By the time the credits are finished and the film is started seeds of apprehension would have been sown in the audience.
Both films start with the voice of an adult Pip reflecting back on his childhood memories.
In the 1944 version, the film starts with a book being blown open by the wind and the adult Pip narrating the story. The camera zooms into the book, which then fades into a landscape. At the time this was one of the latest special effects techniques but nowadays this effect is used in nearly every film made and has become a sort of cliché. Even though many might disagree I personally think that the effect is still successful. In this landscape everything seems horizontal, then enters young Pip who seems to be the only vertical figure in that landscape along with the gibbet, which is not the most auspicious sign. The camera shot is from a distance, which clearly shows how small Pip is compared to his surroundings. All the while there is a strong ominous sound of wind in the background. When the camera zooms in on Pip, there is a rising mist in the background, that and the howling of the wind add together to build up a wall of tension and strengthens the impression of mystery and intrigues the audience. There is a close up of Pip who is climbing into a most horrendous and unkempt graveyard which is enough to inspire terror in anyone. We have a shot from Pips point of view who looks up at a tree, which is dancing quite wildly at the wind’s will, and accompanied by the eerie music of the background I felt very apprehensive indeed of what is to come as the tree seemed to want to make a grab for Pip. I also felt pity for Pip as he had brought a small bunch of flowers for the graves of his family.
In the 1997 version the director chose to change Pip’s name to Finn Bell, which is one of the changes made to the storyline to modernize the movie.
This movie begins with the adult voice of the main character, in this case Fin, as well, but the whole scenery is changed. Instead of a grey miserable day and a dreary location, Finn is rowing a boat at the sea in a fine, glorious morning. He is not visiting a lost relative’s tombstone but is looking for an isolated spot to do some drawing. The shot of Finn running through the blue and clear water of the Florida seashore does not quite have the same effect as Pip running to a graveyard in what seems to be a storm of tension and suspense. Eventually Finn finds his desirable spot and settles to draw a fish which seems to wholly engross his attention. It is very hard for the audience to feel any tension at this point of the movie; in fact I believe there is none.
It is very important for a director to make an impression at the beginning, as the audience will decide whether the movie is worth watching after the first few scenes.
How the two directors had chosen to do this opening scene to the movie could not be anymore different. One (David Lean) had chosen to create a mounting tension before Pip encounters the convict and the other (Alfonso Cuaron) had chosen to make the audience feel relaxed and calm and then make the convict Magwitch appear from nowhere and shatter this whole illusion of peace and tranquillity. Not a lot of people believe that the 1997 version was more effective and in fact out of eighteen people only six agreed that the 1997 version was more successful in forming tension. I personally disagree and believe that the 1944 version was more successful as it fabricated tension through the landscape and even before the convict appears the audience are on the edge of their seats and apprehensive as to what will happen next. In the 1997 version once the audience recover from unexpected appearance of Magwitch and grasp the fact that it is a person who has grabbed Pip all the tension is snuffed out and nothing else made much of an impression on me.
Even though I’m sure that the both directors tried their best to make a tense atmosphere that leaves the audience wanting to know more, I thought that David Lean was more successful in building that wall of tension.
In both films the appearance of Magwitch is a pivotal point and is in fact an explosion of tension. This appearance is especially important in the 1997 version as there has been no tension until this point of the movie and the success of the movie all depends on this sudden burst of tension. Robert De Niro who plays Magwitch materializes out of the water and grips Finn. This sudden appearance in the quiet and tranquil surroundings makes him appear more frightening and threatening as he has already shattered the peacefulness.
The audience see the convict through Finn’s perspective and knows how he must appear to Finn.
The background music which had so far been harmonious is suddenly changed and takes on a dramatic tune which suggests there is no escaping the convict and that Finn is doomed.
The entrance of the convict is completely different to the one described in the novel and the 1944 version which closely follows the novel.
In the 1944 version the convict jumps from behind a tombstone and makes a grab for Pip as opposed to materializing out of the water.
In both films the convict covers Pip/ Finn’s mouth to prevent him from crying out loud but in the 1944 version the convict proceeds to turn Pip upside down and shake him in a horrible manner. The audience have a wonderful shot of Pip being upside down from between Magwitch’s legs and then the camera shows Pips perspective who is seeing the old church behind Magwitch upside down. In the 1997 version the convict merely proceeds to make him threats and does no such thing.
