Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating *
Cast: Jessica Brown Findlay, Matthew McNulty, Sean Harris, Ben Daniels, Shirley Henderson, Andrew Scarborough, Joanne Whalley, Christopher Fairbank, Matthew James Edge, Tristan Sturrock, Charles Furness, Andy Giles, Paul Bullion, Scarlett Archer, Elliot Levey, Simon Meacock, Patrick O’Kane, David Beck, Danny Miller, James Rastall, Sadie Shimmin, Rhiannon Oliver, Matthew Bearne, Carl McCrystal, Rory Mulroe, Justin Pearson, Jason Gregg.
When the best thing to say about a serial, in which perhaps expectations were so high it would have taken a pole-vaulter armed with a spring loaded staff to top, is the magnificent scenery and setting, which was put excellent use, then at some point you do have to wonder what went wrong. To take Daphne Du Maurier’s exquisite tale of deception, smugglers and 19th Century wrecking and give it life without form is almost as criminal as the themes behind Jamaica Inn or the lack of authentic dialect, or even partial parlance that goes with the wildness of Du Maurier’s Cornwall.
What could have been a tremendous example of classic English literature being given utmost respect; became in the end a drab, dull and in many cases a soulless affair, fit only for being used in part to show how Cornwall is hugely overlooked by television producers. The worst kind of tribute available to the county, the writer and a cast that at other times would have been stirring celebration of Du Maurier’s work.
What the viewer was left with was an inaudible, almost seemingly pastiche, dialogue that meandered like the River Tamar through the county till it waved goodbye at the rocky cliffs of Saltash. The overuse of incidental or mood music was perhaps the greatest criminal act in the whole three part series. A piece of film that is trying to highlight the decay and loneliness of 19th Century Cornwall doesn’t need harmonious melody to capture the way that nature sounds when in the wildness of Cornwall.
If any actors comes out of this version of Jamaica Inn with their reputation remarkably unscathed then both Ben Daniels as Francis Davey of and Joanne Whalley as Aunt Patience encapsulate the very essence of their characters in the way that you imagine Ms. Du Maurier intended and for Mr. Daniels and Ms Whalley they framed the isolation of the county perfectly. For the heroine of the piece Mary Yellan to be used in such a way that you cannot fathom or comprehend being seen, it just makes you feel sad for the lack of vision that went into the adaption.
As has been noted, when the best thing to come out of a serial is the excellent shots of desolation, the almost forgotten history that makes the imagination stir with wonder, then the rawness and wretchedness, the barren and untold misery that was so beautifully drawn upon is as lost as a pit pony wandering too far off the road and being sucked into the boggy terrain. Jamaica Inn, a lost opportunity!
Ian D. Hall