Moll Flanders

Starring:James Bowers, Alex Kingston, Nicola Kingston, Geoffrey Beevers, Lucy Evans, Anthony Bessick, Struan Rodger, Chrissie Cotterill, Peter Jonfield, Neville Phillips, Maureen O'Brien, Ian Driver, Caroline Harker, Dawn McDaniel, Ken McDonald, Mary Healey, Jeff Nuttall, Philip Fox, Daniel Craig, Victoria Scarborough
Director: David Attwood
Studio: Anchor Bay
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

This energetic, sardonic, and richly funny adaptation of Daniel Defoe's classic novel is completely unlike what you might expect from genteel Masterpiece Theatre. The heroine, Moll Flanders (Alex Kingston), after being born in prison, wends her way through the top and bottom of 18th-century English society, has five husbands (including a roguish highwayman who becomes the love of her life), many lovers (male and female), travels to America and back again, and in general discovers all that is cruel and sweet in life. Kingston tears into her role with gleeful amorality and delicious charm, often turning to the camera with a seductive smile to ask, "What would you do?" This British miniseries is brilliantly written, skillfully directed, and superbly acted all around (with particularly delightful performances by Diana Rigg and Daniel Craig)--in short, among the best of its kind; both a cunning examination of social morés and a hugely entertaining story. Not to be missed. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

WONDERFUL PIECE OF HISTORY.......2007-05-14

The film is a wonderous look at years before how things were and the poor unfortunate Moll is having a very difficult time. A pleasure to watch and so well put together, even with the current Mr James Bond featured!!!

WOW!.......2006-10-01

I'll go into this review assuming you know the story of Moll Flanders, all right? That saves me time for my soap boxing climbing which is coming up in a moment. Moll Flanders is among my favorite books of all. (If you don't believe me, check out my review of it.) Purists might object that this 1996 film version strays a bit from the original, but as is the case in some other rare instances (the 1991 motion picture version of The Last of the Mohicans, for instance) it actually enhances the tale in so doing therefore the sacrifice of authenticity is more or less worth it. What is shocking about this production, which aired on PBS's Masterpiece Theater back in the `90's, is the extent to which the filmmakers chose to focus less on Moll as a survivor against all odds and more on those erotic elements left understated by Defoe. Here by my estimate perhaps one in four scenes in the movie contain both nudity and sex: sometimes downright raunchy, rutting-like-beasts-in-heat sort of sex, too. It blows my mind how back in those happier days of the 1990's, before that dictatorial anachronism that is the FCC was quite so draconian about flexing its Puritanical muscle, this version of Moll Flanders actually aired in prime time. As I said up there in my title: WOW! Don't see the Robin Wright Penn adaptation that misguidedly sets this story in the 1700's instead of the 1600's, see this one. Or better yet, read the book. It's truly great literature.

wrong casting job for this film.......2006-05-12

the heroine simply turned out to be too clumsily big-mama sized unattractive. she didn't look a bit like young woman that might differred her from other women around her. and the screenplay was a poorly adapted one that made the viewing a clinched no-brainer. the storyline is too tasteless and boring that made the viewing a painful endurance.

Missing scenes, Added graphic sex scenes-same production, different edit.......2006-02-27

This DVD (The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders) is renamed for a purpose: it is a different edit of the "Moll Flanders" that PBS put on a few years ago. This edit loses at least one scene (the garden scene with Moll and Roland in the strange, circular shrubbery) and some of the narration is either missing or moved. The result is a different product. The time gained by losing a scene (or more) and narration is spent in adding graphic sex scenes for nearly EVERYONE Moll sleeps with (yes, even the disgusting, drunken baronet, but thankfully, his pasty bottom is one of the few that isn't shown in the act). Why this edit adds so many more sex scenes and then does not add any new scenes or retain the old scenes is beyond my understanding. This edit results in a less satisfying story.
If that were not enough, the music is changed for this version. After a while, you can get used to it, but it is a much sweeter soundtrack and often doesn't seem to go that well with the scene as a result.
Don't buy this version if you watched it on TV and loved it.

"DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!".......2006-01-01

I purchased this many years ago on vido tape. And just recently watched it again this New Year's Eve. Let me say, it has lost none of it's sparkle. Moll is as firery and adventurous as ever. This is one of the best productions ever to grace Masterpiece Theatre and that is saying something.( Pease see this version and NOT that HOLLYWOOD glossed over one.) It is not for the kiddies mind you, Moll leaves nearly no sin unturned but she is such a sweet funny girl deep down you just want her to win.
If you only know Alex Kingston from her work on ER well, you are in for a Big and may I say enjoyable surprise.

