Quick review of the new Pride & Prejudice

20 years ago

I just saw this movie this afternoon. Given its length, it obviously could not have the faithfulness to the literary source that the Jennifer Ehrle-Colin Firth version did. I thought in fact that it took as much dramatic license as the 1940's version did. Lots of smouldering passionate looks and a diminished quantity of witty dialogue. What it did have was tremendous visual beauty. The landscape was extraordinary, and the grittiness of period life much more accurate than most movies with historical settings have. They also chose to set the costumes in an earlier period, I suspect the late 1790's, about the time Jane Austen wrote Frist Impressions, her first draft of what was to become Pride and Prejudice. It was an interesting choice, one I rather enjoyed.

I thought it worth seeing if one can forgive the meandering away from Austen, but no replacement for the earlier movie.

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Comments (42)

sherwood38
20 years ago
I saw a preview and also read a review both of which were good, but I am still hesitant about seeing it! I think I will wait for it to come to a DVD near me!

Pat
mumby
20 years ago
I agree with you Rosefolly that the new P&P is worth seeing even though the Jennifer Ehle/Colin Firth version remains the definitive P&P in my opinion. Your review sums it up very well for me as well. The only thing I would add is that I thought Mr Bingley came across as too simple-minded - can't imagine Jane falling in love with him.

We had the opportunity of seeing the new film at a sneak preview in LA when we were visiting our daughter. Donald Sutherland was there and he answered questions after the showing. One interesting point that came out of this question period is that the film has two different endings - for American and English audiences. The English version does not have the last scene with Elizabeth and Darcy. Personally I think I would have preferred the English ending.

While waiting in line to buy our tickets I ended up in an interesting conversation with a woman who has written several sequels to the works of Austen including a sequel to P&P called Presumption (under the name of Julia Barrett). I plan on reading this at some point. Anyone here familiar with it?
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sherwood38
20 years ago
I must admit that I am a purist when it comes to Austen's works! I can't even imagine Sutherland as Mr Bennet and when I read that -to me-it was a big turn off.

(I am still wincing over the Reese Witherspoon version of Vanity Fair!).

I just wish that film makers would leave my beloved classics alone and not try to introduce an interpretation that the author never intended!

Pat
MusicMom
20 years ago
Mumby--I read "Presumption" -- DH brought it home to me after hearing about it when it was first published. However, I can't remember a thing about the book, so I guess that's what I thought of it! :)

It must be a rather daunting task to try to write sequels to Austen's works, and I have to give those who do it credit for sheer audacity. The movie makers are really in a tough spot as well. They decide to film a well-loved classic, but too often the things that make the work "well-loved" and "classic" are precisely those elements they tend to change or remove for the sake of making the film (as they believe) more universally appealing. They therefore often manage to offend the purists and bore or confuse the rest.

BTW, thanks for the reviews. I was hoping someone would start a thread like this. I'll probably see it because I can't resist anything Austen-ish. While we're on movies, has anyone watched the Bollywood version, "Bride and Prejudice?" I'll have to admit I got a kick out of it.
veer
20 years ago
Those of you who enjoy 'classic' TV look out for the BBC's production of Bleak House which will do doubt be going State Side very soon (especially as much of it was made with US $$$'s).
I haven't read the book but am finding the story starring Charles Dance and Gillian Anderson beautifully produced and well acted. It is being shown over here in half-hour slots twice a week.

Here is a link that might be useful: BBC's Bleak House
sheriz6
20 years ago
Vee, thanks for the link. I've not read Bleak House, but I'd love to see this just because Gillian Anderson is involved.
sherwood38
20 years ago
Vee - thanks for that Link! I can only hope that we get it sometime soon-what a fantastic cast!

We did recently get 4 new episodes of Foyle's War and also Kidnapped in 2 parts which was very good.

Pat
carolyn_ky
20 years ago
Bleak House is my favorite Dickens book. I do hope we get it.

I just watched Kidnapped, too. I had never read it and am glad to have seen it. We had Treasure Island in ninth grade.
woodnymph2_gw
20 years ago
I just read in the news that the Jane Austen Society is very upset with the latest film adaptation of "Pride & Prejudice". FWIW, the President of said society suggested the movie was too sexy and not appropriate to the novel....Purists may be happy to read this.
sherwood38
20 years ago
Mary that is what I mean about the new "adaptations" of the classics. I already mentioned Vanity Fair, but I also recall being upset at the last 'version' of Mansfield Park! I owned an earlier version and after seeing the new one I had to go back and read the book.

