Reviewed January 26, 2006

I am concerned about the plight of street children and I am a delighted reader of the works of Charles Dickens. Thus I was doubly interested in seeing Roman Polanski's Oliver. After viewing the dvd I am left with mixed feelings.

Polanski has done a very good job of presenting us with Dickens' Oliver and Dickens' London. And he has wrestled with more success than most with a key problem in the story. That problem, of course, is that the main character in this work, Oliver (Barney clark), doesn't do very much except get born and then get handled rather roughly until he is finally rescued from his difficult circumstances. His sole act that shows any independent spirit is when he runs away to London but running away doesn't take much moral or physical courage. As a result and as generally happens, our interest in this film is in the other characters, Fagin (Ben Kingsley), Nancy (Leanne Rowe) and the Artful Dodger (Harry Eden) especially.

The character of Fagin is so rich that there are many different ways to interpret it. Ben Kingsley's Fagin is the best I've ever seen - a superb performance. Fagin here is clearly portrayed as a man consumed with avarice, gloating over his ill-gotten gains. But we also see him as a man capable of kindness and of inspiring affection. He exploits children but he feeds them better than than Bumble, the poorhouse Beadle and he is relatively free of self-righteousness. Nevertheless, though Fagin is fascinating, there is never any real doubt as to his complete commitment to his own interests above all others. While he may regret sacrificing Oliver to Bill Sykes' paranoia, he does not resist.

The most interesting character might have been Nancy. Torn between her love for Bill Sykes and her sympathy for Oliver she makes a heroic choice. Unlike Oliver, she is no passive victim of her circumstances. When she sees clearly what is right she acts decisively and pays for it with her life. Unfortunately, this character never develops in this film. Polanski fails to build strong relationships between Nancy and Oliver or between Nancy and Bill so the depths of her tragedy never capture our attention. One day someone will make a film of Oliver that is focussed on Nancy, who is really the main dramatic character in the work.

Harry Eden portrays the artful dodger very professionally and it is a shame that his character is not on the screen more of the time. In the film, he too makes a moral choice that puts his life at risk. But his earlier betrayal of Nancy makes his final moral stance a little equivocal. Nevertheless there is a richness to his character that pays a subtle tribute to the ingenuity, independence and fundamental sense of justice often found in street children.

There is a great final scene between Oliver and Fagin where Polanski nearly rescues the characterless Oliver but it comes too late to make this a great film. It is, however, a very good film and I recommend it.