# New adaptation of "Turn of the screw"



## Fried Egg (Dec 19, 2009)

Wed, 30 Dec 2009, 21:00 on BBC One

BBC - BBC One Programmes - The Turn of the Screw


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## Fried Egg (Feb 3, 2010)

Well, doesn't seem to have garnered much interest this. Perhaps it's because I posted it in the wrong forum originally (although it _is_ feature lengthed)?

Anyway, I only got around to watching it this week and was quite impressed. Overall I thought they've done a good job with it although I only have the movie version ("The Innocents") to compare it to; I haven't read the novel yet.

Broadly speaking it was very similar in terms of what happened although it did extend a little to what happened afterward although this tended to undermine the ambiguity of the story coming down firmly in favour of the paranormal interpretation.


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## HareBrain (Feb 3, 2010)

For what it's worth, I watched it and thought it well done, but I haven't read the original or seen the other adaptations. I thought the children, especially Miles, hit just the right note of innocence combined with creepiness.


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## mosaix (Feb 4, 2010)

The book was book-of-the-month for our reading circle, early last year.

I'd always viewed it as a ghost-cum-horror story but one of the circle (who was reading it for the first time) saw it as as a classical case of paranoid schizophrenia. This had never occurred to me before, so I re-read it in that light and was surprised how easily that interpretation fitted the facts.

I wonder what was originally intended?

(Sorry I didn't reply sooner FE, I must have missed the thread first time around.)


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## Fried Egg (Feb 4, 2010)

mosaix said:


> The book was book-of-the-month for our reading circle, early last year.
> 
> I'd always viewed it as a ghost-cum-horror story but one of the circle (who was reading it for the first time) saw it as as a classical case of paranoid schizophrenia. This had never occurred to me before, so I re-read it in that light and was surprised how easily that interpretation fitted the facts.
> 
> ...


As I understand it, the ambiguity was originally intended and I think that was one criticism I had of this adaptation is that they lost the ambiguity.


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## j d worthington (Feb 4, 2010)

Yes, I'd say the ambiguity was intended... though not necessarily especially for that story, but just by James' nature. I do know that he tended to refer to this tale as his "pot-boiler"... as he did the majority of his ghostly tales (though there is certainly evidence he nonetheless quite liked them)....


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