Pride and Prejudice

[bananiem]

I didn't care for how Mr. Bingley was portrayed either. When I watched the DVD with the director's comments (See what I mean? ) he said the actor who played Bingley and the actress who played Jane used to date. Perhaps that played into the nervousness?
I agree that if I hadn't seen the longer version I may have been lost.
I need to read the book now!

 

[holycow]

I loved it too...have watched it many times! I confess! lol

I have the A&E version too but I really liked this one...I loved Keira...she was so full of life! and I did like this Matthew too...everyone I talked with still loves the A&E but I like this one better...I just wish they would have made it longer! lol

I love, love love the part after the church when it is raining..and he follows her!....
Have you listened to the director commentary? I loved it...it gives some great insights into what he was thinking...In the end when the sun comes between them happened by chance and luckily the cameras were rolling.
Cinematography was just beautiful.

Lisa

 

[Brier Rose]

OMG...I LOVE this movie!

I've seen lots of different versions, and I liked them all, but I think this one is my favorite. It wasn't at first, but then it started to grow on me. Yes, we've watched it many..many times!

LOVE the part towards the end when she is standing outside in the early morning, and out of the mist comes Mr. Darcy.

Oh..and also LOVE the scene when he follows her in the rain as well!

BTW..Emma and Sense and Sensibility are also some of my very favorites!

 

[CheshireVal]

I absolutely adore the A&E version with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. I own it and still love watching the whole 5 hour thing on a rainy Sunday.

I thought the Keira Knightly version was a little disappointing. She was okay as Elizabeth, but Matthew McFayden wasn't as offputting as he should have been. He was kind of sympathetic almost from the very beginning.

Also, the way they edited the Elizabeth/Whickam thing bugged me. It didn't mean nearly as much as it should!

 

[SideshowBob]

I loved it too...have watched it many times! I confess! lol

I have the A&E version too but I really liked this one...I loved Keira...she was so full of life! and I did like this Matthew too...everyone I talked with still loves the A&E but I like this one better...I just wish they would have made it longer! lol

I love, love love the part after the church when it is raining..and he follows her!....
Have you listened to the director commentary? I loved it...it gives some great insights into what he was thinking...In the end when the sun comes between them happened by chance and luckily the cameras were rolling.
Cinematography was just beautiful.

Lisa

That was a very great scene...

 

[mcr5298]

I LOVED it! I also love watching all the other versions, like the A&E one. I just am a hopeless romatinc too! I just wish that the had shown Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy after Mr. Bennet had given his permission. Sigh, it left me wanting more!

 

[pearlieq]

I think both the A&E version and the new P&P version have their functions and assets.

The A&E version is comprehensive, and Colin Firth made Darcy his own, but it's also somewhat serious and plodding and some of the casting was less than ideal.

The new P&P version is condensed and loses lots of plot development and some character depth, but I think it's paced well and more in tune with the spirit of Austen's work. I also think the casting is much better--they made an effort to cast people who were actually of the same age as Austen's characters.

 

[JoyG]

About 3 weeks ago, I pigged out on Pride and Prejudice.

I started by watching the new kiera knightley one. That was the first time I'd ever seen the movie. I LOVED it! So I went to Barnes and Noble and got the book version, went to Blockbuster and rented the A&E version.

The book I didn't like so much...too slow and not as romantic as I thought it would be...seems like Jane Austen just glossed over people's feelings.

The A&E version was OK b/c it really expanded the story lines and Colin Firth was awesome...but YUCK on all the other characters. I kept wishing Kiera Knightly was in the A&E version.

I also rented Sense and Sensability again...I saw it so long ago I didn't remember the story line and I loved it all over again!

 

[ADisneygirl]

Well, Pride and Prejudice is my favorite book, and the A&E version with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy is my favorite version.

Keira Knightly is a good actress, and I liked her in Pirates of the Carribean. But I didn't like her in this. This version is too choppy and disconnected. I didn't feel they had enough time to develop the characters in less than 2 hours. I was disappointed, but I guess no one will ever be Mr. Darcy to me except Colin Firth. Not even Lawrence O. in the b/w version with Greer Garson was as good. And the way the Bennet family was portrayed seemed wrong too. They seemed much poorer in this new version, living in kind of filthy conditions. Even their party dresses seemed toned down and poorer, and I didn't like how there was bit of modernity added into the language between characters. Made it so much less believable to me.

