James Murphy

Thank goodness for a dose of politically correct cod liver oil from 'woke' disciple Dori Mondon and her review above! - Just when we thought it was safe to enjoy a brilliantly faithful depiction of 19th Century frontier life free of overt leftist propaganda, there is Ms Mondon is to assure us all that America is, was and always will be a white supremacist country which treated women like dirt while committing genocide in its spare time. Do us all a favour, love; spare us your pat homily and watch something else.

Difficult to over-praise this production which, in its dedication to the spirit of the great novel, acquits itself superbly of the challenge of creating a cinematic equivalent. So many superb performances: Lily James hitting all the right notes emotionally in her portrayal of the elfin, mysteriously profound Natasha; Jim Broadbent as the irascible old warrior, a traditionalist in whom a heart of stone strikes sparks against an undeniable conscience; James Norton as a profoundly ambivalent scion of the Russian aristocracy, who pays the ultimate price for his own lack of resolution. So many more brilliant performances - too many to mention. Indeed, the casting, even when quirky (one thinks of the unlikely Paul Dano who puts in a superlatively nuanced performance as Pierre Bezukov) always comes through with the required excellence. The settings, too, achieve a historical verisimilitude: lavish without being 'Hollywood' - and the score is quite brilliant throughout, varying Russian choral compositions with haunting piano etudes. I can pay no higher tribute to the production than to say it leaves one simultaneously emotionally exhausted yet inspired. Such is its aesthetic impact that the three of us sat in profound silence as the credits rolled - and still didn't know what to say to each other a few minutes later either... - and we've seen the production three times over the years. - If you value great art and its capacity to enrich the soul you have a duty not to miss this superlative cinematic interpretation of a sublime novel.

Two heroic escapee families! And to think our young sons and daughters want to return us all to communism..... so tragically myopic. They should see this movie and wake up!

Usual BBC PC trash. Dramatic mutton dressed as lamb. Ticks all the inevitable diversity/sexual identitarian boxes. Daft 'right-on' plot larded with ludicrous implausibilities and terrible hackneyed dialogue. I fast-forwarded it to see if it improved - and found myself at the title credits... - By all means watch Gold Digger if it happens to be showing on mute on the telly on your dentist's waiting room wall before your appointment.