lady Dedlock does discover that Esther is her child. However, Esther has become sick (possibly with smallpox, since it permanently disfigures her) after nursing the homeless boy Jo. Lady Dedlock waits until Esther has recovered before telling her the truth. Though Esther and Lady Dedlock are happy to be reunited, Lady Dedlock tells Esther they must never acknowledge their connection again.
Upon her recovery, Esther finds that Richard, having failed at several professions, has disobeyed his guardian and is trying to push Jarndyce and Jarndyce to conclusion in his and Ada's favour. In the process, Richard loses all his money and declines in health. He and Ada have secretly married, and Ada is pregnant. Esther has her own romance when Mr Woodcourt returns to England, having survived a shipwreck, and continues to seek her company despite her disfigurement. Unfortunately, Esther has already agreed to marry her guardian, John Jarndyce.
Hortense and Tulkinghorn discover the truth about Lady Dedlock's past. After a confrontation with Tulkinghorn, Lady Dedlock flees her home, leaving a note apologising for her conduct. Tulkinghorn dismisses Hortense, who is no longer of any use to him. Feeling abandoned and betrayed, Hortense kills Tulkinghorn and seeks to frame Lady Dedlock for his murder. Sir Leicester, discovering his lawyer's death and his wife's flight, suffers a catastrophic stroke, but he manages to communicate that he forgives his wife and wants her to return.
Inspector Bucket, who has previously investigated several matters related to Jarndyce and Jarndyce, accepts Sir Leicester's commission to find Lady Dedlock. At first he suspects Lady Dedlock of the murder but is able to clear her of suspicion after discovering Hortense's guilt, and he requests Esther's help to find her. Lady Dedlock has no way to know of her husband's forgiveness or that she has been cleared of suspicion, and she wanders the country in cold weather before dying at the cemetery of her former lover, Captain Hawdon (Nemo). Esther and Bucket find her there.
Progress in Jarndyce and Jarndyce seems to take a turn for the better when a later will is found, which revokes all previous wills and leaves the bulk of the estate to Richard and Ada. Meanwhile, John Jarndyce cancels his engagement to Esther, who becomes engaged to Mr Woodcourt. They go to Chancery to find Richard. On their arrival, they learn that the case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce is finally over, but the costs of litigation have entirely consumed the estate. Richard collapses, and Mr Woodcourt diagnoses him as being in the last stages of tuberculosis. Richard apologises to John Jarndyce and dies. Jarndyce takes in Ada and her child, a boy whom she names Richard. Esther and Woodcourt marry and live in a Yorkshire house which Jarndyce gives to them. The couple later raise two daughters.
Many of the novel's subplots focus on minor characters. One such subplot is the hard life and happy, though difficult, marriage of Caddy Jellyby and Prince Turveydrop. Another plot focuses on George Rouncewell's rediscovery of his family, and his reunion with his mother and brother.

Review: "Bleak House" is hands down the finest adaptation of a Charles Dickens Novel ever put on screen.
The late, great Denholm Elliot was perfectly cast as the noble John Jardyce and Diana Rigg was sheer perfection as the doomed Ladty Dedlock.
The film captures the essence of Dickens era and is extremely faithful to the book,oly making minor plot cuts that do not effect the story.
For example, the character in the book who is most central to the story is NOT Lady Dedlock, but Esther Summerson -- in the novel, much of the story is told by her in the first person, and it is her goodness, her wisdom, and her selflessness that set up the needed perspective to the victim vs.
But really, the problem is that the book is on such a vast scale, that watching either version is like listening to a 15-minute version of a Bruckner symphony.
Best adaptation of a classic novel.
This version of Bleak House is the best adaptation of a classic novel known to me.
The acting is marvellous, from the sinister Tulkinghorn, to the Dedlocks, Smallweed, Crooke, Miss Flyte, and the two young lovers.
What mistake did the BBC make about copyright that meant that this version could not be seen in the UK on either video or DVD for many years?
Don't miss the BBC's version of Bleak House.
"Bleak House" (1985) is a wonderful BBC adaptation of the novel by Charles Dickens.
It's long (8 episodes in 6 1/2 hours), but even that much screen time isn't enough for this novel, which is filled with plots and sub-plots, and many, many characters.As would be expected from the BBC, the acting is outstanding, right down to the smallest cameo roles.
Denholm Elliott is excellent as John Jahndyce, and Suzanne Burden is superb as Esther Summerson.
Even though Esther is the real protagonist of the novel, for me the most interesting character is Lady Honoria Dedlock.
