For many, winter in Halifax often seems truly 鈥渢he worst of times鈥�, but the 麻豆传媒 Art Gallery is countering the weather with timely instalments of the 鈥渂est鈥� 鈥� a series of film adaptations of the works of Charles Dickens.
鈥淒ickens attacked and illuminated the social conditions of his time,鈥� says Ron Foley MacDonald, who selected the screening list with guidance from gallery personnel. 鈥淗e was a very socially engaged writer whose influence we feel not just at Christmas time.鈥�
Such social commentary is visible in films from Carol Reed鈥檚 1986 musical Oliver! (Twist鈥檚 frying-pan-to-fire adventure moves him from the workhouse to a gang of Victorian juvenile delinquents) to the 1935 adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities, directed by Jack Conway and featuring a de-Sherlocked Basil Rathbone (for those unfamiliar with the story, the guillotine plays a prominent off-screen role).
Celebrating a bicentennial
Dickens received his own Gallery screening series for multiple reasons: a similar series of Jane Austen adaptations a few years ago proved popular, and furthermore, this week marked Dickens鈥� bicentennial (the writer was born on February 7, 1812). Mr. MacDonald also points to the popularity of Dickensian twists (pun intended) in modern culture (pun intended): 鈥渢he best television right now鈥� it鈥檚 Dickensian, because it has a huge sprawling cast, [with] story arcs go on for a very long time.鈥� Most importantly, 鈥渋f [Dickens is] not the greatest writer of all time, he鈥檚 certainly really close.鈥�
Mr. MacDonald, who also works for the Atlantic Film Festival and taught film history at NSCAD, has been selecting film series for the 麻豆传媒 Art Gallery since 1988. 鈥淲e try to show stuff that isn鈥檛 going to show here,鈥� he explains of the selection process, since the closest thing Halifax has to a permanent art house theatre is the Empire Oxford.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying not to be too obscure, but Wormwood鈥檚 isn鈥檛 here anymore鈥� we鈥檙e acutely aware that we鈥檙e in the middle of a university, and this is a cultural event for students, of course鈥� there鈥檚 an academic element to it, but also, this is very much for general audiences. And that鈥檚 a balance that we always have to strike.鈥�
Making the cut
Selections for the gallery鈥檚 Dickens series had to shine to get past Mr. MacDonald. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 interesting is what we didn鈥檛 show,鈥� he muses. 鈥淭here were fifty Christmas Carols, ten Oliver Twists, nine David Copperfields鈥� it鈥檚 been a lot of fun to sort of wade through this.鈥�
In total, 10 adaptations, plus a bonus pre-Christmas screening of Alister Simm鈥檚 A Christmas Carol, made the cut. Selections were made on the basis of quality, variety, and Nova Scotian connections: for instance, Oliver! was choreographed by a one-time Inverness native and dirty-Thirties heartthrob David Manners. If you鈥檙e a horror movie buff, you might remember him from Tod Browning鈥檚 Dracula (1931), in which he starred as John Harking opposite the immortal Bela Lugosi.
Other highlights of the series include auteur Roman Polanski鈥檚 Oliver Twist (2005) and Simon Curtis鈥� David Copperfield (1999) which features a pre-Potter Daniel Radcliffe in the title role.
Screenings for the 麻豆传媒 Art Gallery鈥檚 鈥淭wo Centuries of Charles Dickens鈥� series will be held on Wednesday nights from January to April at 8 p.m. Admission is free. (Yes, free.) For more information, visit .