I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

A different way of telling a story

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

With first place going to Middlemarch. Silas Marner as a book has everything that is characteristic of George Eliot(pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans), characters with flaws and strengths, sharply insightful social commentary, themes that were relatable then and are now too and compelling storytelling. This adaptation matches those qualities exactly. As an adaptation it's very faithful, but it's its merits standing on its own that is even more impressive. It's beautifully made, the costumes, make-up and scenery show a lot of authenticity and detail and it looks great, not too opulent looking(but the colours are still rich and well-textured) and not too bleak. The photography is fluid and doesn't try to do too much but at the same time it's hardly simplistic either. The understated and unobtrusive music fits the tone of Silas Marner's story and it compliments the drama too, while the script is poetic and literate as well as faithful to Eliot's style, there isn't any irrelevant filler and it allows the story to resonate. The story is still emotional and heart-warming(the scenes with Eppie have so much heart), the themes of the book are sensitively explored and we identify with the characters(who are definitely the opposite of one-dimensional, they are very well fleshed-out). Ben Kingsley is superb, one of his best performance and he has never been more touching than here. He gives the character a lot of subtlety while literally in his scenes with little Eppie, adorably played by Elizabeth Hoyle. Patsy Kensit is much better than in Adam Bede and she is charming enough. Jenny Agutter is alluring and sympathetic, though with not as much to do, while Jonathan Coy is a nasty piece of work as Dunstan, Patrick Ryecaft is solid if a tad strident as Godfrey and the ever dependable Freddie Jones is excellent as he usually always is. Overall, the second best of the George Eliot Collection, splendid as an adaptation and in its own right. 10/10 Bethany Cox

In the great Frank Capra classic Meet John Doe, when Gary Cooper first meets up with Regis Toomey and others in the small town that he got off after fleeing the radio station after the speech, among the stories that Toomey tells is about Sourpuss Smithers. He's described as a miserly cuss that no one would bother with. But when the budding John Does investigated they found there was a reason why a person can become as mean and cynical as they are. It can happen when your faith in people is shattered.Which is exactly what George Elliott wrote about when she created Silas Marner who starts out as a decent soul. He's accused of a theft and while nothing can be proved and there's indication he was framed, the good Calvinist people of his church blackball him and since that's what the majority of his town were, he was left isolated.Marner leaves that town and settles near another town called Raveloe where he lives apart and alone, hoarding his money made from his weaver's trade and refusing to associate with anyone else. He's robbed of his money and this further embitters him.But coming into his life is a young girl maybe a year or two old who is found by the weaver in the dead of winter wandering in the woods. The body of her opium addicted mother is nearby. The young girl has a lineage connected to Raveloe's most prominent family. Still Marner takes her into raise and that contact melts him. He becomes quite the caring person.Ben Kingsley plays the title role of Silas Marner and dominates the film as the character dominates the book. Kingsley is superb in a role that calls for the individual to gradually shift in emotions over the course of the story. Angela Pleasence as the young girl's degenerate mother makes her scenes count as well as does the young lady who grows up to be Patsy Kensit.Still you will remember Ben Kingsley's performance which will linger with you a long time after you see this Masterpiece Theater production of Silas Marner.

This is the uplifting story of Silas Marner, a 19th century English working man, who seems to be greatly wronged repeatedly by people in his community. As an eligible young man, a rival framed him out of greed as well as envy, leaving Marner wrongly accused of theft, upon which he relocates in a different village.For some 15 years, Marner lives like a hermit, hording the money he earns as a weaver. Said to be "in with the wicked one", possessing strange magic, town folk avoid contact with the mysterious man. Ben Kingsley is perfectly cast as the reclusive Marner.Suddenly, in short succession, two events change the life of Master Marner forever, even restoring his faith in a Supreme Being and the good in his fellow man. Without revealing the surprises held by this wonderful story, I can highly recommend this film to viewers of teen age and above. Not just another tear jerker, but a strong social statement as well. An excellent film.

I am very surprised that there are no comments at all on this wonderful TV adaptation of one of George Eliot's thankfully shorter books. The plot of the book is rather melodramatic but it basically doesn't matter because the film concentrates on the strange and moving story of Silas himself, who falls into despair and becomes a recluse and miser when he is wrongly accused of a crime and is saved by the unexpected appearance in his life of a small child.Put this way, it sounds mawkish, but Silas is wonderfully handled by Ben Kingsley. He is a great actor who quietly inhabits every part he plays. The story is also about the importance of community. It is only when Silas becomes part of the village of Raveloe and its basically welcoming people that his life begins to turn around.I am a notorious weeper at movies and I cried a lot when I rented this, not at the sad bits but at the parts when Silas realises that he is not alone. For all those who like period movies (the late 18th century scene is well recreated) and character-driven plots.