David Lean had chosen to cast a very slender looking child for the character of Pip. This Pip was indeed very fragile looking and catches the audience’s sympathy almost immediately from the beginning as he is being compared to his very large and rough surroundings. This fragility is more pronounced as Magwitch grabs him roughly and covers his mouth to keep him from screaming.
When released and interrogated by Magwitch, Pip is very polite. The novel effectively portrays the fact that the convict has not had much education but this is not so obvious in the movie although Magwitch does use a few non-standard English words. The wind is howling all the while this interrogation takes place. The audience’s sympathy is aroused still more when pip is picked up and turned upside down so that his pockets are emptied. This scene is shot using a reverse shot. Then he is seated on a very high tombstone by Magwitch who promises him that if he tells anyone about encountering a convict a young man with a peculiar taste for young boy’s heart and liver will hunt him. The use of this threat, which suggests cannibalism, something that still horrifies a lot of people, is particularly effective and still used in films such as “Silence of the lambs”. Pip certainly portrays an effective show of fear.
In the 1997 version Finn, rather looks well cared for and certainly able to defend himself. When Robert De Niro enters as Magwitch he does look rather rough and his use of very graphic language is meant to be representative of the fact that he is not well educated where as in the David Lean version even though Magwitch was ill mannered he did not swear.
When grabbed by Magwitch Finn doesn’t look quite as scared as he is meant to. He is not able to answer question except to nod or make some gurgling noises as Magwitch’s hand is covering his mouth all the while.
As the 1944 version follows the novel closely the convict is able to pick Pip up and place him on a tombstone and tilt him back to a position where he (the convict) is Pip’s only support and the fact that throughout the whole rough treatment he gets from Magwitch he is constantly polite and uses the respectful title “sir”, when it is quite clear that Magwitch is no gentleman makes the audience feel even more sympathetic towards him.
As the 1997 version of the movie is shot at a beach there is no way that Magwitch could have picked Finn up and place him on a tombstone, although in my opinion he could have tilted him back from the boat nearby so that if Magwitch let go he would fall into the ocean.
As for body language on the whole I think that Pip was able to demonstrate his fear far better than Finn in the 1997 version. I found the actions and body language of Magwitch equally daunting in both films.
In the 1944 version we do not get to see the Convict’s face properly which leads the audience think of him as a very sinister and frightening figure, as on could imagine him in anyway they like. To oppose that we see Pips face quite clearly and the fear etched into it.
In the 1997 version we have only a fleeing vision of the convicts face before the camera zooms in on Pips face and w can only see the convict’s hand which is covering his moth. I believe the 1944 version was more successful in creating a Magwitch that was fearsome to all. I believe casting had a hug part to play in this as well, because I had grown p watching Robert De Niro movies and I have seen him appear in many of my favourite movies in the role of many of my favourite characters and it was very hard for me to think of him as the evil and sinister looking Magwitch as I had other impressions from him. On the other hand as the 1944 version was made years before I was born I had no idea who the actors were and I had no impressions of them before I watched the movie and I am sure if I come across a movie with Finlay Currie cast in a different role I would still think of hi as Abel Magwitch.
People usually go to movies to escape their reality for a brief spell of time, the fact that David Lean chose to have his cast wearing Victorian customs makes it easier for the audience to feel transported into another era easier than the 1997 version where the director chose to have the costumes modernized along with everything else.
On the whole I think that David Leans version of Great Expectations was more successful in creating tension and suspense. The fact that the movie is in black and white and that it portrays grim and harsh surroundings as opposed to the beautiful and sunny location of the 1997 version of the film where it was very hard for me to feel the slightest bit of tension although there was a considerable amount produced by the sudden appearance of the convict I didn’t feel it was enough or that it did any justice to the book which in my opinion is one of the best ever written and nowadays I often come across writers who have tried to reproduce novels the same way Dickens did.
I preferred the 1944 David Lean version because I felt it did justice to the book and gratified my expectations in creating a cataclysm of mounting tension.
