"Oliver Twist" (1999)TV mini-series

Director:

Renny Rye

Writers:

Alan Bleasdale (writer)
Charles Dickens (novel)

Release Date:

8 October 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Based on Charles Dickens' novel, this adaptation traces the childhood of an orphan whose mother dies...

Plot Keywords:

Victorian Era | Young Boy | Compassion | Melancholy | Child's Point Of View

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Sam Smith	...	Oliver Twist
David Ross	...	Mr Bumble
Julie Walters	...	Mrs. Mann
Roger Lloyd-Pack	...	Mr Sowerberry
Ger Ryan	...	Mrs Sowerberry
Michael Kitchen	...	Mr Brownlow
Annette Crosbie	...	Mrs Bedwin
Keira Knightley	...	Rose Fleming (as Kiera Knightley)
Tim Dutton	...	Edwin Leeford
Lindsay Duncan	...	Elizabeth Leeford
Marc Warren	...	Monks
Robert Lindsay	...	Fagin
Alex Crowley	...	Artful Dodger
Andy Serkis	...	Bill Sikes
Emily Woof	...	Nancy

Runtime:

386 min (4 parts)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Filming Locations:

Alston, Cumbria, England, UK

Company:

Diplomat Films

Quotes:

Monks, aka Edward Leeford: If I could live my life again, I wouldn't.

Movie Connections:

Version of "Oliver Twist" (1985)

Soundtrack:

Fantasia for Piano 4 Hands in F Minor

I Want Some More

This adaptation of Oliver Twist surpasses David Lean's spectacular version.

Oliver Twist is dark, brutal, and gritty, and it truly depicts the The Slums Of London, the Filthly Slums as Dickens' himself experienced it.

Alan Bleasdale penned the screenplay, and Oliver Twist was apparantly a labour of love for him. He had envisioned making Oliver Twist for his whole life, and finally sat down in 1997 to actualise his Twistian visions.

The first installment is Bleasedale's own creation; the 2nd & 3rd are the core of Oliver's hard life. The violence depicted in the series is harsh - this is not the same Masterpiece Theatre that we grew up with. The Artful Dodger is a cruel rogue in this one. Nancy is a whipping post. Sikes is woman-beater. Mr. Bumble is a nasty gold-digger. Oliver is physically abused, starved, and even walled up briefly.

This version features outstanding performances by Michael Kitchen, Robert Lindsay, Andy Serkis, Marc Warren, and Sam Smith, the young boy who plays Oliver. When Smith says, "I want some more", you get the chills.

Serkis & Marc Warren give exemplory, BAFTA-worthy performances as their characters. Warren reaps the benefits of Bleasedale's writings. Edward Leeford/Monks was a shady character in the novel; Bleasedale developed Monks, giving him a history, and Warren externalizes that history with shocking, authentic realism.

Thank you Alan Bleasedale, thank you PBS/BBC.