If you haven't seen the A&E version, you simply must. I can watch it over and over and never get sick of it.

 

[NookOfTheNorth]

Imagine my horror when another teacher at my school (she's only 22) told me she went to see P & P in the theater, and she loved it; I asked her if the new Mr. Darcy was as hot as Colin Firth (I never get tired of the pond scene) and she had no idea what I was talking about. The horror..the horror.

Anyway, I love the BBC version but I really enjoyed this one too. I liked the messiness of it; everything seemed more realistic. Keira (sp?) Knightley was great because she was so young. The other Lizzie was really a bit old for her part. I do agree with the Mr. Bingley comment; he always looked a bit like an idiot.

Off topic a bit, but have any of you read some of the sequels written to P & P; I got one from a friend of mine, and aye carumba...It was a bit much for me. Let's just say Lizzie and Mr, Darcy had a very active sex life.

 

[Snowysmom]

My all time favorite Pride and Prejudice is the one from Masterpiece Theater in 1982. It was a 6 part series that was well cast and well acted. We bought our first VCR, Beta of course, in order to record this. I did like the A&E one. I have not seen the most recent one but I am on the hold list at my library.

 

[pearlieq]

They seemed much poorer in this new version, living in kind of filthy conditions. Even their party dresses seemed toned down and poorer.

And see, that's actually closer to right. They were quite poor. The lived in an old, not so nice house where real, unglamorous living tasks had to be completed. They didn't have the finest clothes. They were able to socialize with the ultra-rich, but they were definitely on the fringes of their society.

I know it's not quite as romantic to look at, but the new P&P actually won a lot of praise for being more real and accurate about the Bennet's circumstances.

 

[Brier Rose]

Off topic a bit, but have any of you read some of the sequels written to P & P; I got one from a friend of mine, and aye carumba...It was a bit much for me. Let's just say Lizzie and Mr, Darcy had a very active sex life.

Tell me more please!

 

[NookOfTheNorth]

I am no prude, but even I blushed when I got to the part where they took a huge mirror into the bedroom....

 

[lewdyan1]

I probably have 10 or 12 sequel books to P&P! My favorite is a triology that parallels the original, but it is Mr. Darcy's story.

 

[Brier Rose]

Can someone tell me the names of some of the other books??? Pretty please??

I think I'll run to the book store in the morning!

 

[olena]

It was what it was, I suppose. The story was shaved to the bone, which is a shame, but I expected that. I certainly enjoyed Donald Sutherland as Mr. Bennett.

I wasn't at all impressed with the squalor of the Bennett house though. The paint needed repairing and the animals running through the house? What was that? I couldn't tell if I was watching Jane Austen or Little House on the Prairie.

The scenery and cinematography was excellent though. It felt like a fairy tale. For having to gut the story for the essentials, I really appreciated the way they showed the tension and development between Elizabeth and Darcy. I really liked Matthew Macfadyen as Darcy. When I read the book, my concept of Darcy and his manner is more like Macfadyen than Firth. Knightley was pretty good, but too anemic in appearance for my idea of Lizzie.

I didn't watch it comparing everything to the A&E series, as a friend of mine did. I'm very familiar with the book and used that as my measure. The movie was way too short and left out so much, but it got the general idea well enough.

 

[ceiligh1]

It was okay, but can't compare to the A&E version with Colin Firth!

I agree, Colin Firth will always be the only Mr. Darcy.

 

[phisigprincess]

Imagine my horror when another teacher at my school (she's only 22) told me she went to see P & P in the theater, and she loved it; I asked her if the new Mr. Darcy was as hot as Colin Firth (I never get tired of the pond scene) and she had no idea what I was talking about. The horror..the horror.

I'm only 24 and I'm 100% OBSESSED with Colin Firth. You need to educate that girl!! When people say they don't get the CF love, I point them in the direction of P&P and then it all makes sense.

 

[phisigprincess]

I am no prude, but even I blushed when I got to the part where they took a huge mirror into the bedroom....