Reviews

I was fortunate enough to catch this on ITV last night, and I must say it was one of the finest dramas I have seen on television in a very long time, certainly the best this year ! I don't normally watch much Dickens and have read only Great Expectations, so thought it might be hard-going ! However, how wrong could I be ! Toby Jones was absolutely brilliant as Daniel Quilp and, in my opinion, stole every scene he appeared in. His accent and mannerisms all gave his character so much depth you forgot you were watching the same actor who recently played Truman Capote with so much depth in the belatedly released Infamous. This excellent production only reinforces what an incredibly versatile and talented actor Toby is, and I sincerely hope that his powerful and convincing performance here will help him gain the worldwide recognition he truly deserves.

I have just returned from holiday and had the unexpected chance to view this film during a 13-hour long plane flight. It was admittedly one of 60 movies on offer - mainly in English. I once lived in Japan for several years and couldn't help but draw some parallels to my experiences and relationships whilst living there. The title does not become fully clear until you have seen the entire film so I will not spoil it for you - the best thing is to approach the film with a completely open mind, with as little knowledge of the plot as possible. Suffice to say that I found this movie captivating from the very beginning, evocatively scored (the piano music really hits the spot), beautifully photographed, and the leading characters are all sensitively portrayed by the Japanese actors and actresses involved, many of whom will not be familiar to movie-goers outside Japan. Although it runs for almost 2 hours I found that the film never dragged and developed the story and characters at a realistic pace. I was touched by this moving story so much that it had me crying too !