Affinity [DVD] [2008]

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Customer reviews

review by: TK date: 2009-01-23 rating:
So not worth it
I cut it short: DO NOT BUY THIS DVD! If you read the book you will be terribly disappointed. br /I read "Fingersmith" and "Tipping the Velvet" and own both BBC Movies and am very happy with those. What the director and screenwriter did with this book is plain murder. br /Why? br /- The cuts of the scenes are terrible br /- Half of the book is missing br /- Characters like the little sister Pris have magically disappeared br /- Characters like a strange wanna-be husband for Margaret have appeared br /- The camera handling in some scenes is shaky and difficult to look at br /- Complete scenes are just plainly invented and have never been in the book br /I personally believe the stupidest thing in the whole movie is this Theoful or what's his name who wants to marry Margaret nowhere in the whole book you read about this guy. My favorite is also when Margaret - at least in the book - shares the darks with Selina. The closeness between the two women in the book is breathtaking. In the movie the scene is dropped and replaced by Theo trying to rape Margaret in her room. Please! Is that a sad attempt to justify Margarets feelings towards women? As if to say, men are all pigs and want to hurt her so she is better of loving women! br /I believe that book had better remained untouched instead of trying to squeeze such a subtly unfolding story of love, deceipt and longing into 93 lousy minutes. br /Not even the suitable actresses can save this story. br /Sorry but One star is still too much for this!

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review by: Angel of Nine date: 2009-01-22 rating:
Read the book!
This movie does a major disservice to the book. Affinity is my favourite of Walters' novels and I really couldn't stand this movie. It's clumsy and awkward, the relationship between Margaret and Selina isn't fleshed out at all so you can't understand why Margaret does what she does for Selina. br /I liked the atmosphere of the prison, it was filmed at a great location (or set), but that is about the only positive thing I can say about this movie. Read the book instead!

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review by: date: 2009-01-21 rating:
At Last
A sophisticted adaptation of a Sarah Waters novel. This is the best one so far, a long way from the incredibly dull Tipping the velvet to the slightly more intriuging Fingersmith. This is a realistic dark and deeply psychological story of the love between two women. I know why people don't get it tho its because theres no SEX! Hello? Don't you realise its more than that? It's not a silly little jolly romp like Tipping or about a couple of women who you don't care for like Fingersmith. Affinity, unlike the other two adaptations the characters have time TOGETHER, you see their relationship, and care.

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review by: coatsie date: 2008-12-30 rating:
Affinity - So much potential so little substance
I was very dissappointed with the screenplay. It lacked the passion and closeness between the two main characters that the screen writers successfully brought to both Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith. Prior falls in love with Dawes, but the story telling is none existant in the screenplay. br / br /There was actually more storyline in Affinity than the other Waters novels and I wonder how much input the author actually had. A very watered down adaptation. br / br /I fear that had the BBC or even Channel 4 been involved in this adaptation I would have been giving a far better review. br / br /If you watch this film, please do Waters justice by also reading the book.


review by: izumi date: 2008-12-29 rating:
At last - my affinity
AFFINITY is one of my favourite books - it is definitely my favourite by Waters - and so I was thrilled when I learnt that it was going to be adapted into a drama for T.V. Perhaps because of how much I like the novel, I have to admit I was slightly worried about watching the adaptation - having read the book, I had certain hopes and expectations for any kind of production of AFFINITY. However, I can happily say that I need not have worried. br / br /The story is about Margaret, a young woman in Victorian England who has recently lost her father. As a way of escaping her sorrows, she volunteers to visit the female prisoners of Millbank prison, to become a confidante for them. Upon her first visit, she comes across one prisoner who seems different to the others; there is a calmness about her, and in her hands she is holding a perfect violet. This prisoner, Selina Dawes, intrigues Margaret, especially when she learns she calls herself a medium, and so she begins to visit her regularly. As they become closer, the tension builds. Selina has influences on Margaret that she could not have forseen. And she becomes convinced that their souls have an affinity for each other. br / br /That is all of the plot I shall give away. What I loved about this adaptation is that, to a large degree, the atmosphere that Waters creates in the novel remains. The way that you are able to see each woman as being in her own prison is very well done, making you realise that there are more ways to trap a person than just with bars and metal. The gradual development of their relationship is also dealt with well. Rather than being gratuitous, there is a real sense of sensuality; a tamed desire that is also bound by walls of a different kind. br /On the downside, there were certain parts of the adaptation which could not have the same effect as they did within the pages of the book. One example of this, for me, was when Margaret is shown the room where all of the women's belongings are held. In the book, this scene is quite harrowing. It is likened to a group of coffins for children, and there is defintiely a sense of invading privacy. However, in this adaptation these feelings were not so strong. Granted, I appreciate that this would be difficult to create, as the audience is not able to enter the mind of Margaret as they would do if reading the book. It is only one observation on my part, and it is because of this that I would urge people to also read the book. I think there is much more to this story that is lost on the screen. br /However, despite this, I would thoroughly recommend this to all people who enjoy romance but with a little darkness added.

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