Under the Greenwood Tree
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DVD details
Actor: James Murray, Keeley HawesBrand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 100 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-04-25
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: E2493
Studio: BBC Worldwide
DVD Reviews of Under the Greenwood Tree
DVD Review: Flawed plotting and characters
Summary: 2 Stars
This film has many elements that make it enjoyable enough to watch once--good acting, cinematography, sets, and costumes. Unfortunately, it has a flawed screenplay and directing. At the start of the story, my first impression of Fancy Day was that she is kind and intelligent and perhaps has some depth of character. My first impression of Dick Dewey was that he was extremely shy and backward. Then, without any real character development, everything simply changes. Dewey is suddenly anything but shy, and starts coming across as an A1 first class jerk who thinks he is God's gift to women. He quickly becomes insulted when Fancy doesn't immediately agree to marry him. At about this time, we learn that Fancy has very little depth of character and is, in fact, a pretty accomplished flirt and tease. While considering a marriage proposal from the wealthy Mr. Shiner, she keeps flitting back to Dewey, having a smooch, then running away again. What comes across in the adaptation is that Fancy is very excited by being able to charm the young, handsome, and (compared to the other men around her) very forward and romantically daring Dewey. Dewey comes across as having fallen for a pretty face and the idea of conquest. True love and a meeting of the minds is totally absent. The lead characters are shallow and unlikable.
As we began to see this "romance" unfold, my wife and I could not help hoping against hope that Fancy would come to her senses and marry someone else. Her best bet would have been Parson Maybold. Yes, he is a snob, but he would have been a better match for Fancy, who might have helped him come to appreciate the local villagers, and they could have worked together to help the village. Toward the end, when it is obvious that Fancy and Dewey will marry, it becomes a matter of them getting what they deserve. Absolutely nothing has developed to indicate that there is anything more in the relationship than surface physical attraction. There is not a shred of hope given that this educated woman who is not used to physical labor or the hardships of working class rural life and this working class illiterate man will ever respect each other past six months after the wedding. This is especially so since there is no reason to think that Dewey will not turn his head after the first pretty face that walks past him and Fancy will not flirt with the next man she sees with his shirt off. The ending scene with Fancy coming out to help with the wheat harvest does nothing to change this impression. She simply comes across as having no idea what she is getting into.
There are other problems in the plotting, as well. One I will mention is Dick Dewey's suddenly acquired desire, after wanting to marry Fancy, for more money and his idea to expand the family business. This is shown to be contrary to his father's wishes. Nevertheless, he uses his initiative to get a new customer. Then, this subplot is never developed further, but is simply dropped. What are we to make of it? I see it as an indication that Dewey will always feel inferior to Fancy, and his desire to "better" himself may cause continual friction with his father, who is content to stay as he is and not expand the business. But we will never know because the screenplay writer just let it drop.
There are also anachronisms. The most striking are the public displays of flirting and affection between Fancy and Dewey. These could never have happened in a 19th century rural English village without Fancy being perceived as the village slut and shunned by everyone. We may not agree with these standard today, but they were a reality at the time. I know that many screenwriters feel they need to hit us over the head with such scenes so we modern viewers get the idea that these two people like each other. But some of the best screenwriters, such as Andrew Davies (Pride and Prejudice 1995, A@E's Emma, Sense and Sensibility 2008, Little Dorrit 2008, etc.), know how to get the idea across without making the film out of synch with its setting.
If you are looking for pretty scenery, interesting supporting characters, costumes, and a quite story, this is worth one viewing. Rent it. The flaws make it not worth buying.
Description of Under the Greenwood Tree
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