Pat
mumby
20 years ago
Musicmom, thanks for your comment on Presumption -it doesn't come as a surprise to me - if the book were outstanding I would presumably have heard about it before now. Still, I will probably read it - we Jane Austen fans are so desperate for more.

Pat, I think I saw the same version of Mansfield Park (with all that stuff about slavery?) and I agree it was truly terrible.

Vee, I'm so envious - I am currently reading Bleak House - the BBC productions are always so well done! Hopefully we won't have to wait too long.

Carolyn, I'm only at Chapter 46 so far, but I suspect that Bleak House may also turn out to be my favourite Dickens. I am reading it as part of a group readalong, about 6 to 8 chapters per week, and it's requiring great discipline to hold back and not read ahead.
TACHE
20 years ago
Apparently writing or producing Jane Austen sequels isn't daunting enough. Of the too many that I have read or seen only one stands out Jane Austen in Boca. Maybe Clueless, the movie showed a careful reading of Emma.
woodnymph2_gw
20 years ago
Well, I did indulge and go out to the theatre to see this one. It was visually stunning and I enjoyed Donald Sutherland as the embattled father of 5 unmarried daughters. The theatre was packed and at the end, the audience actually applauded! (relatively rare, these days....)
brendainva
20 years ago
Tried to go see it today, and it was SOLD OUT.

Brenda
sherwood38
20 years ago
Yippee- I just ck'd PBS Online and see that we will be getting Bleak House in January!

Pat
mumby
20 years ago
Pat, thanks for sharing - we get a PBS station from North Dakota on cable so I will be able to see Bleak House. Something to look forward to in January!
rouan
20 years ago
I'm still deciding whether to go see it or wait for it to come out on dvd or video. I had read somewhere that the family was portrayed as being very rustic,with farm animals roaming about the house (which annoyed me). For anyone who has actually seen this, is this the case?
Kath
20 years ago
The farm animals weren't in the house, but they were outside the door, which I thought was rather strange. The house appeared to be on the edge of a village, and I would have thought the geese and ducks and cows would have been penned up a bit further from the house.
janalyn
20 years ago
My husband and I just came back from seeing it -- and although I was prepared to not like it, I we really enjoyed it. Husband: "That must be the 29th version of that novel but it was very well done." This is high praise from a man who patiently escorts me to "period pieces" mainly because he loves me. Visually, it was like eating a box of your favourite chocolates. And I liked this version of Darcy even though I was prejudiced against him (loyalty to the Firth Darcy) and Mr. Collins was PERFECT. LOL! I just wish they could have given us another six hour version and not have had to cut out so much...
The farm buildings were very close to the house but I thought that was authentic for the time, but could be wrong. The movie felt more realistic than others I have seen.
brendainva
20 years ago
I think the farm animals was probably historically correct. It helped to draw the difference between the genteel-but-poor Bennett family and the more well-off like Mr. Bingley and of course Rosings and Pemberley. Also, the animals are all at the back. The front of the house is perfectly calm. We only see the back areas of the house because we follow the household members (i.e. Lizzie) around. We never see the back premises of Netherfield or Rosings. I am sure they have stables, pigs, chickens and so on too.

The other thing that struck me after seeing this movie is that Mr. Darcy is always dark, and Mr. Bingley is always and forever a blond. Neither gentleman is described at all in the novel, but they are always cast that way.

Brenda
rouan
20 years ago
Thanks, Astrokath and Brendainva!

If I can find someone to go to the cinema with me, I think I'll go see it. If not, then I'll wait for the video ;-)!
rosefolly
Original Author
20 years ago
While it is enjoyable to share a movie with someone who enjoys it along with you, I prefer going by myself to going with a reluctant companion, or to skipping something I wanted to see altogether. I saw this one by myself, and had a lovely time. The best effects of this movie are visual; I advise seeing it on the big screen if possible.
Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
20 years ago
I plan on seeing this myself as soon as I can get a free day. I don't know a soul who will be as enthralled as I know I will be and they probably wouldn't want to see it twice in a row either!

