When I heard that Netflix, in conjunction with the CBC, were doing a new series based on Anne of Green Gables, inexplicably now titled Anne With an E, part of me wondered why when the beloved 1985 mini-series was readily available. I suppose it is part of our culture to want to remake more and more things, giving others a chance to make their own version. Once I saw the trailer, I found myself wanting to go back and watch the older mini-series all over again. The new show is darker, gritter and apparently "more realistic", like most films and T.V dramas today. It had me diving for my DVD set. I wanted the lighter, more fun, and romantic original series.
The series begins with Anne Shirley (played by Megan Follows), a scrappy young orphan girl is sent from the orphanage to live with an older brother and sister, Marilla (played by Colleen Dewhurst) and Matthew Cuthbert (played by Richard Farnsworth) on Prince Edward Island in Canada. The problem is they were expecting a young boy to help them on their farm, named Green Gables, not a girl. Especially the intelligent, chatty and overly imaginative red-headed Anne. Still, Matthew brings her home and bonds with her immediately on the carriage ride home. Marilla is a tougher sell but agrees to allow Anne to stay on a trial basis rather then see her shipped off back to the orphanage. Soon enough, Anne has worked her way into the stern and practical Marilla's heart as well and is allowed to stay for good. At a Sunday Picnic, Anne meets her soon to be best friend Diana Barry (played by Schuyler Grant) as well as first meeting Gilbert Blythe (played by Jonathan Crombie), who becomes an academic rival in school as well as a potential romantic interest. The film follows Anne's adventures as she grows from a young girl to a young woman and her adventures and the unshakable bonds she forms in between.
There is so much to love about this mini-series, I'm not sure where to start. So, let's begin with the performances. Megan Follows takes on the task of bringing to life one of Canada's most beloved heroines and does an impressive job of it. Throughout the course of the film, she is portraying Anne from age 13 to age 16 and while that may not seem like much on page, there is a lot of personal growth in those years and Follows pulls it off wonderfully. She does a great job tackling Anne's larger than life character traits and flair for the dramatic with a great deal of charm. Follows also portrays Anne's headstrong desire to blaze her own trail and independence as well. She loves the academics and especially literature that brings about a bit of a rivalry with her school's other top student, Gilbert Blythe. Richard Farnsworth is fantastic as the sweet and shy Matthew, who quickly comes to view Anne as his own daughter, doting on her. In no moment is this clearer than when he goes into town to buy a dress for Anne to wear to the Christmas ball, with Anne's long desired puffed sleeves of course. Now, Matthew being all quiet and shy it takes him a while to work up the courage and winds up buying a rake and 20 pounds of brown sugar first. Colleen Dewhurst's performance as Marilla is probably my favorite of hers. She is able to communicate more with a mere roll of the eyes, usually because of Anne, than most actresses. She also is able to show the layers of Marilla beyond her tough and stern exterior and her growing love for Anne, occasionally letting her serious exterior break with that wonderful cackle of a laugh the Dewhurst had at some antic or another of Anne's.
Schuyler Grant made a great "bosom friend" Diana Barry for Anne as the two become inseparable friends over the course of the mini-series. It was clear almost from the start that Diana and Anne would become best friends as Anne almost immediately pushed Diana out of her comfort zone to participate in a three legged race, even though they would be the only girls. Grant does a great job portraying Diana as a steady rock for the more free-spirited Anne, while also having fun with her.
And then there was Jonathan Crombie as Gilbert Blythe. I'm just going to get this out of the way right now. I love Gilbert or more specifically Jonathan Crombie playing Gilbert. He manages to be so utterly charming in the role, it's hard to resist. From the first moment he meets Anne and winks at her at the Sunday Picnic, I just couldn't help it. Even when he was teasing Anne in school and an ill-advised calling her the name "Carrots" led to getting a slate broken over his head, I still liked him in part because he was immediately sorry he did it. From then on, a sort of rivalry develops between him and Anne as they both work towards taking the entrance exams for Queens College. It doesn't even let up until after they've taken the exams and Gil has rescued Anne, unnecessarily she insists, after her attempt to enact the Tennyson poem "The Lady of Shalott" has led to her boat sinking and her stranded on the pilings of a footbridge (it also happens to be my favorite scene). Still, Crombie's performance makes it clear from pretty much the beginning to the end of the film that Gilbert is completely smitten with Anne. As fate would have it, there is also an entire generation of girls whom Crombie was one of their childhood crushes. In fact, Crombie owns the role of Gilbert in the same way Colin Firth will forever be associated with Mr. Darcy. Crombie was so synonymous with the role that he was known to answer to the nickname Gil. When he tragically passed away in April 2015, Gilbert Blythe even trended on Twitter.
The mini-series was directed by Kevin Sullivan and written by Kevin Sullivan and Joe Weisenfeld from the classic novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Now, I haven't read the novel so I can't say personally how good of an adaptation it is, but based on it's merits as a film I think they managed to create something beautiful. The mini-series looks great, they got a fantastic cast and the writing was top notch. Sullivan went on to produce three sequel miniseries, of which I have only seen the second one, literally titled Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel. I have not yet watched the third one and am not at all interested in the fourth since none of the original cast returned for it.
My history with this mini-series is a curious one. I didn't actually see it until college and a conversation with a friend about childhood crushes brought up the subject of this mini-series and her crush on Jonathan Crombie. When I admitted I hadn't seen it, I heard an exclamation I have given many times, "You haven't seen that?!", and this was quickly remedied by a screening shortly thereafter. I really enjoyed it even at that point but life marched on and I kind of forgot about it until a dozen or so years later, I was watching the latest episode of New Girl last spring. In the episode, the main character, Jess, is throwing an intimate bachelorette party for her friend Cece that consists of the two of them lounging around in comfy socks, getting stoned and watching Anne of Green Gables. Of course, shenanigans ensue from there but as they showed clips from the mini-series, it all came back to me again and after an evening of looking up clips online, I ordered the Blu-ray, watched the entire series and fell in love with it all over again.
Needless to say, I am curious about the new Netflix series but when this one managed to create such a wonderful and loving adaptation it's hard to see this new darker and grittier approach working anywhere near as well. But I will give it a shot and see how it is just out of sheer curiosity.
