Loved the book, haven't seen the film yet.

Bumping this up...

I read the book in college, not long before this film was broadcast. I watched it because of the book and I enjoyed it. Now that I'm into Sherlock I'd love to see this again. I know it was released on DVD and I'm trying to find it (Amazon and Ebay aren't an option for me, but I'm keeping an eye out). There are some great DVD stores around where I live that stock older stuff at bargain prices  

From what I can remember, it was very good

Thanks for that link, Susi!
It's quite interesting how well the film and especially the character of Bernard works, considering that they left a lot of things concerning him out. I didn't know that until now. But it seems a good decision that the viewer should only know as much about Bernard's fate as his wife.

What I love about many of his parts is that they allow him to show his human sides even if he plays a  character that is not really likeable. We do not get to know much about Bernard but his shy way of wooing Queenie and the fact that he has been living alone with a shell-shocked father possibly for more than twenty years evoke sympathy and compassion in the viewer. (Besides, I love his looks in this film). 

However, I would not compare Bernard or Khan with Christopher Tietjens who may be stubborn as hell but who is basically a man trying to live up to his ideals even if they seem outdated. But then nobody says it better than Benedict himself:

“He’s (Christopher Tietjens) just sort of unfathomably generous and patient and yet really quietly courageous. He doesn’t suffer hypocrisy or fools gladly. He doesn’t betray himself or his ideals for any quick fixes. He’s just a good human being. I’ve got a very big affection for that man. If I can live a life half as good as his, I will know I have done alright."
 

Last edited by SusiGo (April 20, 2014 3:59 pm)

TeeJay wrote:

They're all complicated characters, but all very believable and very human. (Except for Khan, who's... well... superhuman.)

But Benedict even manages to make superhuman Khan appear human to the audience. He gets Khan's reasons for doing what he's doing across in a way that makes me go "Yes, I understand. I probably wouldn't take action in the same way, but I understand."

As for Bernard, I love the fact that it's not just black or white with him. There are several layers to that character (as should be the case with all characters we see in movies or read about in books, of course), and while I tend not to like him very much in one scene, this can change completely in the next scene. And the scene in the kitchen, when he tells Queenie what happened to him... brings tears to my eyes every single time I watch it.

 

Last edited by SolarSystem (April 20, 2014 5:06 pm)

Very true. His way of telling his friends the honest truth about what he thinks about them and what they're doing with their lives is quite hard to take at times - but then again, you understand where he's coming from and why he's pissed.

Last edited by SolarSystem (April 20, 2014 5:10 pm)

I finished watching Small Island today, what a brilliant miniseries. I was fascinated by Queenie's and Hortense's stories, and the glimpse I got of the history of Jamaican immigrants in England. I'm so glad that -- through my current binge-watching of everything that Benedict has been in that I can find -- I'm getting to watch such wonderful films. I'm thoroughly impressed with everything I've seen of Benedict's work - he obviously chooses his parts very carefully, with an eye for quality scripts, direction and production.

I actually liked Bernard quite a bit, despite his being an intolerant racist, I think he was on his way to redeeming himself and changing his attitudes by the end of the film. I agree with what has been said already in this thread: Benedict has a talent for playing nuanced, layered, even contradictory characters you can't help feeling for (except maybe for Paul Marshall in Atonement).