In Lean’s version, the book of Great Expectations is shown by the grown-up Pip reading it aloud as if he is saying what happened when he was a young boy. This shows from the start of the film, sequential narration is used throughout the film. Similarly, in A.Cuaron’s version the grown-up Finn just says he will talk as he remembered but not as his younger self. Both versions have the opening text appearing one at a time on the screen.
Lean’s film is set in 19th Century England in a marshland area. The effect of this is that the area captures as if it was in the book. The black and white shading helps in the texture of the objects. In contrast A. Cuaron’s version is set in 20th Century Florida where most films are set now. He sets the scene on the coast near the sea with seagulls and fish to create a warm feeling, when all of a sudden the seagulls fly off which shows that something has gone wrong. This also shows that Finn is interested in art and that he starts to draw in his sketchbook, whereas Lean’s starts off in a marshland area and creates a murky place that shows that danger is soon to happen. In Cuaron’s version Finn is at the coast throughout the scene, in the same way in Lean’s version Pip is running away with the sea in the background.
In both versions of the film, the story line is similar. There is an orphaned boy who lives with his sister and her man. The boy meets the convict and helps him. Both families are also poor.
In Lean’s version the sister is married to her husband, which was normal in 1940 and it was a sin if they weren’t, whereas the sister wasn’t married in Cuaron’s version. In Lean’s version, Magwitch is dressed in Victorian prison clothes. Similarly, Robert De Niro is wearing an orange prison suit in Cuuaron’s version. This tells u the audience immediately that the character has escaped from prison and is therefore dangerous.
In D.Lean’s version, there is sequential narration so the language is word for word and the actions are the same from the book for e.g.- “ You know what a file is?” and, “ And you know what a whittle is?” On the other hand, A.Cuaron’s uses different language (not word for word) because he is trying to catch the present audience’s attention with words that are used nearly every day of their lives.
When it comes to sound effects and what we hear in Lean’s version there isn’t a big variety of effects used and remains the same throughout the scene, as in Cuaron’s version he uses many devices to capture the mood of the scene.
In Lean’s version, the audience hears old-fashioned language and sound effects such as wind howling and trees creaking running all the way through. This creates an eerie atmosphere with the orchestra playing and gives a sense of creepiness and danger. Instead, in Cuaron’s version, the audience hears calming seagull sounds and the fresh open breeze, which creates a false sense of security with a soothing effect. Then in a sudden step there is a rapid change of music that is fast and high-speed when the convict terrifies Finn, horror is shown on his face.
In 1946 technology was not so advanced and these sound effects weren’t made yet and there wasn’t as large a variety of sound effects as there is today. This is why in Lean’s version; the music is less effective and what we hear in 1999’s Cuaron’s version is more effective to the audience in terms of creating suspense and drama. In D.Lean’s version, when Pip is running away, there is quick running music that trembles to show how scared he is. Pip in 1946 screams in the background at the sight of the convict and the audience hears his thoughts. Similarly Finn in 1999 does the same.
As far as camera angles are concerned, in 1946 camera shots were not varied but in 1999 there is a reasonable big number of camera shots to be considered.
In Lean’s version there are mainly long shots, medium shots and close-ups. Lean’s film starts with a long shot of Pip running to the graveyard, this shows the complete surroundings (the sea, marshland). There is a close-up shot of the book at the beginning showing it as the film starts, this is to emphasise the script following the novel. The close-ups are used to show the characters’ facial expressions, for e.g., Pips scared and terrified expression and the devastating, angry and scary appearance of the convict’s face.
In Cuaron’s version the shots are varied and the shots used in the opening scene are High angle shots, Low angle shots, long shots and tracking. The long shot on the beach shows the surroundings (sea, seagulls, motor boat) and the scary and scared looks on Finn’s and the convict’s faces which Cuaron used when Finn looks down at the artwork so the audience can see through his eyes and know that the drawing will be part of something important later on in the film. The low-angle shots are used on the convict to show that he is important and powerful, when a high angle shot is used on Finn to show he is weak and useless. The handheld camera shot is used to create tension and it makes the audience feel as if they are escaping safely away in the boat with Finn. In both versions close-ups are used on the character’s faces.
In my opinion I preferred Alfonzo Cuaron’s version to David Lean’s version of Great Expectations, mainly because it was more appealing to people of my age and that t was in colour. In David Lean’s version three good points were firstly that the storyline is interesting because it followed the book bit by bit, secondly, he chose to make the film black and white to make it more authentic, and thirdly, Magwitch gave a scary effect when playing the convict, to the audience. The bad points of this version is that the acting isn’t as good, the language isn’t as understandable and the sound effects weren’t effective because they weren’t invented yet. Cuaron’s version was good because the present day language was understandable, secondly the scenes were more appealing to the present day audience and the camera angles were varied and were used creatively. The bad points were that the storyline wasn’t as interesting because it didn’t follow the book entirely. In conclusion In preferred Alfonzo Cuaron’s 1999 film version of the novel Great Expectations to David Lean’s 1946’s interpretation of the novel.
