The Way We Live Now

Ok movie

I love David Suchet's Poirot, so it was interesting to see him as the villain of the piece. As always, his acting is superb. I very much enjoyed this adaptation of Trollope's sweeping novel highlighting the seismic changes to English high society in the 1800s.

"The Way We Live Now" was a four-part (5-hour-long) BBC television series (from 2001) of the Anthony Trollope novel of the same name (from 1875). Trollope writes about complex human situations that are mature and timeless. He is one of my favorite writers. I read the novel immediately prior to watching the series. This dramatization follows the Trollope novel fairly accurately, but there were a few unnecessary deviations (but this always seems to happen with these BBC adaptations). I loved the novel; I think it is Trollope's best. I enjoyed this miniseries; I think they did a great job. Casting, costumes, and settings are all very good.I read the novel and watched this series at the height of the recent financial collapse and the associated destruction of real estate prices, personal fortunes, companies, countries, and cities. Although the novel was written 137 years ago,Trollope's sub-plots of greedy scoundrels engaged in stock frauds, debt scams, and general chicanery and flim-flam smack of modern-day Wall Street and Washington, DC. That is to say, the con games of the 1870s are still going on today. But then, this kind of shenanigans has probably been going on since Gilgamesh was a baby.One thing I enjoy about Trollope's stories is that they involve complex adult interactions within the confines of various societal frameworks. Trollope seems to find most of these frameworks to be quite ridiculous, a point of view that he expresses brilliantly with subtle satirical wit. When translating Trollope to film, this subtlety is sometimes replaced with something a little more immediate and exaggerated. I can easily forgive the television producers for this liberty, since I still greatly enjoyed their series.If you enjoy Trollope, also check out  The Barchester Chronicles  and  The Pallisers - The Complete Collection . Also, please note that "The Way We Live Now" is also sold in the Anthony Trollope Collection ( The Anthony Trollope Collection (The Barchester Chronicles / He Knew He Was Right / The Way We Live Now) ).I highly recommend both the novel and the miniseries.

This DVD is a useful adjunct to Trollope's novel. David Suchet's rendering of the character Melmott is very credible.

A great way to spend a rainy weekend. Acting, costumes and sets are superb, but it is all built on a nearly perfect script fleshed out of a novel that was just as great now as it was in it's day.Veiwers of the northern U.S. climes may not "get it", but ignore the tomato throwing toward Mrs. Hurdle's accent. It was dead on. If you've ever spent time in the deep, antebellum south, you'll still hear the older women talk much like this. I imagine that the actress did her research and the time period would have resulted in an even deeper, regionalized (probably Alabama) southern accent than you hear people speak with now. It is bourne out of the region's french influence mixed with appalachian.More oddly contrasted was some actors missing accent all together as in Cheryl Campbell's Lady Carbury. How would a cad like Felix end up with a mancusian accent coming from a home with refined nearly-american accents like her's and her daughter Hetta? Strange choice, that he would put that vocal suit on.Even with these minor quafs, the film is just an excellent ride.

Really amazing performances across the board, especially Suchet who turns in a remarkably at once despicable and sympathetic antagonist. Unlike The Warden and The Pallisers films (which had their moments of gloom) The Way We Live Now is permeated with a sense of foreboding and creeps into some of the most uncomfortable territory of any of these stories I've experienced. That's not to say it's all doom and sadness; there's levity in the fun poked at high society and the intriguing characters, but this is no fairy tale with plenty of roguish people making bad decisions. It's captivating, it's harrowing, and it's overall a really biting inditement of 'The Way We Live Now' with its duplicity, loose morals, and corruption.Still there's some tenderness connected with the drama and darkness which leaves a bittersweet taste when all is said and done.Great performances, great costumes, settings...and it hints at the kind of inspired director behind this mini-series who would go on to do multiple Harry Potter films later on, complete with several actors from this series (the actress who plays Moaning Myrtle plays a prominent role and Filch also shows up!)

This is a faithful adaptation of the text, accepting that a few hours' video cannot convey the richness of character and story development in such a long book. Nonetheless, the characters are portrayed well as I experienced them from several readings. David Suchet is excellent as an amoral, megalomaniac huxter.

Set in England in the late 1800's, this delightful series intertwines the lives of the Carbury family and the Melmonts. Mrs. Carbury is on the brink of ruin because her deceased husband did not leave her enough to thrive and her only hope is for her scoundrel of a son to marry a wealthy woman or alternatively for her beautiful daughter to marry her cousin. The Melmont's have just arrived in London from Vienna and purportedly have wealth. The Melmont daughter is attracted to the worthless Carbury son and the story begins to spin its web. The acting in this series is exceptional and the screenplay is tightly woven so that each episode ends on a cliff hanger. It is an enjoyable dvd for light hearted entertainment.

First broadcast in 2001, this BBC period drama based on Anthony Trollope's novel, stands the test of time, and although the cast are youthful, notably Cillian Murphy as Paul Montague, they are appropriately chosen for the time. David Suchet is brilliant as the power- and money-grabbing Augustus Melmotte, and Rob Brydon is also good as journalist Alf, a thorn in Melmotte's side. The story focuses on the self-satisfied Victorian establishment in business and politics and how they dishonestly perpetuate their privileges. Only a few characters are honest and honourable and reject the Melmotte view that it is the responsibility of the wealthy to get richer to benefit everyone (allegedly). Now, given that the novel was written in 1875, and televised in 2001, why is it that the central character and his shenanigans sound so chillingly familiar today? Aptly titled - The Way We Live Now! Worth a rewatch.

I'd read the novel and found it hard to believe that a film adaptation would even be possible. Inevitably a great deal of the original is omitted and the ending changed but the adaptation is very skilful and effective and the acting an absolute triumph. It's highly engaging and full of vitality; often very funny and at times extremely moving.It's absolutely brilliant!

This was a rather poor adaptation of a wonderful book by Anthony Trollope. I watched the first 15 minutes and gave up. It will be going to the charity shop.

The Way We Live Now from Antony Trollope's novel is an excellent TV movie with a brilliant David Suchet. Not very politically correct but so realistic and alas so really just at present. A great and excellent critic of liberalism system with speculation. I advise North and South TV movie too from Elisabeth Gaskell

This was a tour de force of acting, headed by David Suchet and Matthew Macfadyen . Shirley Henderson is superb as Melmott's daughter, troubled yet defiant. I will be recommending it to all my friends.