Eliot's 'Deronda' comes to PBS

Viewers weary of war coverage will get a respite Sunday and Monday nights with a PBS dramatization of "Daniel Deronda," George Eliot's last novel. But the themes it treats, notably Eliot's consideration of political Zionism, have reverberations to the current day.

Eliot ("Middlemarch") had a gift for interweaving character study with social issues. "Daniel Deronda" surprised its English readership with its sympathetic treatment of English Jews and their desire for a homeland.

The screenplay, by Andrew Davies (he co-wrote the screenplay for "Bridget Jones's Diary") reprises the story of Daniel Deronda (Hugh Dancy), a handsome, charismatic young Englishman who has been raised by a landed aristocrat but whose true parentage has been kept from him. He becomes infatuated with Gwendolen Harleth (Romola Garai), a beautiful, arrogant young woman of the leisure class.

Gwendolen at first spurns the attentions of Henleigh Grandcourt (Hugh Bonneville), a wealthy aristocrat, but when her own fortunes take a tumble, she decides to marry him, despite the fact that Grandcourt has a mistress (Greta Scacchi) with three children. Meanwhile, Daniel, boating on the Thames, rescues a young Jewish woman, Mirah Lapidoth (Jodhi May), who is attempting to drown herself.

The rest of the movie revolves around two questions: Whom will Daniel wind up with, Gwendolen or Mirah? And will Daniel and Mirah discover their origins? In investigating the fate of Mirah's family, Daniel discovers the marginal world of English Jews, confronts his own class's prejudice against them and begins to resolve his own issues about his identity.

Dancy gives a first-rate performance — the emotions roiling under his translucent skin convey a young man whose consideration for others is driven by his ancient hurt at his abandonment by his mother. Garai's performance is less successful — she goes back and forth from absolute arrogance to abject misery, with not a lot of shades of gray in between. Bonneville ("Notting Hill") is not given much to do except be mean — one longs for the villain Soames of "The Forsyte Saga," whose torment made him the most interesting character of the piece.

There are the usual stupendous sets, lovely gardens, fabulous dresses and silly hats. "Daniel Deronda," a welcome visual break from war coverage, has its teachable moments as well. It airs at 9 both nights on KCTS Channel 9 and repeats several times at other hours; consult your local listings.

Mary Ann Gwinn: 206-464-2357 or mgwinn@seattletimes.com