Vanity Fair (2004)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Mira Nair

Writers:

Matthew Faulk (screenplay) &
Mark Skeet (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

1 September 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

In a time of social climbers, Becky Sharp is a mountaineer.

Plot:

Growing up poor in London, Becky Sharp (Witherspoon) defies her poverty-stricken background and ascends the social ladder alongside her best friend, Amelia.

Plot Keywords:

India | Aristocrat | Governess | Painter | Painting

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Gabriel Byrne	...	The Marquess of Steyne
Angelica Mandy	...	Young Becky Sharp
Roger Lloyd-Pack	...	Francis Sharp (as Roger Lloyd Pack)
Ruth Sheen	...	Miss Pinkerton
Kate Fleetwood	...	Miss Pinkerton's Crone
Reese Witherspoon	...	Becky Sharp
Lillete Dubey	...	Ms. Green (as Lillette Dubey)
Romola Garai	...	Amelia Sedley
Tony Maudsley	...	Joseph Sedley
Deborah Findlay	...	Mrs. Mary Sedley
John Franklyn-Robbins	...	Mr. Sedley
Paul Bazely	...	Biju
Rhys Ifans	...	William Dobbin
Jonathan Rhys Meyers	...	George Osborne
Charlie Beall	...	Gambler
David Sterne	...	Queen's Crawley Mail Coach Driver
Bob Hoskins	...	Sir Pitt Crawley
Douglas Hodge	...	Pitt Crawley
Meg Wynn Owen	...	Lady Crawley
Georgina Edmonds	...	Young Rose Crawley
Emilie Richardson	...	Young Celia Crawley
Tim Preece	...	Horrocks the Butler
Geraldine McEwan	...	Lady Southdown
Natasha Little	...	Lady Jane Sheepshanks
Eileen Atkins	...	Miss Matilda Crawley
James Purefoy	...	Rawdon Crawley
Helen Coker	...	Firkin the Maid
Tim Seely	...	Doctor
Jim Broadbent	...	Mr. Osborne
Sophie Hunter	...	Maria Osborne
Paul Bentall	...	Coalman
Sean McKenzie	...	Auctioneer
Kathryn Drysdale	...	Rhoda Swartz
John Woodvine	...	Lord Bareacres
Barbara Leigh-Hunt	...	Lady Bareacres
Nicholas Jones	...	Lord Darlington
Sian Thomas	...	Lady Darlington
Trevor Cooper	...	General Tufto
Brian Pettifer	...	Mr. Raggles
Steven Elder	...	Curzon Street Footman
Gabrielle Lloyd	...	Nursemaid
William Melling	...	Young Rawdy Crawley
Daniel Hay	...	Young Georgy Osborne
Niall O'Brien	...	Mr. Moss
Anu Gopalakrishnan	...	Desert Beauty
Tom Beard	...	Officer
Roma Edmonds	...	Older Rose Crawley
Gledis Cinque	...	Older Celia Crawley (as Gledis Cimque)
Thomas Grant	...	Little Pitt Crawley
Kelly Hunter	...	Lady Steyne
Camilla Rutherford	...	Lady Gaunt
Alexandra Staden	...	Lady George
Jonathan Phillips	...	Mr. Wenham (as Jonny Phillips)
Richard McCabe	...	The King
Veerendra Saxena	...	Coventry Island Man (as Virendra Saxena)
Bruce Mackinnon	...	Casino Boy
Mathew Horne	...	Casino Boy (as Matthew Horne)
Tim Bentinck	...	German Official (as Timothy Bentinck)
Andrew Price	...	Casino Stranger
Tom Sturridge	...	Older Georgy Osborne
Chloe Treend	...	Dancer: Slave Dance
Stefane Sauer	...	Dancer: Slave Dance
Nicole Forbes	...	Dancer: Slave Dance
Amanda Courtney-Davies	...	Dancer: Slave Dance
Louise Weekley	...	Dancer: Slave Dance
Lene Langgaard	...	Dancer: Slave Dance
Sarah Mogg	...	Dancer: Slave Dance
Tracey Lushington	...	Dancer: Slave Dance
Sandy Borne	...	Dancer: Slave Dance
Stephanie McMillan	...	Dancer: Slave Dance
Suzanne Thomas	...	Dancer: Slave Dance
Mari Baade	...	Dancer: Slave Dance
K. Knight	...	Dancer: Slave Dance
Sylvano Clarke	...	Dancer: Slave Dance
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Max Bollinger	...	German Casino Goer (uncredited)
Tatyana Lavrentyeva	...	Posh Scarlet Lady (uncredited)
Robert Pattinson	...	Older Rawdy Crawley (uncredited)
Vijay Raaz	...	Indian Servant (uncredited)
Jade Ramsey	...	Public School Girl (uncredited)
Nikita Ramsey	...	Public School Girl (uncredited)