Lady Dedlock is played by Diana Rigg.
(Lady Honoria was married to an older man, but she probably was 34 or 35 in the context of the novel.) Gillian Anderson, at age 35, played the role in the 2005 Bleak House.
So, in my mind, that's what Lady Honoria looks like, and Riggs just can't reach that level.
However, my point is that you don't feel this when you're watching the film.)David Copperfield has a basically simple plot, and is readily adapted to the screen.
Bleak House has an extraordinarily complex plot, and adapting it must be an extraordinarily difficult challenge.
However, we have the good fortune to have two great versions to view.
Watching this series reminded me of how strongly Dickens has influenced us.
Bleak House doesn't have the fame of Great Expectations, Oliver Twist or David Copperfield, but some of the characters and scenes have entered our consciousness forever.
The camera-work is up to the challenge of bringing the verbose story to life, just see the scene of Tulkinghorn's murder with the Roman soldier painted on the ceiling pointing down at the proceedings.The BBC assembles its casts carefully.
Denholm Elliott as Jarndyce and Diana Rigg as Lady Dedlock are excellent, Peter Vaughan is a fine Tulkinghorn, Charlie Drake repulsive as Smallweed, and T.
There will always be inevitable comparisons to which adaptation of Bleak House people prefer, this or 2005.
From a personal point of view, there is no real preference as both adaptations are outstanding in their own way.
It is a mammoth book, and one of Dickens' least accessible(from first-time personal experience, the law stuff took its time to get completely).
Both are well-made, tell the story extremely well indeed and brilliantly written and acted, the 2005 adaptation's characterisation is a little richer but this adaptation is a little more atmospheric.Not everybody will find the 70s-80s Dickens serial adaptation their cup of tea.
And that is the case with this Bleak House exactly.
The costumes and sets look beautiful and very detailed, succeeding also in capturing the bleak nature of the book.
The music is a pleasing mix of haunting overtones and delicate chamber-music-like, and fit with each scene excellently(if occasionally a little overdone in the final episode, some may prefer the more understated nature of the 2005 adaptation).Bleak House(1985) scores very highly in the writing stakes too.
Throughout the dialogue is intelligently adapted, there are scenes with a lot of talk but they weren't that tedious to me.
The heartfelt tragedy, poignancy, sharp observations and nobility of Dickens' writing comes through loud and clear- some of Dickens' other books were also whimsical and had some nice comic scenes, The Old Curiosity Shop springs to mind- and the writing in the adaptation is distinctively Dickenesian in style.
Bleak House(1985) is highly successful in how it tells this great story, characters are splendidly drawn and crucial scenes have their impact.The adaptation is long, nearly seven hours, but there's a lot of characterisation and plotting going on so interest is always maintained.
The book is also huge and has so much to tell, the long length was necessary and so was the pacing.
Adaptation-wise, even with the omissions of a few minor characters, it is faithful in spirit to the book and to Dickens.
Diana Rigg's Lady Dedlock is haunting and aristocratic as well as haughty and anguished.
Denholm Elliot is a noble, gentle and moving Mr Jarndyce.
Coindentally, those characters were also performed the best in the 2005 adaptation as well.Suzanne Burden plays Esther with backbone instead of being insipid or too meek, if not as warm as Anna Maxwell Martin.
All the characters are beautifully performed, much pleasure can be seen in those of the Smallweeds, Mrs Flite, Inspector Bucket, Sir Leicester Dedlock, Krook, Harold Skimpole and Jo too.
This production was made in the middle 1980s, and appears to be the first serious attempt to put BLEAK HOUSE on celluloid.
No film version of the novel was ever attempted (it is remarkably rich in subplots that actually serve as counterpoints to each other, so that it would have been very hard to prune it down).
The novel was the only attempt by Dickens to make a central narrator (one of two in the work) a woman, Esther Summerson.
Esther is raised by her aunt and uncle, who (in typical Dickens style) mistreat her.
Lady Honoria Deadlock (Dame Diana Rigg) is having an increasingly difficult time regarding her private life and the meddling involvement of the family solicitor Tulkinghorn (Peter Vaughn).
We also are involved with the actions of Richard Carstone (Esther's boyfriend) in trying to win a long drawn out estate chancery case, Jarndyce v.
Jarndyce, which everyone (even Richard's cousin John Jarndyce - played by Desmond Elliot) warns is not worth the effort.Dickens had been a law reporter and then a parliamentary reporter before he wrote fiction.
Starting with the breach of promise case in PICKWICK PAPERS, Dickens looked closely at the law.
