I think this could've been a little longer, I mean she went from destitute to rich heiress in 10 minutes! They could've got two more episodes out of this surely.
Apart from this I thought they captured the 18th Century brilliantly, a real treat to the eyes and well cast (apart from Hugo Speer who just wasn't fanciable enough for my liking).
"apart from Hugo Speer who just wasn't fanciable enough for my liking"
Seriously? I don't know...I didn't think he was attractive as such but he was very alluring!
I found him very fanciable, but each to their own I guess.
Laura xxx
I know writers who use sub-text and they're all cowards!
It was just really silly.
I don't know why Davies, more or less given carte-blanche with the sexual content, was willing to shoehorn the novel's improbable plot into the time he had. There is absolutely no way anybody could take the later story seriously, or think Fanny's descent into a 'girl of the streets' and then into a heiress was in anyway convincing.
Given how hilarious much of the bawd-house stuff material was, I would have totally done away with the uneven, affectedly serious stuff and limited the film to a high-brow 18th Century Confessions movie, which I suspect was what Davies was really interested in anyway.
Davies should have just gone 100% with the puns, dirty talk and bodice ripping, and found a more intelligent way to integrate some kind of social or historical commentary. Taken straight from the original book nobody these days is going to take Fanny Hill seriously.
In fact, the production reminded me of that scene in Boogie Nights when Burt Reynolds passionately but misguidedly divulges his intention to make a 'different' sort of porn movie, unwittingly forgetting that he is, at the end of the day, still making a porn movie.
Given how hilarious much of the bawd-house stuff material was, I would have totally done away with the uneven, affectedly serious stuff and limited the film to a high-brow 18th Century Confessions movie, which I suspect was what Davies was really interested in anyway.
Having read the book, the end of Fanny's tale is rushed. While there are differences in detail her departure from Mrs Cole's house and time with her elderly benefactor are covered in just a few pages.
I thought the film was great fun, with some good acting, especially from Rebecca Night, in her first major role. Great entertainment!
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Actually if I remember the book correctly,when she "retired" from Mrs. Cole's, she was fairly well off with her own maid, etc. She did not go from destitute to wealthy in the book, nor did she save her benefactor from street bandits. She was walking in the park with her maid and he had a coughing or choking spell and she tried to help him. However, even in the book, she became very wealthy very quickly.
shareYes I thought that too but then again a lot of movies these days feel a bit rushed.
Do you want me to stab you in the eye with my knife? - Ziva David