Directed by
Mira Nair

Writing credits
Matthew Faulk		(screenplay) &
Mark Skeet		(screenplay) and
Julian Fellowes		(screenplay)
William Makepeace Thackeray		(novel)

Produced by
S.M. Ferozeuddin Alameer	....	line producer: India
Ray Angelic	....	line producer: India
Howard Cohen	....	executive producer
Pippa Cross	....	executive producer
Janette Day	....	producer
Lydia Dean Pilcher	....	producer
Matthew Faulk	....	associate producer
Jane Frazer	....	co-producer
Donna Gigliotti	....	producer
Jonathan Lynn	....	executive producer
Mark Skeet	....	associate producer
Dinaz Stafford	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Mychael Danna

Cinematography by
Declan Quinn

Film Editing by
Allyson C. Johnson

Casting by
Mary Selway
Loveleen Tandan

Production Design by
Maria Djurkovic

Art Direction by
Nick Palmer
Sam Stokes
Lucinda Thomson

Set Decoration by
Kalpa Dave
Tatiana Lund

Costume Design by
Beatrix Aruna Pasztor

Makeup Department
Bee Archer	....	additional hair stylist
Bee Archer	....	additional makeup artist
Zoe Brown	....	additional hair stylist
Zoe Brown	....	additional makeup artist
Anita Burger	....	makeup artist
Blanka Dudas	....	makeup artist
John Henry Gordon	....	additional hair stylist
John Henry Gordon	....	additional makeup artist
Annabel Hill	....	makeup artist
Virginia Holmes	....	assistant makeup: India
Joe Hopker	....	additional hair stylist
Joe Hopker	....	additional makeup artist
Sue Ignatius	....	additional hair stylist
Sue Ignatius	....	additional makeup artist
Rebecca Lafford	....	makeup artist: Ms. Witherspoon
Mai Layton	....	additional hair stylist
Mai Layton	....	additional makeup artist
Sadie Lunn	....	hair trainee
Sadie Lunn	....	makeup trainee
Fran Needham	....	hair stylist: crowd
Fran Needham	....	makeup artist: crowd
Loulia Sheppard	....	hairdresser: Ms. Witherspoon
Jenny Shircore	....	hair designer
Jenny Shircore	....	makeup designer
Chang Su Chan Shiu	....	assistant hair stylist: India
Barbara Taylor	....	crowd hair stylist

Production Management
Rupert Ryle-Hodges	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Matthew Baker	....	second assistant director (as Matt Baker)
Adam Coop	....	additional third assistant director
Reema Kagti	....	second assistant director: India
Max Keene	....	first assistant director
Candy Marlowe	....	second assistant director: crowd
Danny McGrath	....	third assistant director
Jay Jay Odedra	....	second unit director (as Jay J. Odedra)
Stuart Renfrew	....	first assistant director: India
Akshay Roy	....	third assistant director: India

Art Department
Chris Cull	....	property master
Belinda Cusmano	....	assistant set decorator
Amy Dewar	....	art department runner
Gill Farr	....	production buyer
Emily Lutyens	....	graphic artist
Suzanne Caplan Merwanji	....	supervising designer: India
Simon Riley	....	stand-by props
Adrian Start	....	paint supervisor
Hattie Storey	....	art department assistant
Sarah Stuart	....	stand-by art director
Chris Ulusele	....	stand-by props
Tom Whitehead	....	draughtsman
Billy Wilson	....	lead dressing props

Sound Department
Marko A. Costanzo	....	foley artist
Dan Edelstein	....	foley editor
Robert Fernandez	....	sound re-recording mixer
Peter Gleaves	....	adr mixer
Dan Korintus	....	dialogue editor
Drew Kunin	....	production sound mixer
Marissa Littlefield	....	adr editor
Tony Martinez	....	supervising sound editor
Eric McAllister	....	assistant sound editor
Kate Morath	....	boom operator
Kate Morath	....	sound maintenance
Luke Neuman	....	assistant sound
Mary Ellen Porto	....	sound effects editor
Steve Schwartz	....	assistant sound editor (as Stephen Schwartz)
Warren Shaw	....	supervising sound editor
Jeffrey Stern	....	dialogue editor
Eric Strausser	....	assistant sound editor
Bill Sweeney	....	foley editor (as William Sweeney)
Dominick Tavella	....	sound re-recording mixer
Alexander Beddow	....	adr recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
James Davis III	....	special effects senior technician
Hugh Goodbody	....	special effects technician
Mark Holt	....	special effects supervisor

Visual Effects by
Ryan Beadle	....	digital I/O
R.J. Harbour	....	digital compositor
Mark Sawicki	....	optical camera

Stunts
Andy Bradford	....	stunt coordinator
Nrinder Dhudwar	....	stunt coordinator
Levan Doran	....	stunt double

