Having read several 10 out of 10 reviews for this TV play, I have to say that the reviewers must be high on nostalgia. This play has not aged well. The print quality is terrible, the acting minimal, the atmosphere non-existent.
It is overlong and tedious. It is actually quicker, and more gratifying, to read the short story upon which this play is based. Too much time is taken up with pointless long shots of irrelevant action - 4 minutes of close-up on a goldsmith testing the quality of coins AFTER the narrator has told us what he's doing - absolutely awful. 5 minutes of just watching a room full of students paint a still life, with no dialogue or music, and no narration? Just boring.
The action really kicks in 10 minutes from the end, where we actually find out what's going on. Up to that point, we have almost an hour of virtually silent footage telling us the most simple story imaginable (art apprentice falls in love with master's daughter, but has no chance), coupled with a narrator reading out sections of the original text.
If you're tempted to watch this wooden old effort - don't. Read the short story, and then go and seek out some of the BBC's MR James adaptations instead for some real chills and decent acting.
It is overlong and tedious. It is actually quicker, and more gratifying, to read the short story upon which this play is based. Too much time is taken up with pointless long shots of irrelevant action - 4 minutes of close-up on a goldsmith testing the quality of coins AFTER the narrator has told us what he's doing - absolutely awful. 5 minutes of just watching a room full of students paint a still life, with no dialogue or music, and no narration? Just boring.
The action really kicks in 10 minutes from the end, where we actually find out what's going on. Up to that point, we have almost an hour of virtually silent footage telling us the most simple story imaginable (art apprentice falls in love with master's daughter, but has no chance), coupled with a narrator reading out sections of the original text.
If you're tempted to watch this wooden old effort - don't. Read the short story, and then go and seek out some of the BBC's MR James adaptations instead for some real chills and decent acting.