A-Not my favorite musical or Dickens story per se, but I just wanted to say how crazy the production and choreography level is in this one. In particular with the Artful Dodger's first song, you think it's just going to be him jingling along, and then it gets bigger, and bigger, and then
. Felt like hundreds of people choregraphed at once and filmed without much cuts, never seen anything like it. The song with Oliver in the high class part of town is the same, just absolutely stunning. Not just those though, all the songs with just a couple people like the boys and Fagin, Nancy in her bar, the dancing and choreography is just spectacular, so well directed. And the kicker is, it feels like the characters actually are singing this stuff, all the people are moving in the background like they should and etc., there's no break in the earth. Really good natural feel to them. Also, he fact that there are twice as many songs in here as in a regular musical, makes the production of them even more impressive.
I also love the work Dickens does with the character in here. I've only read the first 50 pages of the book, but the 3 characters at least in the adaptation have really interesting arcs and depth. Fagin despite the first impression isn't a bad person, he's just one deathly scared of being poor in old age, when Oliver and Nancy get hurt he generally cares. Sikes was probably decent once and seems like it at the beginning, but consistently getting ripped off and the fear of jail just causes him to snap... The part where he looks at his ends after the beatdown and the fact that he is the one character who never sings, or shows any smile/joy are very good small effects by the director, he's a tub of built up anger. My personal favorite is Nancy though, she's a total wreck of moral dilemma with her love vs what's right, but I just loved her. All 3 actors, along with Oliver and especially the kid who plays the Artful Dodger, are excellent.
The one problem I have with Twist is that it relies on a big coincidence, Oliver landing in the lap of his great uncle. It could've still made perfect sense if the old man just wanted to adopt Oliver without the relation business being in there, but anyways.
The movie also looks beautiful. I saw in VHS and it was still stunning. London is created very well. The production and work they put into creating this is deserving enough of the Best Picture on its own, it was a good choice to award.
One final compliment I can give to Oliver! is this. The idea of making a musical out of Oliver Twist is one that on first thought seems totally fucked and random, but after seeing the movie, you can't imagine it any other way at all. Fits like a glove.
and many more.