A bitterly cold night, an ancient cavernous church, the atmosphere at St Albans Film Festival's preview screening of Mike Newell's Great Expectations could not have been more apt - even without the dry ice and fake mice. The organisers really went to town with the decorations which included candles, cobwebs and even a mouldering Miss Havisham at her bridal table.

The director's local pedigree is well known - the Newell family's connection with St Albans Cathedral dates back more than 200 years (though as Mike points out when we speak before the film starts, it is known affectionately as 'The Abbey' by those who reside within the city's environs).

As well as having a strong link with The Abbey Theatre's Company of Ten just down the hill, Mike was head chorister at the abbey in his youth. In his introductory speech before the film he recalls bats swooping through the nave on autumn nights of yore making ladies in the congregation duck.

"In an odd and mysterious way my work is connected to this place," he says. "I swear this is where I started to use that part of my imagination."
He goes on to describe Dickens' most loved novel as a "great moral drama" and his film brings that ethical dilemma to the fore.

When we first meet Pip he is an impressionable pup but his thirst for knowledge goes beyond pure bookish learning - what we see on screen is his quest for a meaningful way of life.
Jeremy Irvine's enthusiastic portrayal as the adult Pip contrasts beautifully with Holliday Grainger's imperious ice queen Estella and the journey they embark on is thoroughly convincing.
Dickens' minor characters - the Pumblechooks and Pockets et al may be played out as theatrical caricatures but all the major players are gratifyingly and edifyingly solid.

Ralph Fiennes' Magwitch, Helen Bonham Carter's Miss Havisham, Jason Flemyng's Joe Gargery - Mike reveals their heart and humanity at every step.

There may have been "countless other versions" as the director himself points out, but he is thoroughly justified in making this one - its infinitely more than one might have hoped for.  

 

Melanie Dakin