Pride and Prejudice

[Karen]

Thank you for your answers, Magwitch!

magwitch said:

Do I really need to spoiler for Pride and Prejudice?

I guess two hundred years should be enough, but I've grown overly cautious after running into people who scream murder when you mention things from a game that was released some ten years ago.

Rosamund Pike’s Jane was bland, but then Jane is a pretty bland character in my view. I don’t have much more to say about her performance. Pretty forgettable.

I heard this elsewhere too, and it makes me kind of sad though I'm not very surprised. It's easy for a good character to become just boring. Jane isn't exactly a grand role, but though I didn't find BBC's Susannah Harker spectacularly beautiful she had the kind of sweetness that was right for Jane.

There’s a brief but touching scene between Lizzie and Charlotte when Charlotte comes to tell her of their engagement which I thought was very good. The actress who plays Charlotte is excellent, despite the smallness of the role.

Nice. I've always liked Charlotte.

Yes, there is an attraction between Darcy and Elizabeth right from the beginning! And, yes, this was one of my gripes. And a pretty major one too. I’ll leave it at that…

I think this is a pretty big problem. What I love about P&P is that the characters have to grow and change before their happy ending is possible. I fear Elizabeth's refusal of his proposal will have a lessened impact because of this - does it look like she's just sulking when she says no, that she might say yes before he goes on about her family's situation in life?

And as for Mr Binglely, I’m afraid I wasn’t exaggerating. If anything I was understating the horror. You remember Hugh Grant’s speech in Four Weddings when he’s blathering on about the Partridge family etc? It’s like that, but worse. All the time. It is absolutely an embarrassment. Hated, hated, hated the way they portrayed this character.

Bingley's easily swayed by his friends, but not a moron. I don't see what the adaptation could gain from making him one.

Oh, I can't believe I forgot to ask this! How are the Gardiners? And Jena Malone's English accent?

The Evening Standard review seems to be one big orgasm over Knightley, but I'm not too fond of this:

If there is any justice (which of course there isn't), KK will win Best Actress at next year's Oscars

Early September, before any of the big guns o' acting have shown what they've got for us this year, and he's already assuming that none of them can match Knightley and that pretty young starlets are somehow disadvantaged in the Oscar race? If he wants to talk about injustice, let him mention Julianne Moore and her chances of being nominated (and losing) yet another time.

Does Tookey say whether he's read the book?

[Karrit]

Does Tookey say whether he's read the book?

No, he doesn't. But what he does say that as far as he is concerned "Elizabeth Bennet is the most psychologically attractive heroine in literature." He then goes on to claim "Despite minor faults, this is a marvelous, beautiful and moving film that will deliver a literary classic to a new audience who have never heard of Jane Austen, let alone read her."

[Deleted]

FYI, you can read a lot of viewers reviews here.[/color]

[goggle]

karrit said:

He then goes on to claim "Despite minor faults, this is a marvelous, beautiful and moving film that will deliver a literary classic to a new audience who have never heard of Jane Austen, let alone read her."

Oh hell no!
If I started reading this today - for school! - there must be others my age who have read/are reading it.

I saw some promo clip, then the trailer before March of the Penguins yesterday. That's two spots for the same movie!

[Deleted]

I'm stunned by Christopher Tookey's review. Stunned. Clearly he has an old-man crush on Keira. Ugh.

Karen:

I fear Elizabeth's refusal of his proposal will have a lessened impact because of this - does it look like she's just sulking when she says no, that she might say yes before he goes on about her family's situation in life?

.

She's doesn't look like she's thinking of accepting him. She looks totally stunned and confused when he starts to speak and then furious when he goes off on one about her family.

The Gardiners, I'm afraid, barely register. They've cut the roles down to the bare minimum. As for Jenna Malone, I had to look her up as I didn't know who she was, and had no idea she was American! So her accent is pretty damn good!

[magazinewhore]

Any idea when this opens in the states? I'm dying to see it.

Okay, I just looked it up and it says it opens in the U.S. on 11/18/05. Dammit, I was looking forward to the September release! Grrr.

[queensix]

Saw this at the weekend, I wasn't exactly blown away by this version but I did like it. It does play around with events in the book but I put that down to time constraints. I agree with whoever said before that the characters needed a hairbrush. I liked the family dynamic the Bennets had, the sisters seemed real with all the squeeing over the soldiers and the new talent in the neighbourhood and Mrs Bennet wasn't a charicature - you could understand just where her anxiety to get her daughters married was coming from.

The locations were gorgeous and I liked KK in this. The clothes didn't do anything for her though. I know they were going for a less glam look but it was like putting her in shapeless sacks because the girl has no chest and is very skinny. She looked very dowdy in some scenes with her ill fitting clothes. Sometimes Mary looked better dressed. Mary! For crying out loud!

I don't hate this version but I doubt I'd watch it again or even buy the DVD when it appears in a HMV 3 for 30euro sale.

[goggle]

Can't wait for this to come out, just because my AP English class (we're reading the book now) is trying to see this at the theater downtown and make it a field trip. And field trips always = fun!

[Deleted]

I heard on SkyNews this morning that the US version will have a different ending than the UK version. WTF?!? I don't really see how that's possible.

Tell me, those of you that have seen it, what is the ending in the UK? Is it different than the ending in the BBC miniseries (which I recall as being pretty true to the book). I simply can't imagine a different ending for Jane and Elizabeth.

[londonaster]

How can you have a different ending?! It's bloody Jane Austin, there is no alternate ending to a book written over a hundred years ago! I hate Hollywood.