Camera and Electrical Department
John Adefarasin	....	clapper loader: "a" camera
John Adefarasin	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera
Ben Battersby	....	additional second assistant camera
Ben Battersby	....	clapper loader: "b" camera
Klemens Becker	....	Steadicam operator
Klemens Becker	....	camera operator: "a" camera
David Cadwallader	....	grip: "a" camera
Chris Clarke	....	additional second assistant camera
Frank Connor	....	still photographer
David Cozens	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
David Cozens	....	focus puller: "a" camera
Barnaby Crocker	....	assistant camera
Steve Cussell	....	electrician
Paul Molloy	....	electrician
G. Monic Kumar	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera, India
Ronan Murphy	....	additional grip
Ed Nessen	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera, India
Heather Norton	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera, India
Jay Jay Odedra	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Jay Jay Odedra	....	director of photography: second unit (as Jay J. Odedra)
Brian Strange	....	camera trainee
Iain Struthers	....	additional focus puller
Tammo van Hoorn	....	additional first assistant camera
David Wall	....	chief rigging electrician

Casting Department
Lucy Bevan	....	casting assistant
Louis Elman	....	adr voice casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Arjun Bhasin	....	costume designer: India
Jenny Hawkins	....	costume set supervisor
Amanda Keable	....	costume supervisor
Urmilla Lal Motwani	....	wardrobe supervisor: India
Sophie Norinder	....	dresser: Ms. Witherspoon
Julia Patkos	....	costume design assistant

Editorial Department
Kenny Becker	....	color timer
Yana Collins Lehman	....	post-production assistant
Jack Lewars	....	assistant color timer: Efilm
James Nichols Jr.	....	assistant editor
David O. Rogers	....	assistant editor
David A. Smith	....	assistant editor
Shelly Westerman	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
Christine Bergren	....	music legal and clearance
Mychael Danna	....	orchestrator
Terry Davies	....	dance music by
Nicholas Dodd	....	conductor
Nicholas Dodd	....	orchestrator
Jennifer L. Dunnington	....	music editor (as Jennifer Dunnington)
Vic Fraser	....	music copyist
Brad Haehnel	....	music mixer
Paul Talkington	....	musician contractor

Transportation Department
Peter Devlin	....	transport coordinator
Chris Hammond	....	driver: minibus

Other crew
Imtiaz Amir	....	production accountant
Maria Bisset	....	assistant horse master
Christian Brockey	....	production coordinator: India
Stephanie Carroll	....	visual consultant
Gilly Case	....	location scout
Mike Clark-Hall	....	floor runner
Hannah Collett	....	assistant: Ms. Witherspoon
Martin Nigel Davey	....	stand-in
Heather Dixon	....	assistant: Ms. Pilcher
Anu Gopalakrishnan	....	assistant: Ms. Nair
Susie Gossling Valerio	....	stand-in
Steve Hart	....	second location manager
Uzma Hasan	....	logger
Dan Hillsdon	....	assistant accountant
Saarrah Imtiaz	....	assistant to accountant
Ali James	....	location assistant
Sally Jones	....	script supervisor
Claudia Kalindjian	....	unit publicist
Simrun Kalra	....	assistant: Ms. Nair
Geeta Kapoor	....	assistant choreographer (as Geeta Kapur)
Debbie Kaye	....	horse master
Farah Khan	....	choreographer
Julie Landholt	....	end title graphics
Marcus Lansdell	....	cine mosaic
Richard Lindsay	....	assistant location manager
Hayley Lyon	....	assistant accountant
Miranda Marks	....	assistant production coordinator
Jill McCullough	....	dialect coach
Jack Murphy	....	choreographer
Cindy Newman	....	dog handler
Hermione Ninnim	....	production coordinator
James Payton	....	stand-in
David Pinnington	....	location manager
Ashley Rudden	....	creative executive
Joe Russo	....	interviews: post-production
Adelaide Scardino	....	assistant: Ms. Day
David Seaton	....	assistant location manager
Payal Sethi	....	local production coordinator: Mirabai Films
Yasmine Stafford	....	production coordinator
Alistair Thompson	....	production accountant
Aminta Townshend	....	assistant script supervisor
Jane Trower	....	first assistant accountant
Brett Tyne	....	assistant: Ms. Frazer
Laura Sophie Ware	....	production runner
Pam Weaver	....	animal handler: farm animals

Thanks
Barry Alexander Brown	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Focus Features
• Granada Film Productions
• Epsilon Motion Pictures
• Tempesta Films

