Pride and Prejudice

Before I went to college, I never even considered reading a Jane Austen novel. Now, in the space of four months I have spent something like twelve hours watching Jane Eyre and the two versions of Pride and Prejudice, in three sittings. That's a lot of British accents and romance. Anyway, I thought that putting down my thoughts on the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice and the remake with Keira Knightley who is so terribly pretty.

I'll come out and say this now. I preferred the BBC version though it is really hard to approach the modern version after watching it since there are certain scenes and characters you become attached to that are inevitably cut out or given smaller roles. That's not to say that Keira Knightley's version was a disappointment. It simply wasn't as good. To a large extent, I preferred the BBC's actors, possibly because they were given more screentime and opportunity to develop their characters like Mr. Wickham who desperatley needed more time on screen because his was such an important character. With regards to the new Mr. Collins, I simply did not like the more serious and less comic take on him. Colin Firth definitely is the better Mr. Darcy, being able to portray prouder side than the rather mopey Matthew Macfadyen. Then we come to the showdown between Jennifer Ehle and the Oscar nominated Keira Knightley. As I see it, it's a battle between a more reserved, aloof take on Elizabeth Bennet from Jennifer Ehle and Keira Knightley's more passionate acting. I had a friend who said she hated Keira Knightley in the role because she was so aware of how beautiful she was and spent all of her time emphasizing that. I disagree and have to say that I prefer Keira Knightley in the role. She was simply more interesting than Ehle. Besides, Ehle's curls drove me up the wall.

Besides, the characters, who, of course, are the heart of this film, I have to give the remake the advantage in most everything else except for the few new scenes. The cinematography was far more interesting, for one thing utilizing a moving camera more than a few times and some great extended shots. At the very least, it made the dance scenes much more fun. Also, one thing that really bothered me about the BBC version was that it really didn't seem like the Bennets were that bad off and could have survived not getting their daughters married so quickly, except for a few scenes of father Bennet shaking his head over the accounts. The modern version shows the family in circumstances that are a bit more on the edge. One thing I particularly loved was the new color scheme. While the BBC stuck with a brilliant green for the outdoors and white and black for the indoors, the new version emphasized a mix of warm colors and neutrals all over the place. It simply looked better. I mentioned the new scenes earlier. Personally, I loved the shot of Mr. Bingley prepping with Mr. Darcy before meeting Jane again. It was truly amusing, but the Mrs. Darcy bit and that line before Elizabeth and Darcy's first kiss ("My hands are cold?!?!") were rather silly and far more suited for lighter fare.

There you have it. My thoughts on the film adaptations of a literary classic. Guess I should read the novel now.