Vanity fair - Reese Witherspoon, James Purefoy, Gabriel Byrne, Mira Nair
Threat advisory: Elevated - Significant risk of entertaining activities
Movie propaganda
All's fair in love and war.
The daughter of a starving English artist and a French chorus girl, Becky Sharp (Reese Witherspoon) is orphaned at a young age. Even as a child, she yearns for a more glamorous life than her birthright promises. As she leaves Miss Pinkerton's Academy at Chiswick, Becky resolves to conquer English society by any means possible. She deploys all of her wit, guile, and sexuality as she makes her way up into high society during the first quarter of the 19th century.
Becky's ascension to the heights of society commences when she gains employment as governess to the daughters of eccentric Sir Pitt Crawley (Bob Hoskins). Becky wins over the children, and the Crawley family's rich spinster aunt Matilda (Eileen Atkins) as well. The rural Hampshire household comes to find her indispensable, and Matilda comes to confide in the bright young woman. But Becky knows that she cannot be a true part of English society until she moves to the city.
Theatrical propaganda posters
Target demographic movie keyword propaganda
- Film drama period UK society social climber mistress
Persons of interest
- Reese Witherspoon .... Becky Sharp
- James Purefoy .... Rawdon Crawley
- Gabriel Byrne .... Lord Steyne
- Romola Garai .... Amelia Sedley
- Rhys Ifans .... Dobbins
- Bob Hoskins .... Sir Pitt Crawley (Pitt the elder)
- Douglas Hodge .... Sir Pitt Crawley (Pitt the younger)
- Kathryn Drysdale .... Rhoda Swartz
- Nicholas Fell .... Footman
- Sophie Hunter .... Maria Osborne
- Natasha Little .... Lady Jane Sheepshanks
- Richard McCabe .... George IV
- Robert Pattinson .... Rawdy Crawley
- Brian Pettifer .... Mr Raggles
- Alexandra Staden .... Lady George
- Jim Broadbent .... Mr Osborne
- Jonathan Rhys-Meyers .... George Osborne
- William Makepeace Thackeray .... Author
- Matthew Faulk .... Screenwriter
- Julian Fellowes .... Screenwriter
- Mark Skeet .... Screenwriter
- Mira Nair .... Screenwriter
- Mira Nair .... Director
Cinematic intelligence sources
Intelligence analyst
Special Agent Matti
Theatrical report
Vanity fair is a delightful costume pageant. Many of the lines are witty and much of the imagery is sumptuous. It's better than Nicholas Nickleby but not as good as The importance of being earnest.
Security censorship classification
PG (Adult themes, low level violence)
Surveillance time
141 minutes (2:01 hours)
Not for public release in Australia before date
Film: 30 September 2004
Cinema surveillance images