Average customer rating:

Surprisingly good
A Beautiful Film NOT Based Upon The Book Of The Same Name
HOLLYWOOD vs. MASTERPIECE THEATRE
Read the book. Skip the movie!
You Must Be Willing...

Moll Flanders
Starring: Robin Wright Penn , Morgan Freeman , Stockard Channing , John Lynch , and Brenda Fricker
Director: Pen Densham
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

The Fortunes & Misfortunes of Moll Flanders
Dangerous Beauty
Elizabeth
Restoration
The Age of Innocence

ASIN: B000053VB3
Release Date: 2001-01-09

Amazon.com

Robin Wright gives an adolescent, one-note performance as Daniel Defoe's 18th-century heroine, who has successive experiences as an abandoned child, a prostitute, a wife (five times over!), a thief, an artist's model, a felon, and much else. Writer-director Pen Densham takes a Forrest Gump-like sentimental angle on Moll's many manifestations (quite a bit different from Terence Young's bawdy 1965 film version) and mostly succeeds in making a movie that is too silly, precious, and weepy. Morgan Freeman plays a narrator (who doesn't exist in the book), and there are some good performances from John Lynch, Stockard Channing, and Jeremy Brett. But by the time this wobbly adaptation reaches its sappy conclusion, one can't help but feel the overriding power of the film is to insult the intelligence with treacle. --Tom Keogh

Description

Take a beautiful and compelling trip back to 18th-Century England ( Prevue Channel ) with this lovely romantic epic ('satellite News Network ) starring Robin Wright (Forrest Gump) as a bold, courageous heroine. Featuring stellar supporting performances from Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption) and Stockard Channing (Six Degrees of Separation) Moll Flanders is a remarkable motion picture (Jeanne Wolf's Hollywood).Wright portrays Moll, a spirited, headstrong woman whose unfortunate social position leaves her in the most dire of circumstances. Famished and without shelter, Moll is forced to use her beauty as a means for livingfirst as a prostitute and then as a model for an artist who helps change her life for the better. But Moll's struggles are far from over, as the unthinkable occurs, effectively shattering her newfound happiness and forcing this pillar of strength to summon the courage to fight her greatest adversity yet!

Customer Reviews:

Surprisingly good.......2006-08-13

I have never read the novel this is based on so my review is purely on the movie. I tuned in accidently to first watch this on TV and it caught my attention.

The story being told to the girl was a great way to break up the story going back in time to Moll as she struggles to get out of the brothel and turns to drink. Since she turns to drink she is cheap to buy and thus great for the artist who needs a cheap model. Moll becomes his model and he falls for her and with time she also falls for him. But their happiness doesn't last long and Moll finds herself again faced with her past.

Beautifully acted and the costumes and sets are devine. A story on the darker side of history.

Recommended if you like a tale of adventure, love, betrayal and a mean-spirited villian :-)

A Beautiful Film NOT Based Upon The Book Of The Same Name.......2006-07-23

Many people (including others who reviewed this film) have made the mistake of comparing this movie to the book of the same name by Daniel Defoe. If you all watched the opening credits a little more closely, you would notice that this movie is based on Defoe's CHARACTER Moll Flanders NOT his book. It has become apparent to me that people have drawn the wrong conclusions. The filmmakers simply took the character of Moll Flanders and put her in their own story. Their intention was not to recapture Defoe's book, but to recapture his character. They did an amazing job. The acting in this film is superb. The main characters are so strong, and the writing is simply beautiful. The film itself is beautiful to look at as well. It's an emotional story that is told in such an interesting way. I saw it for the first time on television, and knew that I had to have a copy to own. If you like period pieces with strong heroines then I would highly recommend this one.

HOLLYWOOD vs. MASTERPIECE THEATRE.......2006-01-01

Don't waste your money on a bad replacement when you can see a MASTERPIECE.

Read the book. Skip the movie!.......2005-07-07

I rate movies based on how they compare to the book. After all, it is supposedly what they are based on! This movie - it's not even worthy of the title "film" - would be worth less than one star. I felt like the script writer read the blurb on the flyleaf and made a movie based upon what he/she had read. If you want to see a brilliant film rendition of Moll Flanders, check out the Masterpiece Theater version starring Alex Kingston.

