Sharp dilemma is unresolved

Such is the international nature of the film business, there can be scarcely an eyebrow raised at the Indian film-maker Mira Nair directing American Reese Witherspoon as Becky Sharp in William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair. Even so, a failure would almost certainly be put down to an inappropriate partnership. The result, however, though a little lacking in flair, supports the contention that foreigners often do as well, if not better, than Brits when translating so English a classic to the screen.

There are difficulties for anybody. It's a long book full of detail, and even Thackeray was not all that clear about the nature of Becky Sharp's ambition. Was she a scheming if attractive and characterful shrew, or a woman who could be termed the earliest of feminists, fighting against a maledominated world? The film seems to have it both ways, with Witherspoon's commendable performance suggesting a fighter who never gives up.

The clue to Nair's own view comes when Gabriel Byrne's excellent Marquis of Steyne, Becky's most powerful patron, suggests that all her striving to batter on the wall of a hostile, male-dominated society will be fruitless, since she will only find the room empty when the door is open. Nair also underscores the Indian connection in the book by showing that the Indian influence in London was almost as great as the English influence in India.

There is an excellent cast in support which includes James Purefoy as Becky's dashing but feckless husband; Romola Garai as Amelia, her far more timid best friend; Bob Hoskins, Eileen Atkins and Jim Broadbent. Fine production design, too. But the pace is a little ponderous at times, as if no one is quite certain where the real strengths of the drama can be found.

Vanity Fair opens 14 January 2005.