A Comparison of the Opening Sequence in Two Film Versions of the Novel Great Expectations

A Comparison of the Opening Sequence in Two Film Versions of the Novel Great Expectations

I am going to compare the first 20 minutes of two film versions of the

novel, Great Expectations. One version is by David Lean 1946. The

other version is by Alfonzo Cuaron 1999.

In Lean's version and Cuaron's there is one big difference and that is

that Lean's version is in black and white, while Cuaron's is in full

colour. The colour projects a better effect because it is clearer and

more understandable whereas the black and white version is less

effective in my opinion. In 1946 black and white effects such as

shadow and lightning was used and this was brilliant at that time,

which is why it is not used nowadays because we have better visual

effects, but in some films, it is still used today.

In David Lean's version, the title graphics contain black, posh,

classical writing and has a white background. There is also orchestral

music playing which is light-hearted. This would have been traditional

in that era and would show that the film is old and classical.

However, A.Cuaron's 1999 version of the opening graphics is completely

different by using water effects when the writing is appearing and has

a green background with Finn's artwork when he's grown up. The text is

yellow and curly with rippling water effects. There is also classical

modern music that was specially made for the movie. This gives a

modern approach and shows the new world of modern art.

In Lean's version, the book of Great Expectations is shown by the

grown-up Pip reading it aloud as if he is saying what happened when he

was a young boy. This shows from the start of the film, sequential

narration is used throughout the film. Similarly, in A.Cuaron's

version the grown-up Finn just says he will talk as he remembered but

not as his younger self. Both versions have the opening text appearing

one at a time on the screen.

Lean's film is set in 19th Century England in a marshland area.