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| The Tenant of Wildfell Hall | 
| Director: Mike Barker
Actors: Tara Fitzgerald, Cathy Murphy, Jackson Leach, Sarah Badel, Toby Stephens
Studio: BBC Warner
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $8.13
You Save: $6.85 (46%)
New (39) from $8.13
Avg. Customer Rating:  38 reviews
Sales Rank: 2517
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Running Time: 159 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: WARDE36990D
UPC: 883929010646
EAN: 0883929010646
ASIN: B00005JOA0
Theatrical Release Date: October 26, 1997
Release Date: April 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New and Factory Sealed Item Fast Shipping
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 38 | | ... 8 NEXT » |
 It Has Its Virtues, But It Won't Be to Everyone's Taste September 11, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
"The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," a feature-length 1996 television costume drama produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation, was seen here on broadcast TV in 1997. It was based upon the little-known book of the same name, published in 1848, by the Victorian-era British author Anne Bronte. She is the least-known of the three famous Bronte sisters, all of whom specialized in moody works set on England's scenic moors, upon which they were raised. Emily Bronte, of course, gave us "Wuthering Heights;" Charlotte, "Jane Eyre." And some of us probably can't help thinking that were Anne not a Bronte, this work would neither have survived, nor have been adapted for television, as it's rather heavy going.
It concerns Helen Huntingdon, in flight from an alcoholic, brutal, but wealthy and high-status husband, Arthur Huntington. She has taken her young son Arthur, and taken up residence, as the dour and mysterious Mrs. Helen Graham, in a rundown Hall on the moors. It's not long before a handsome young yeoman farmer of the vicinity, Gilbert Markham, takes an interest in her, and her son. It's also not long before malicious gossip about her begins to circulate around the isolated village to which she has moved.
Much of the movie is set on the moors, and it has received the typical lush BBC treatment in the matters of location shooting, costumes, set decoration, carriages, etc. Unfortunately, while the camera whirls around and around, it doesn't succeed in making the production any less static. Mind you, I see where some other reviewers have complained about gratuitous scenes of sex and violence thrown in; but some of us may find them a bit of a relief. And the frequent flashbacks can be a major source of confusion.
Furthermore, let's be perfectly clear about this: the underlying 1848 book was an early proto-feminist document. I've not read it for many a year, but its filmed treatment lays out mercilessly the frustrating, restricted lives of women at that time, ranging from suffering under benign domestic tyranny, to their extreme difficulties in making independent livings, or living independently, to the fact that, upon marriage, a woman, her money, and any children she might have, became the property of her husband. On those grounds, book, and any treatment thereof deserve respect. But surely not affection.
Tara Fitzgerald stars as Helen: she's a beautiful woman, high of cheekbone; her beauty survives even a possibly historically accurate, but surely unfortunate hairdo. She's also a very likable actress; it was an excellent idea to cast her as the not-easy-to-like Helen, preachy, holier-than-thou, and severe. In fact, Helen can perhaps best be compared to the 20th century American figure Carrie Nation. Ms. Nation's heart was in the right place: she was a suffragist; she opposed the consumption of alcohol because she thought it had many undesirable results. And let's say we agree with her on that: still,Carrie with her axe, laying waste to bars, in support of Prohibition, is not a path most of us would wish to take. At times, Helen Huntingdon seems only to lack the axe. So let us not forget that the senior Bronte was a clergyman, and, in fact, must have been one tough old bird: in his seventies, one day, he drank down a bottle of brandy, then had what must have been an excruciatingly painful cataract operation.) In fact, a modern audience may have trouble deciding who'd be most unpleasant to live with, Helen, or her hell-bound husband Arthur. As beautifully played by the handsome Rupert Graves, he clearly is dissolute, and will come to an early, bad end; but he's charismatic, recognizes his own limitations; gives every sign of having a sense of humor, even about himself. (It seems likely that the author modeled him on the fourth Bronte child, the only boy, Branwell. That weak young Bronte, son of a clergyman and in a household of brilliant women, was an alcoholic, an opium eater, and died at age 31.)
Toby Stephens is a handsome, sexy Gilbert Markham, yearning to lighten up Helen and her life: he lights up quite a few scenes. And Pam Ferris ("Rosemary and Thyme") does good work as his mother, Mrs. Markham. As to the DePue subtitles report: thank goodness, the production has them, as you're getting all kinds of country accents. But the BBC has again made the subtitles rather tricky to access. This production has its virtues; but it wouldn't be to everyone's taste. It's not to mine.
 not a favorite September 9, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Some times you win and really enjoy a movie this one I did not win. Not a favorite for me.
 cruelty vs. unrelenting love August 20, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Wow, what an intense, dark Gothic romance! A mysterious, beautiful widow with a past arrives with her son to a nosey, judgemental countryside town. A past that is slowly unraveled with the pryings of a handsome, obsessed suitor.
The actors are superb: Tara Fitzgerald(Helen), whom I simply adore as an actress, as the long suffering, fiel heroine with a lesson to learn and a son to protect, Rupert Graves(Arthur)as the depraved, never changing, rogue, 'Byron' whom she can't stop loving, and Toby Stephens(Gilbert) as the impetuous, immature, hero whom she wants to love, although cautiously.
The director often shoots the scenes with sweeping, revolving panoramas about his actors, scenery desolate and wistful, the sets, costumes, and locations simply captivating and fitting for the mood.
For whatever reason, I've always favored Anne, the youngest of the talented but tragic Bronte family. She watched as three of her sisters including Emily, die from disease, her mother probably from uterine cancer and her 'shamed-the-family' brother deteriorate from alcohol. Anne died in her 29th year. Her sister, Charlotte, died 6 years later at the ripe old age of 39.
Anne loved to write poetry, but she also did two novels. Her first,'Agnes Grey', which I wish some enlightened soul would make into a great movie, was lighter than 'The Tenant' with some Jane Austen-like contrivances and humor. The story involved a governess reminescent of Anne's experience in child care. Charlotte didn't appreciate Austen and somewhat poo-pooed her 'baby' sister's work, but, nevertheless, took Anne's idea of a governess and ran with it in 'Jane Ayre'.
'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall' was Anne's jaunt into realism with a tough and disturbing tale about both the self-centerness of men who controlled everything in the world and the plight of women caught in their domain. It apparently shocked the Victorian moralists of the day to have a novel about a woman standing up to her husband, shutting the sacred bedroom door to him and doing whatever to free herself.
Anne ends the tale with a strong catharsis, and I would say an optimism (Austen-like? "Charlotte, just get over it!") that I believe represents her own determined and uplifting nature even in a difficult and short, earthly stay. The movie makers provide an ending keeping, I think, in the spirit of Bronte; however, the overall journey really stresses one out, but then is quite satisfying. Moral: choose your partners well.
P.S. I'd appreciate any input/criticism from Bronte experts.
Doro's Opinion August 4, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I really enjoyed this one. It kept me guessing and held me to the end. I look forward to seeing it again. True to the English countryside and culture of the period, it is worth viewing many times.
The Tenant of Wildfell July 25, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The BBC production of this Anne Bronte novel is excellent.
Fine cast (especially Toby Stephens and Dame Judy Dench)
I fully enjoyed this DVD.
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