Hurray! my
Life of Lewis Carroll DVD turned up, after a little wait, and I have now watched it, only once mind you, but I am reporting in...
I would largely support what Miss Dreamchild said above.
It is a 75 minute narration of Dodgson’s life. Its structure is strictly chronological with around 30 minutes on his childhood through to entering Christ Church College. It then concentrates on photography, the Liddells and the
Alice books.
Snark, Eastbourne and just about everything else after
Looking Glass are skated over quite swiftly in the final 10 minutes.
The DVD has no post-death analysis of Carroll or discussion of the subsequent critiques, myths, films or the development and place of Carroll in culture over the last 100 years.
The narration is told by Peter Morgan Jones, who, from the credits, seems to have written the narration. No lilting Welsh tones however; more of an academic school-teacher voice that is interested in fact and isn’t going to entertain any nonsense.
There isn’t going to be anything controversial here. We stick to facts. Anything heading for the usual areas of contention are sweetly side-stepped or succinctly put in their place. And good thing too! Because while we are presented with facts, it is actually an endearing and charming look at Carroll’s life. Mr Jones clearly admires Lewis Carroll and this is his own little golden afternoon of reflection without being overly sentimental. And I, for one, was happy to join in.
Some details of interest to Carrollians might be –
There are a couple of factual errors: i thought I spotted three - around why Dodgson invented the name Lewis Carroll, being dissuaded from taking holy orders due to his stutter and Tenniel refusing to draw the “ant in the wig”. But this is mere frippery.
The 1863 break with the Liddells was briefly attended to, with mention of the cut-pages document and explained by a break to avoid gossip and before we know it, we are back to normal.
The “unwholesome interest in small girls” topic is raised in the context of photography and firmly put in its place with impressive succinctness and authority without being evasive. Well done Mr Jones. Carroll’s friendship with Alice is not exaggerated beyond the friendship with the three Liddell girls, and it is well portrayed as a genuine friendship.
It is very noticeable that there is no mention of any other child friends except a reference to
Snark being dedicated to Gertrude Chataway.
The narration is set against many photos of Carroll, the Liddells, etc., and footage of Daresbury, Croft, Richmond and Rugby, Oxford and the Isis, and Guildford. Carroll addicts will have seen all this before (although I’d never seen the Treacle Well at St Margaret's Church before).
I did wonder if a change of pace was needed with some scholastic and expert comments/interviews, but I think this might have lost a little of the charm and taken things down an overly-analytical route.
So in summary, this isn’t a treasure trove for Carroll addicts. It is pictures and facts you will have seen and heard many times before.
But I am glad I bought it and will undoubtedly watch it again. And my daughter, at 11, a Carroll fan but too young to tackle and critically assess the swathe of biographies, will like it, and come away with a good coherent understanding of Lewis Carroll.
At under £6 (and under $10 in the US) why not just get it? It’s not going to particularly either inspire or annoy you. It’s just pleasant. A nice way to spend an hour and feel self-satisfied that you already knew most of these things!
Amazon.com:
www.amazon.com/Life-Lewis-Carroll-Documentary/dp/B001WB6NBQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1255447443&sr=1-2-fkmr1Amazon.co.uk:
www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Lewis-Carroll-DVD-US/dp/B001WB6NBQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1252163983&sr=1-1