From the moment Becky Sharp throws her copy of Johnson's dictionary out of the window of her carriage as she leaves school, you gather that she's a feisty young filly with little regard for the rules.

Not to mention her chomping on a fresh chilli after boldly stating that she loves all things associated with India...

This is no shrinking violet, in fact in terms of early 19th century women, Becky Sharp is a serious feminist heroine.

From the early scene of her as a child, who barters with the rich man to get more cash for her father's painting, Becky appears as a supremely confident and self-assured lady.

But what also comes across, is that if she wants to have a decent quality of life, she has to be like this.

Made an orphan at a young age, Becky is sent to boarding school, where she gets an education at the same time as scrubbing the floors.

With her mother having worked in the opera in Paris (tut tut), and her father having died a penniless painter, life isn't going to hold much in the way of opportunities for Becky.

But that simply won't do and we see her determination to make something of herself so that she can become an accepted member of the aristocracy with a better life than that of a governess.

Despite numerous put-downs from the class snobs who littered Regency Britain in the early 19th century, Becky braves it all, certain that she will be able to forge her own destiny.

Given encouragement from a defiant old aunt of the family where she's governess, Becky soon makes a connection and manages to get herself out of the run down country manor and into London's Mayfair - to provide company for the great aunt.

She soon discovers her job of social climbing isn't going to be as easy as she anticipated, as the same old great aunt turns her back on Becky when she discovers her favourite nephew, Rawdon Crawley, is in love with the little minx with no family pedigree.

As Becky continues her social "mountaineering", she discovers that despite her good marriage in name, without the great aunt's cash, her and Rawdon's life is a struggle financially and her efforts to pay off the bailiffs only make the situation worse...

Alongside Becky's story is the story of her bestfriend, Amelia. We see her family start off in the social elite, only to fall with a big humiliating bang into poverty and a country hovel. Amelia's tale of love and marriage is as tragic as Becky's.

A full-blooded adaptation, but it will no doubt incite twitterings about 'unfaithful adaptations' from the literary purists.

But with adapt meaning 'to make something suitable for a new use, or to modify something', any chat about the film having to be entirely faithful and true to the novel is defunct and tiresome.

Enough heaving bosoms and packet shots to please those not really into period dramas and impressively measured performances from the majority of the cast, including Rhys Ifans and James Purefoy, this is a colourful and enjoyable film, if not slightly on the long side.

Vic Saggers