You Must Be Willing..........2005-04-22

To take this movie as a separate entity from the book! The book is absolutely fantastic and yet this movie is also equally good! If like me, you love a well produced and well acted period movie, you will enjoy this movie immensely. It offers all the things a good movie does and all the appropriate things a "period" movie should: decent storyline, love, death, money, status, cinematography, wonderful accents and great, great costumes! It's in my DVD collection and I watch it from time to time! The book is a giant in its own right..but this movie can and does stand on its own merits! Go in with an open mind.

Average customer rating:

what's going on?

Flanders (French Movie)
Director: Bruno Dumont
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

DTS | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video

Humanité
Pan's Labyrinth (New Line Two-Disc Platinum Series)

Product Features:

Brief Nudity, Mild Violence, Adult Situations
Uncut Version with Interactive Menu
French & Thai Audio Options
Optional English Subtitles
Photo Gallery & Trailer

ASIN: B000NKQD80

Product Description

Barbe (Adelaide Leroux) is a pretty young woman living in a small village in rural France. Barbe loves Andre (Samuel Boidin), a rough-hewn farmhand who doesn't say much and isn't comfortable sharing his feelings for her in any way other than sex. Frustrated by Andre's inability to show affection, Barbe vents her anger by sleeping with other men, and when Andre is drafted into the Army, he finds Barbe saying goodbye to another of her lovers, Blondel (Henri Cretel), at the same time she's saying farewell to him. Andre and Blondel find themselves serving in the same outfit as they're sent to an unnamed Middle Eastern nation, where the grim circumstances of war wears away their humanity, causing unspeakable events. Meanwhile at home, Barbe discovers she's pregnant...

Customer Reviews:

what's going on?.......2007-06-12

like watching some tardy french young men and women indulged in random sex on farmland, just for pure sex similar to what they got on the farm, pigs, chickens. tilling and ploughing the land. a topic of draft, three guys went to the army, then deployed to where? north africa (where?), iraqi (french never got involved), then where? a dubious war only involved limited manpower, several horses, a few rifles, one tank, some house to house fights, some explosions in ambushes, caught a tribal(?) woman prisoner, then the french soldiers committed a group rape, then.....well, whatever.
back home on the french farmland, that slot female young sex maniac, screwed around with the farm replacement hand for free sex again. then, suffered nervous breakdown (how come? got all the replacement free sex, right?) no morality, no nothing. the farm boy then was captured. then abandoned his comrade, a few pure luck escapes from death. then back home finally, then got difficulty to spit out the most hard to say words: 'l love you...'
this is one of the worst french movies i've ever seen. got nominated in canne festival? one win? absolutely clueless like the whole movie? no purpose and completely pointless. what? albert camus' 'absurdism' "the absurd is the essential concept and the first truth", "always go too far, because that's where you'll find the truth." plus jean-paul satre's 'existentialism'? that young woman and the farm boy both represented some french philosophic ideas? again, very very clueless, even it's true.
definitely not recommended. stay away from this movie as far as you can, unless, you think that your life is not boring enough.

Average customer rating:

WONDERFUL PIECE OF HISTORY
WOW!
wrong casting job for this film
Missing scenes, Added graphic sex scenes-same production, different edit
"DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!"

Moll Flanders
Starring: James Bowers , Alex Kingston , Nicola Kingston , Geoffrey Beevers , and Lucy Evans
Director: David Attwood
Manufacturer: Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Period Piece | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Moll Flanders
Reckless
Obsession
Masterpiece Theatre: Frenchman's Creek
Tess of the D'Urbervilles

ASIN: 6304847254
Release Date: 1998-05-06

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

WONDERFUL PIECE OF HISTORY.......2007-05-14

WOW!.......2006-10-01

wrong casting job for this film.......2006-05-12

Missing scenes, Added graphic sex scenes-same production, different edit.......2006-02-27

"DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!".......2006-01-01

Average customer rating:

WONDERFUL PIECE OF HISTORY
WOW!
wrong casting job for this film
Missing scenes, Added graphic sex scenes-same production, different edit
"DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!"

Moll Flanders (Unrated Edition)
Starring: James Bowers , Alex Kingston , Nicola Kingston , Geoffrey Beevers , and Lucy Evans
Director: David Attwood
Manufacturer: Wgbh
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

WGBH Boston | Television | Genres | DVD | Video