Distributors

• Focus Features (2004) (USA) (theatrical)
• Good Machine International (2004-2005) (non-USA) (theatrical)
• Alfa Films (2005) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Alliance Atlantis Home Video (2005) (Canada) (DVD)
• Artecinema (2005) (Mexico) (theatrical)
• Eagle Pictures (2004) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Filmcoopi Zürich (2005) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Hollywood Classic Entertainment (2005) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Odeon (2004) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Pandasia Entertainment (2005) (Taiwan) (theatrical)
• PlazaVista Entertainment (2005) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• Shaw Organisation (2004) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Tayrona Entertainment Group (2005) (Colombia) (theatrical) (as Cinemac Films)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2006) (Argentina) (VHS)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2004) (Spain) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2005) (France) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2005) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Universum Film (UFA) (2005) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Universum Film (UFA) (2005) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Custom Film Effects (opticals)
• Snow Business International (snow effects)

Other Companies

• 2020 Casting  extras casting
• ARRI Lighting Rental  lighting equipment (as ARRI Lighting Rental London)
• ARRI Media  camera equipment provided by
• Almost Human  animal handling: farm animals
• Animals Galore  dog handler
• Blowup  stills processing (as Blow Up)
• Casting Collective  extras casting
• Classic Sound Ltd.  mobile recording unit
• Custom Film Effects  opticals
• D. Bassett & Associates  negative cutting
• De Lane Lea Sound Centre  adr recording (as De Lane Lea)
• Decca Records  soundtrack published by
• EFilm  film scanning and recording (as EFilm Digital Laboratories)
• Global Music Service  music copyist
• Henry Wood Hall  music recorded at
• Kodak  motion picture film supplied by
• Lee Lifting  cranes
• Midnight Transfer  dailies telecine transfers
• Midnight Transfer  sound transfer
• Nationwide Access  cranes
• Philharmonia Orchestra, The  music performed by
• Pivotal Post  Avid editing equipment provided by
• Pivotal Post  editing equipment
• Sands Films  costumier
• Sony Studios  music mixed at (as Sony Recording Studios)
• Sound One Corporation  sound re-recording
• Title House Digital  end titles
• Trollback & Company  main titles
• UMG Soundtracks  soundtrack published by
• Wavevend Communications  radios (as Wavevend Radio Communications Ltd.)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sensuality/partial nudity and a brief violent image.

Runtime:

141 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | French | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Taiwan:PG-12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Argentina:13 | Brazil:12 | Finland:K-7 | Hungary:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Iceland:10 | South Korea:15 | Australia:PG | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia) | Germany:6 | Ireland:12 | Singapore:PG | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Bath, Somerset, England, UK

Company:

Focus Features

Trivia:

Shot in 55 days

Goofs:

Continuity: The arrangement and number of gold jewels around Becky's eyes change between shots

Quotes:

Miss Matilda Crawley: Keep your toadying until I get to a fire. You can suck up all you wish once I'm warm.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Be Kind Rewind (2008)

Soundtrack:

Over the Mountains/The Great Adventurer

Vanity Fair Tries In Vain

Vanity Fair is a beautiful mess. It combines the beauty of elegant costumes, sets and people with the disaster that is Mira Nair's adaptation of William Makepeace Thackery's novel. Not only is the adaptation bad but also so is what Nair has done with it. If you read the book, the movie will break your heart. It has completely ripped to shreds the pages of the classic story.

If you haven't read the book and intend to waste your money on the film, I would recommend that first you read a couple of plot summaries of the novel. Otherwise, you may be very lost through no fault of your own but because there is no defining plot in the film. There are no central conflicts presented and it's not until about two thirds of the way through that you have at least an idea of what is trying to be done here. Even then, it is unclear. Reese Witherspoon plays Becky Sharp, a social climber. Vanity Fair is supposed to be her story but instead, it is crowded by a confusing and unnecessary cast of supporting characters. I suppose Vanity Fair is a story about love but also about how the social class system can create a barrier between people. If this was the intended idea the supporting cast would be needed but Vanity Fair is supposed to be about Becky Sharp and the movie is far too much of an ensemble piece for that to be the case.

Mira Nair's direction is too present. She throws in too much of herself with the scenes about India and actually in India. Where the hell is the point? There just seem to be times when Nair thought it was okay to throw in another shot of an elephant's ass or belly dancers or India food.

Speaking of unwanted, Reese's second child was not credited in the closing credits but is in every scene Reese is. Witherspoon and the crew seemed to think they could hide the fact that she was pregnant by putting her in big clothes but that didn't work. She still looks pregnant and it ruins the effect the clothes should have had. It also puts the movie out of sequence. In one scene Reese is very large and in the next you can only see her belly if you look for it.

Vanity Fair could have been brilliant. The material is there, Reese bring to the table the range that we have come to expect from her and a performance that could have taken her places if it had been used better. But the fact remains that there are too many moments where ends just don't meet and the audience is confused to the point where the film can't rely on its pretty scenery to distract from its larger flaws. *1/2 out of *****