He attacks the Chancery and outdated estate laws, as well as too powerful solicitors and greedy lawyers (Tulkinghorn, Vholes) in BLEAK HOUSE.
Dickens was far more critical of legal institutions than most of his contemporaries, including Thackeray.But the novel also looks at other problems (like charity and religious hypocrisy, the budding Scotland Yard detective force, social snobbery in the industrial revolution).
Most of these points were kept in this fine mini-series version.
It's odd to find myself criticizing a production that stars Diana Rigg and Denholm Elliott, but I have no choice.
Not only is this miniseries often dull and slow-moving, but it's very hard to follow the story.
After watching episode one, I was so confused that I set it aside, and waited until I'd watched the much superior 2005 production with Gillian Anderson.
I haven't read the novel yet, so this production may be more faithful, but it's certainly not very good television.
Diana Rigg is a splendid actress, but she has very few scenes in this production, and as she plays the role with any icy hauteur, betraying almost no hint of her vulnerability, it's hard to empathize with her.
It's slow and hard to follow.If you're not familiar with the plot, I recommend the 2005 series with Gillian Anderson as the one to start with.
Bleak House - Diana Rigg.
I like this presentation - I have read Bleak House and I know it is so difficult to present the entire book as it should be, and even others like Little Dorrit - I have to admit they did a very good show with the staged Nicholas Nickelby.
I love Diana Rigg and I could see the pain of Lady Dedlock, even through the expected arrogance of the aristocracy.
I am sorry, I think she is the best Lady Dedlock...
It is not easy to present these long Dickens' books - Oliver Twist would be easier - this is a long, and if you don't care for all the legal situations can be dreary or boring.
Maybe if I read the book again, as I usually do, after seeing the movie, maybe I can be more critical.
Insipid Bleak House.
This series gets 2 stars solely because it puts some of Dickens' Bleak House on film and perhaps someone will read the book.
Contrary to what is probably received opinion, Diana Rigg was poor as Lady Dedlock.
For ex, Diana Rigg is bad in her role because of poor acting whether or not you've read the book.
The series fails not because it's unfair to compare it to the book, but because the various plot lines and characters just don't coalesce to make a coherent, dramatic, mysterious andcompelling entertainment.
If you want to make apossibly good Bleak House, you need to expend 20 hours of film in 10 two hour episodes.
Television deadens the genius of Dickens as manifested in his ingenious plots and unforgettable characters..
Great Dickens adaptation.
I remember great acting, especially from Rigg and Elliott, and moving music.
(Music in the 2005 version is far more understated, but very telling.) Just to pick up other commentators on a couple of points: Richard Carstone is Ada Claire's boyfriend, not Esther's.
Toby was played by Bernard Hepton.Both versions are honourable and admirable adaptations of Dickens' great novel.
The best Dickens adaptation yet.....
The plot cutdowns might disappoint the fans of the book (but really how many modern readers have read Bleak House without seeing a film version first?
I think it is quite appalling to see reviews critical of the series which have clearly been written by people who haven't a clue about the story - did you actually SEE the series or did you just bag a BBC production because Gillian Anderson was in the newer version?The series captures the mood, pace, characters and plot-drivers (cutting out the Dickensian flourishes which aren't needed and detract from a film treatment like the Turveydrop story, the Smallweed family dynamic and the extra lawyers - Tangle, Vholes etc are very truncated).
I can see that would have practically canonized Woodcourt and he's kept a little more human for not having that scene but really I think Jo's death is one of the most poignant points of the book and I missed it even though it always makes me cry.Has theowinthrop actually seen the series?
HOW did he think that Esther was raised by her aunt and UNCLE??
I suppose someone who could mistake the name of DENHOLM Eliott for Desmond isn't really an appreciator of English art (film or literature).I also think he mistakes the treatment of the law.
YES the law is drawn VERY badly in Bleak House.
Though not kind to social status-climbers Dickens clearly would have preferred that they weren't bound to being stuck in the station to which they were born (contrast Jo and the brickmakers' families to the climbing out of poverty by Charley Neckett).
Also, the law, while misused by Tulkinghorn and the Chancery vultures, is actually the source of security for the wards of the Court Ada and Richard, and for Esther who is simply Jarndyce's ward.
Their security was ensured by the law which delivers them to Jarndyce.I can't see how anyone could have trouble following the story - remember you aren't supposed to realize Esther is Lady Dedlock's daughter right at the beginning.
