Daniel Deronda

Director: Tom Hooper Tom Hooper

Overview

Produced for British television, Daniel Deronda was adapted from George Eliot's final novel, written in 1874 (and first filmed in 1921). As was her habit, Eliot laid bare the hypocrisy and venality of Victorian-era "class culture," at the same time admitting that a certain amount of conformity was necessary if one hoped to survive in a world where nonconformity was not only looked down upon but actively suppressed. Essentially, both the novel and the TV presentation are comprised of two separate stories, linked together by the titular Daniel Deronda (Hugh Dancy), a young man of Jewish heritage. In the main narrative, Daniel is attracted to the spoiled, headstrong Gwendolen Harleth (Romola Garai), who is reluctantly poised to enter into a marriage of convenience with the wealthy, snobbish, and intensely anti-Semitic Henleigh Grancourt (Hugh Bonneville). This romantic intrigue is played against the curious relationship between Daniel and the Zionist visionary Mordecai (Daniel Evans), who tirelessly proselytizes in favor of a permanent homeland for the Jewish people. Things come to a head when Daniel finds himself falling in love with Mordecai's sister Mirah (Jodhi May). Originally telecast in three parts on the BBC beginning December 7, 2002, Daniel Deronda was re-edited as a two-parter for the PBS anthology Masterpiece Theatre, where it first aired on March 30, 2003.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/17/2007
UPC:	0794051288523
Original Release:	2002
Source:	Bbc Warner
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	3:30:00
Sales rank:	6,948

Special Features

Behind-the-scenes photo gallery; Biographies of the cast and crew; Includes 30 minutes of footage not seen on American television!

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Hugh Dancy	Daniel Deronda
Romola Garai	Gwendolen Harleth
Jodhi May	Mirah Lapidoth
Edward Fox	Sir Hugo Mallinger
Amanda Root	Mrs. Davilow
David Bamber	Lush

Technical Credits

Tom Hooper	Director
Louis Marks	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Adapted from the novel by George Eliot, Daniel Deronda is the tale of an aristocrat's illegitimate son whose mysterious bloodlines are the source of a host of family secrets. There is, however, one glaring difference between Deronda and other Eliot works: a focus on anti-Semitism in Victorian England that made it by far her most controversial. The sensitive protagonist, Daniel (Hugh Dancy) meets lovely Gwendolen Harleth (Romola Garai) at a fashionable resort, and their sudden passion becomes the catalyst that sets the plot in motion. Finding herself suddenly impoverished, Gwendolen consents to marry Henleigh Grandcourt (Hugh Bonneville), an arrogant aristocrat whose oppressive treatment leads her to ask Daniel for help. When Deronda's relationship with a Jewish singer (Jodhi May) is subsequently revealed, the sensitive issue of his heritage is thrust before him. Called "a jaw-dropping roll-call of British thespianism" by the Financial Times and featuring fine turns by such respected non-Brits as Greta Scacchi and Barbara Hershey, Daniel Deronda rises above its occasional melodramatic plot devices to offer a complex portrait of Victorian nobility in all its opulence and imperfections.