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Trailer voor Clarissa

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This handsome BBC/Masterpiece Theater production toodles along elegantly, all period costumes and posh accents and people being beastly to one another in the most refined way... until it turns so shockingly vicious that you're riveted, unable to believe what you're seeing. The hints were there all along, of course, in this original dangerous liaison, based on the 1748 novel by Samuel Richardson: The virginal Clarissa Harlowe (who'd be obnoxiously virtuous if not for the steely performance of Saskia Wickham) suffers horrendously at the hands of her jealous siblings, overlooked in their grandfather's will (he left his fortune to Clarissa), so they scheme to marry her to the most hideous clown of an aristocrat they can find -- picture a Regency version of Carrot Top, and imagine the gall. The evil glee with which Clarissa's family variously disowns and dishonors her foreshadows the horror to come, as she is forced by circumstance to throw herself upon the mercy of notorious rake Robert Lovelace (a harrowing Sean Bean: The Island), who is alternately plotting to pluck her virtue and finding himself genuinely besotted by her. This is the rare period production that is enjoyable as both serious drama and delicious camp... until that riveting moment toward the end, when you'll be tempted to start watching all over again in order to appreciate how dark the entire affair really is. The transfer to DVD of this 1991 production is fine, and unexpected among the bonus material are outtakes and actors' screen tests.
--MAJ, 08.23.05

 

Source: Flickfilosopher.com

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An impressive cast of British actors brings Samuel Richardson's novel CLARISSA to life. Feeling the pressure from her upwardly mobile family, who are pushing her to marry an aristocratic gentleman she can't abide, the lovely Clarissa Harlowe (Saskia Wickham) seeks a way to escape their clutches. Finding solace in Robert Lovelace (Sean Bean), the man who helps her escape her fate, Clarissa sees her world about to cave in once again when the nefarious Lovelace makes it clear that he has designs on her himself.
Source: Yahoo movies

Clarissa is based on the novel of the same name, written by Samuel Jackson. The novel is set in Georgian England, and revolves around Clarissa Harlowe, a virtuous heiress.

When Clarissa comes into her Grandfather's inheritance, there is much jealousy and sibling rivalry. This is heightened even more when Robert Lovelace, (Sean Bean) forsakes the charms of Clarissa's sister Bella, for Clarissa.

Clarissa, desperate to escape the clutches of her family, who have virtually imprisoned her in her own home, and are attempting to betroth her to someone she will not accept at any cost, believes the lies of the incorrigible Lovelace and flees to London with him under his "protection"

Clarissa soon begins to realise that she has made a terrible mistake as she encounters lies and deception at every turn. Lovelace is a treacherous rake who is plotting Clarissa's downfall, as she is part of a wager, that Lovelace can succeed in seducing a virgin who is renowned for her piety.

The wager however soons falls by the wayside, as the seduction of Clarissa becomes a personal challenge for Lovelace, a challenge which totally consumes him, and which eventually leads him to force his effections upon Clarissa. An act which has dire consequences for Lovelace and imposes on Clarissa an emotional burden that she cannot bear to live with.