I had almost decided to wait to see it on video only because I will want to watch it a hundred times over and over.
Having to wait for it to come out on video after seeing it on the big screen is painful.
woodnymph2_gw
20 years ago
Does anyone know the names and locations of the grand estates with gardens where P & P was filmed? Also, I was wondering what part of the UK the cliff and moor scene was located in. Eliz. is standing at the edge of a precipice ---where in England is this?
janalyn
20 years ago
I wondered about that cliff scene too, Mary. If it exists today, there is probably a 20 foot barbed wire fence around it. *sigh I found some info about Darcy's estate, which was also the BBC one, I think: "Wilton House, as seen in The Madness of King George, Sense & Sensibility and Mrs Brown, is again to star in a major new film version of Jane AustenÂs chick-lit classic, Pride and Prejudice. The 460 year old ancestral home of the Earl of Pembroke has been chosen to play the part of Pemberley, DarcyÂs large, handsome, estate in Derby."

Some of the romantic scenes I loved were:
-Darcy and Lizzie dance, and at one point the rest of the people in the room "disappear".
-the argument at the stone gazebo, both are rain-soaked but there is incredible sexual tension. I applaud the filmmakers for managing to communicate that: two people on the verge of a kiss in the midst of an argument. Great chemistry.

Yes, I am going to go again with my daughter when she finishes exams.
veer
20 years ago
Mary, Janalyn,some information below about the main locations for the film. Sorry I can't tell you anything about cliffs, moors etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: P&P Locations
janalyn
20 years ago
Thanks Vee -- I'm enjoying the internet tour of the estates.
georgia_peach
20 years ago
I wondered where the precipice was, too. It looked a little out of place with how I envision the terrain in those parts, but was cinematically beautiful.

Re favorite scenes, I thought they did a good job showing Elizabeth's emotions in a nonverbal way upon seeing Pemberley. I think in the book - though I know this line wasn't in this movie - there is an exchange between Lizzie and Jane where Jane asks her when she first realized she loved Darcy, and Lizzie replies "when I first saw Pemberley." The scenes they shot of her exploring Pemberley really revealed those emotions, I thought.
woodnymph2_gw
20 years ago
Yes, thanks, Vee. I imagine that it was Pemberly Estate that had the gardens with gazebo, then?

Janalyn, I agree -- that scene in the drenching rains was truly powerful! I never expected to like this film as much as I did. I would see it again.

Pat, you might surprise yourself and like it, too....
ginny12
20 years ago
It is hard to believe that animals, domestic or wild, were allowed to roam up to the house. To prevent the damage they would cause to gardens, houses small and large were protected by fences, walls, or ha-ha's. Ha-ha's were widely used at English country estates--and still are.

A ha-ha is a deep ditch, sometimes containing a fence but usually not. The ha-ha is far enough from the house, and sunken, so it is invisible til you get right up to it. Often, riders would fall into it--hence the ha-ha part. People in and near the house could enjoy the distant bucolic landscape, dotted with attractive cattle and sheep, but the animals were kept away from the house and garden by the ha-ha, which they could not climb out of, if they got in.
Marianne018
20 years ago
Hello, this is my first visit to this delightful forum.

I haven't seen the new P&P but will probably see it as soon as possible. I shall try not to be upset about the domestic animals near the house, although I am sure it is not historically correct. The Bennets are definitely not poor, Mr Bennet is a gentleman, i.e. he does not have to work, although he spends his income from the estate and doesn't put any of it away for the future. There is the farm but he seems to have little to do with it, except making sure the farm gets the use of the horses. They do not keep a horse for riding only but as Jane is the only horsewoman among the girls I cannot take this a sign of poverty. The Bennet girls do not have to help with the cooking like Charlotte Lucas does as Mrs Bennet observes to Mr Collins with some asperity. It is probable that they had many more servants than Jane Austen mentions, that she takes for granted in a genteel household.
rosefolly
Original Author
20 years ago
Marianne, welcome! It is good to see you here on Reader's Paradise.

I agree with you that the movie seems to depict the Bennets as being one notch lower on the social scale than the book describes. My thought was that perhaps my understanding of what daily life looked like in that era for a gentleman of comfortable means, but not wealth, might be deficient. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts once you have had a chance to see the movie.
rouan
20 years ago
Welcome Marianne!

I hope you enjoy visiting this website, there are so many great people who come here!

