Tuesday, 10 July 2012

Oliver Twist (1948)




☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Oliver Twist (1948) -- D. Lean

David Lean's striking film of Dickens' novel is grimy yet handsome, full of ugly characters beautifully presented. But seriously, the cinematography and settings here (as with the earlier Great Expectations) are like etchings by Durer come to life in industrial Britain. Stereotyping aside, Alec Guinness submerges himself into Fagin, countering Robert Newton's drunken brutish Bill Sykes with a craftier evil type. Lean's direction carries us to a fine (and satisfying) crescendo.


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