Instant gratification just doesn't happen in Dickens.As for "seeing clearly" through the fog - gosh the Gillian Anderson had such scatty editing that I found IT impossible to follow and I knew the plot already!I found Diana Rigg absolutely brilliant (overacting and drama don't make a good Lady Dedlock but if you think they do try the Gillian Anderson version).It's ADA and Rick not "Kate"!
I can only amplify its basic arguments.Bleak House was a relatively late Dickens novel and is much darker than his earlier work.
When Ada, Rick and Esther appear, half an hour into the opening episode, it is a relief just to be in daylight for the first time.
In some of the murkier scenes it was hard to see what was actually on my TV screen.
As daylight faded this became less of an issue, but I have a pretty good TV and I have never encountered this problem before at any time of day.The pacing is very deliberate (i.e. slow).
A good editor could probably take several minutes out of each fifty-minute episode, without losing a line of dialogue, just by trimming each of these scenes slightly.I don't want to overstate these two problems.
You soon adjust to the look and pace of this production.
Earlier Dickens novels are as long as Bleak House, but are not nearly so intricately plotted.
For example, I recently re-read Nicholas Nickleby because I was intrigued to see how Douglas McGrath crammed an 800 page book into his two-hour movie.
McGrath cut great swathes of the novel while still retaining all the essential story elements.
This would not be possible with Bleak House.
A few random examples will illustrate the problems.The maid, Rosa, appears from nowhere with no background, so Lady Dedlock's attachment to her is largely unmotivated.Sergeant George's acquiescence in Tulkinhorn's demand for a sample of Horton's handwriting is somewhat fudged.It is not made clear enough that Esther is actually in love with Woodcourt when she agrees to marry John Jarndyce.
In one episode they are merely lovers, in the next, people are suddenly referring to them as husband and wife.Mrs Rouncewell is only introduced at a late stage in the story and Sargeant George's estrangement from his family is left unexplained - as is the means by which she is discovered.Tulkinhorn's dedication to maintaining the honour and respectability of the Dedlock family is understated, so his motive for persecuting Lady Dedlock is more obscure than it need be.The involvement of the brick makers with both Tom and (later) Lady Dedlock is somewhat opaque.It is not obvious that Guppy renews his offer to Esther because her smallpox scars have all but vanished.This is only a selection: there are others.
Nonetheless, they are minor irritations that detract from its power: you shouldn't have to puzzle over little plot points.
However, there are more important structural problems that do weaken the story in its later stages.The whole business of Tulkinhorn's murder is somewhat thrown away.
It also diminishes the impact of the sub-plot in which suspicion is thrown on Lady Dedlock and weakens the scene in which Hortense is unmasked in front of Sir Lester.A more serious problem is that the murder, its investigation and the subsequent search for Lady Dedlock, dominate the story for over an hour, during which time we completely lose sight of the other main plot strand: the legal case and its effect on Rick.
This may be how Dickens wrote the book (I haven't read it for years) but a good screenplay should keep the different plot strands moving forward together.Finally, Smallweed's role in the story is so diminished that he is almost superfluous.
It happens off screen.Despite all of this, it is still a very good production.
I would still be recommending it as a superb adaptation of a great book, had it not been for the 2005 production.
I have been critical of Davies's Jane Austen adaptations, but I have to admit that he really knows how to tame Dickens's sprawling books.This is an impressive and gripping drama and well worth seven hours of anybody's time.
It's sometimes said that 99 percent of all lawyers give the rest a bad name.I can't say how closely the film follows the novel, never having read the book, but since this clocks in at some six and a half hours it's a good bet that most of the base are covered or, at least, we can say with some certainty that this isn't a Reader's Digest condensed version.The production values are high, well up to the standards of other BBC classic series like Inspector Morse and Sherlock Holmes.
We can believe Dickens' London looked, sounded, and thought a lot like this.
Burden and Elliott are two of the very few characters who are good in an unalloyed way.
It's got all the earmarks of Dickens -- poverty, tragic deaths, capitalism in the raw, the generous rich guy in his gated home, hidden parentage, shadowy motives, and the impotence or outright maliciousness of the justice system.
Twice, Elliott's character describes it as "a curse." The most impressive scene involves a money-scrounging creditor hounding a retired soldier in the latter's gymnasium during a fencing lesson.
The sergeant is more masculine in the traditional sense than any other male character I remember from Dickens.
"Bleak" house is the right title.
But one wonders what the chancery did to Dickens to deserve this kind of treatment.Maybe I should add that I've just watched the first episode of the 2005 series -- and it's better in two ways.
Jarndyce is explained satisfactorily right up front, instead of lurking about in the shadows as that mysterious "curse," so the plot is easier to follow.