014 Adaptation – New
I was a little diffident about approaching the Moonraker adaptation, given I’m not the
biggest fan of James Bond. Although I
enjoyed the one book I read (Casino
Royale), the storyworld generally leaves me cold (not least because of its
misogyny). However, director Martin
Jarvis has accomplished some excellent casting in a reasonably radiogenic
adaptation, with some hidden gems such as Patricia Hodge’s jolly-hockey-sticks
performance as rockets expert Professor Train and Nigel Anthony in another
excellent performance as crazed German caricature/henchman, Krebs. It goes without saying that Samuel West is
great as villain Hugo Drax (a dyed-in-the-wool Nazi) and that the smooth and
sexy Toby Stephens is very good as Bond.
Catherine Kingsley surprised me as Bond girl Gala Brand, who is not only
extremely intelligent but also doesn’t let Bond get into her pants (serves him
right!). The music was perfectly suited
as well. Adapted by Archie Scotney it
also starred John Stanley, Julian Sands, Jamie Dee, Jared Harris, Ian Ogilvy,
Simon Dedenny, John Glover, Matthew Wolfe, and John Baddeley.
The Wuthering Heights
adaptation by Rachel Joyce was very good, with an almost entirely unknown
cast (to me, at least, and given how much radio drama I listen to, I’d say it’s
almost the same thing). Emma Fielding
and Luke Bailey are the only two names I recognize. Due to the fact it was a 10 x 15 minute
adaptation (2 ½ hours), we were able to witness every part of the story,
including parts that most adaptations leave out (Hindley trying to kill
Heathcliff and Isabella, for her sins, preventing the murder; Zillah; the
vicissitudes of young Catherine Linton) and made only one important (to me,
anyway) omission: the story of Lockwood,
the catalyst that starts the whole story.
Instead, this version relied on the (helpful for radio) device of Nelly
as narrator. However, it must be said,
the adaptation was thoughtful and true to the book in its depiction of Nelly,
with Heathcliff saying at one point, “You’ll get the blame? You never get the blame, Nelly Dean,” and
Nelly herself reflecting, when she is prisoner at the Heights while Heathcliff
forces Catherine to marry Linton, that a lot of the problems in the story could
have been prevented if she’d just “done her duty.” This highlights very well the uneasy position
of Nelly: not just a servant but never
an equal to the gentry; disapproving of Heathcliff but never exactly his
enemy. These delicious ambiguities are
allowed to remain unresolved. This
adaptation does not hint that Heathcliff is Mr Earnshaw’s illegitimate son;
that, along with where and how Heathcliff acquired his fortune, remain the
mysteries that Brontë left them. Cathy
seems to feel a stronger love for Edgar, up until Heathcliff’s return, than in
many other versions; Heathcliff’s appeal to Isabella is more believable than in
some versions, though made more horrible by the fact he strangles her pet spaniel
just to be spiteful. Much is made in
this version of locked doors and people seeking, being prevented, and sometimes
gaining entry (which makes up for the lack of Lockwood). There’s some nice music, and each episode
begins with a replay of previous events in a sound collage with Cathy’s ghost
whispering, “Let me in! Let me in!” Hareton’s role is particularly heartbreaking
and well-played. I would, however, have liked the most important
speeches—Cathy’s to Nelly after Heathcliff has run away, Cathy’s to Nelly when
she says that she’s dying—to have had a bit more intensity and oomph to
them. By contrast, Heathcliff’s reaction
to the news that Nelly has brought of Cathy’s death was well-played indeed. It was directed by Tracey Neale and starred Ben
Batt, Chloe Pirrie, Emma Fielding, Ryan Whittle, Kerry Gooderson, Luke Bailey,
Tom Glynn-Carney, Philip Bretherton, Georgie Glen, Rosie Boore, Bryony Hannah,
Charlie Brand, Oliver Zetterstrom, and Ryan Whittle.
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