SYNOPSIS
Charles Dickens’ classic story of a young orphan boy who gets involved with a gang of boy pickpockets in 19th Century London seems, on the surface, a long way from being children’s entertainment. But this can be deceiving.
Polanski and scriptwriter Ronald Harwood have retained the larger-than-life characters and the humour from the original novel and it remains a thrilling tale of good fighting against evil, packed with suspense, vitality and drama with a young boy at its centre. In the end, good triumphs in the face of great adversity…..
Roman Polanski is convinced that kids will love the fantasy elements contained within the story. He says: “We are not going to strive for realism, quite the opposite. The characters in this story are larger-than-life with the emphasis on their glorious humour and eccentricities. This is a Dickensian tale in the truest sense, which means it is exuberant, intriguing and timeless. And it is full of incident that is constantly surprising.
With Sir Ben Kingsley as Fagin, a host of talented British character actors have been cast to play some of literature’s best known characters: Jamie Foreman is Bill Sykes, Leanne Rowe is Nancy, Barney Clark is Oliver and Harry Eden plays the Artful Dodger.