I agree with you about wondering about the historical correctness of having the animals about the house, and the Bennetts not being poor.
I was going to go see the movie until I found out that it's not available around here after all. I guess the powers that be didn't think this area would be interested in it. So, unless it shows up later one, I'll have to wait for the video/dvd.
rosefolly
Original Author
20 years ago
I just ran across a description of this movie as "Charlotte Bronte's version of Pride and Prejudice". I was amused. A friend's teenaged daughter and her friends all loved it.
georgia_peach
20 years ago
If any of you are still wondering about some of the film locations for this movie, I found this link as well. In addition to the estates for filming (already provided in the link above) it mentions some of the locations for the surrounding countryside. Specifically, it says:

"The magnificent Peak District is featured in the movie, including an evocative shot where Keira Knightley surveys the sweeping vistas before her. Travelers will also find the picturesque village of Hathersage close by."

Here is a link that might be useful: Other P&P Film Locations
woodnymph2_gw
20 years ago
Coming up for Minnie ....
minnie_tx
20 years ago
Here I am. It was a delightful movie - even DS enjoyed it. "just read in the news that the Jane Austen Society is very upset with the latest film adaptation of "Pride & Prejudice". FWIW, the President of said society suggested the movie was too sexy and not appropriate to the novel...."

I wonder where they got that idea. There was just the suggestion of what might be taking place on or after the nuptials. I think it was well done and second to my favorite Elizabeth Garvie - David Rintoul version.

I thought Sutherland did an admirable job. You could hear the audience chuckling at his lines. Too bad the movie wasn't at least three hours long - as is King Kong.
I think it was a good introduction to Jane Austen fiction for those who are used to just seeing graphic sex and violence.
I would have liked the mother to act more frivolous and as I wrote elsewhere I was delighted to recognize Meg Wynn Owen in her brief appearance as the housekeeper at Pemberley. She played Hazel Forrest in the TV Series ....Upstairs, Downstairs. It was her voice.

I don't think I've seen the actress who played Elizabeth before but liked her much better than Jennifer Ehle. I couldn't stand her in that production, and almost couldn't watch it.
The actor who played Darcy was just right for the part. I could picture a young Timothy Dalton in the part too.
Please don't let your preconceived ideas of the movie keep you from watching it on the big screen while you get the opportunity.
IMHO
Oh, the piano music was great and if you stay till the credits quit rolling you'll be treated to a great orchestral finale.
veer
20 years ago
Minnie, your mention of the credits rolling reminded me that, here in the UK we have just seen the last episode of Bleak House. Within a nanosecond of the credits coming up on the screen the disembowled voice of the announcer was heard "Well, well, well so that's how it all ended." followed by some guff about what was coming up later.
I felt like sticking both hands through the speakers and throttling the silly woman.
It also meant we missed the accompanying music which had been beautifully understated.
minnie_tx
20 years ago
I watched the old Greer Garson version last night on TCM. I loved the settings and the gowns and dancing but the script was awful. I also liked the casting very much. It could have been so good!!
georgia_peach
20 years ago
Minnie, I couldn't agree more regarding the awful script of the 1940 version of P&P. We can, in part, thank Aldous Huxley for that. He worked on the script for that movie. There are good writers out there that only do fair dialogue, but Austen isn't one of them. What I've always loved about Austen is how witty and wonderful her dialogue is in her books. To take that and sanitize it for mass consumption is - to me - insulting to the audience for which it was intended.
pennyinphx
20 years ago
My sister and I saw P&P last night. I am usually disappointed with a movie adaptation. However, we both enjoyed this version. I have tried to become more aware that film is another medium, and that they will take license. I did feel that Keira Knightley(sp?) captured Elizabeth. The cinematograhy was spectacular. Not too pleased with the actor playing Mr. Bingley(he seemed too goofy) Not sure I liked the end, too Hollywood. Penny
rottenlivia
20 years ago
I saw the movie myself this past weekend. Enjoyed Donald Sutherland but was very disappointed with Mr. Collins. His personality in the book, to me, though pompous and ridiculous was also redeemed by his well-intentioned but laughable self-importance and self-consciousness. Where was his embarassing apologetics? Where was the intimacy and companionship of Elizabeth and Charlotte? Where was the proposal by Mr. Collins to Charlotte and her awareness of his faults? So much dialogue that should have been later or near the end was in the beginning or left out completely. I agree, the scenery was stunning. However, I think David Rintoul-Elizabeth Garvie will always be my favorite, Colin Firth also. Sigh... ...sigh. Time to read the book again! Kim

Quick review of the new Pride & Prejudice

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