I will compare two versions of the opening scenes from different adaptations of the Charles Dickens novel `Great Expectations'. The first is the more modern version, directed by Alfonso Cuaron in 1997. The second is the older version, directed by David Lean in 1946.

The modern version of the film, which was first screened in 1997, is the one that I shall analyze first. The film was directed by Alfonso Cuaron who also directed the film `Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'. The film is in full color. The film is set in the 1970s and is staged in the American state of Florida with many of the actors being American instead of English. Many of the names have been changed into more modern...