Vanity Fair film review

certificate_PG

VANITY FAIR

When William Makepeace Thackeray wrote Vanity Fair, his classic satire on the British class system, it was from the vantage point of someone on the fringes of society. It was clearly a position that afforded him a close, but objective study. Like Thackeray, director Mira Nair was born in India: a country saturated in the traditions of its colonial past. It gave the creator of such treasures as Monsoon Wedding and Mississippi Masala the perfect credentials to offer her distinctive vision. And while there are moments when Nair's vivid flair enliven this rambling tale, they are all too few to inspire much enthusiasm or prevent it lagging.

The story's melodramatic style makes it difficult to strike the right tone for a contemporary audience. Fleeting shafts of humour provide some light relief - mostly courtesy of the acid tongued Aunt Matilda (Eileen Atkins) - but the prevailing mood is more dour as events lurch from one tragedy to the next. The buoyant Reese Witherspoon can generally be relied upon to pep things up, but as the ambitious Becky Sharpe, she is tightly bound by etiquette not to mention the outfits.

The lavish costumes are one the film's most striking features. Along with the opulent production design, they show the clearest mark of Nair's eastern influence. In addition there are a liberal sprinkling of Indians in native costumes and an exotic dance sequence more suited to a Cirque du Soleil show than a Victorian novel. All of which are a lush distraction, removing events even further from a tangible reality.

Vanity Fair centers around Sharpe, the impoverished orphaned daughter of a French dancer and struggling artist. The bright and witty Sharpe sets her lofty sights on crossing the class divide. Her determination in this goal is blatant enough to be spotted by the prickly Aunt Matilda, whose path she crosses when Sharpe enters the employment of Sir Pitt Crawley (Bob Hoskins) as a governess. "I had seen her as a mere social climber," observes Matilda. "I see now she's a mountaineer."

Sharpe's marriage to Sir Pitt's eligible son Rawdon (James Purefoy) sets her on her way, but the path to wealth and privilege are never smooth. Along her precarious journey she is joined by her best friend Amelia (Romola Garai), whose own voyage is equally troubled