Compare the Opening Scenes From Two Versions of “Great Expectations”

Dickens, one of the best novelists of all time wrote many books campaigning for social justice and work was filmed many times as he was a very famous actor. Making a film like this would require much thought and there are many problems a Director would face for example the setting of the movie and what people expect from characters like expressions and speech. That’s also true in films like Harry Potter, Lord of The Rings etc. where the Director has had to try and portray characters who are familiar to the people from the book in to the movie or maybe keep it simple or add touches of special effects.

The first Great Expectations I saw was in black and white and was made in 1946 at about Christmas time. Surprisingly colour was available at the time but the director, David Lean chose to work in black & white. B&W in films is hardly used now apart from times of flashback or to add some dramatic effect. The credits come at the beginning and it is accompanied by a mixture of dramatic and jolly orchestra music which maybe was to get the viewer into a good mood. Finally when the movie starts there is a voiceover by the adult Pip who is reading the opening sentences. After that a strong wind whips the pages and a scene comes to life, revealing a desolate marsh area with a silhouetted Pip running through it into the cemetery. There were a number of effects used such as creaks from trees and the howling wind nearby which sets the atmosphere to be quite gothic. Throughout this the camera shows the menacing gibbets, which are there as an effect to show the link with the convicts and the harshness of Victorian lives, and the foreboding sky, anticipating something might happen.

Pip is by his parents’ grave and is laying flowers on it. Some of the other graves are sagging and a gothic church can be seen in the background. He looks up at the great sky and also at the creaking trees which the camera pans out the view to bring out some tension. There is also a good use of camera work when Pip’s emotions are shown as Magwitch grabs him, effective close up shots are made of aggressive behaviour and upside down shots of Pip being shaken. A shot through the convicts legs show he is shackled and he picks up Pip and demands he brings him “wittles” and a file. During this scene Magwitch’s face is dark and Pip’s is light and lots of shadow and contrast is used in this opening which gives a presumption of who the bad guys are. Magwitch leaves Pip, who runs back to the forge and the camera moves from the desolate marshland to a creepy house in the middle of nowhere and then leaving the viewers with a sense of sadness, the opening ends.

The other opening we saw was made in 1999- half a century apart. It was directed by Julian Jarrold and was supposed to be for TV in about hour-long episodes. This gave the director a lot more time to reveal and unfold the plot. It opens with views of the English cornfields, contradicting with the opening of Dickens’s Novel which was supposed to be Christmas time. Then slowly we get a sight of Pip who looks around confused about something and then sets off on a scary run. All this time, the camera has become the pursuer and as it transforms into a slow motion run you catch the child’s fear and terror before he enters the graveyard. Compared to the first clip, this one makes no connection that he is in a graveyard and it seems like it’s just some props which have been put up as it’s in the middle of some cornfields and we see no sign of a church like in the first opening or any other graveyard.

Pip then trips up in the haste of his running and the view now changes to pips view of the shackled convict with his muddy trousers and thick boots. Sounds of rustling chains and heavy breathing can be heard around but surprisingly no signs of any wind and creaking trees. The camera then pans up to the birds flying in the sky (possibly migrating) as pip screams when he’s on the grave. (Artistic license as it was irrelevant to the book). As he runs home from there, there is an eye line shot as we see the marshes from pips perspective and then the credits start to roll in. the forge looks very isolated again but not as scary as in the older version.

Pip hardly has any time to catch his breath from running when Mrs. Joe storms in and starts giving him a beating for making her worried but Joe is far more caring. A shot from pip in his bedroom launches the atmosphere back into the graveyard where he is being threatened by Magwitch who is much scarier here. Pip sprawls over a grave when Magwitch is closer and screams again as Magwitch looks at him greedily saying that he’s hungry and making pip think he’s about to be some nice dinner. (Mmm… food). Magwitch then gets more aggressive and as originally puts him upside down scavenging for things. The terror in Pip is so much that he even struggles to say his name when asked and has to be strangled before we can properly hear him. After that Pip wakes up from his ‘nightmare’ and the short clip ends.

From reading chapter 1 from the novel and with the points stated, I think that the colour version is a better one. If we wanted to go by the novel, then David Lean’s version is perfect for that as it gives us perfect views of the marshes with the gibbets and a bleak place with nettles as a graveyard which is how Pip described it in the novel. Also, Magwitch’s speech and characterisation is the same as you would have imagined in the book with all the background sounds and gothic effects. On the other hand though, the colour version with the help of great special effects gives you detailed moments of each scene especially with the camera tracking shots of Pip and the slow motion. Julian Jarrold also uses the artistic licence to great effect by making Pip scream at his mother’s grave and putting the most parts of his experience with Magwitch as a sort of daydream by Pip.