Pride & Prejudice: your favorite version?

[vesperholly]

I prefer Moll Flanders to Becky Sharp, at least the first one is an HONEST whore and a thief....

The miniseries with Alex Kingston was great, and I enjoyed the book. But I couldn't get over how Moll had all those children, and just walked away from so many of them. It was in character of course, but it made me sad.

I remember liking Vanity Fair, but I don't really remember why. A Room With A View, OTOH, was gorgeous. The scene where George finds Lucy in the violet field

Pillars of the Earth miniseries is FANTASTIC, btw. Highly recommend.

[jlai]

Besides liking the 1980 P&P, I also like all the 70s and 80s BBC adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, and Emma. I highly, highly recommend Persuasion (starring Ann Fairbanks and Bryan Marshall). Very true to the book and IMHO the best Anne. I like the 1986 Mansfield Park too, though I find Fanny a teeny more awkward than I care for. Very excellent acting in 1972 Emma (starring Doran Godwin and John Carson) though Emma was basically 21 going 35. Perfect Jane Fairfax in that series though. The Knightley/Emma scene also can use a bit more passion, but other than that an excellent adaptation.

[Cachoo]

We should have a thread where you get to cast your own Austen novel with timelines thrown out so you could cast a young Kate Winslet with a young Olivier if you wanted to; people are so blasted picky about their Austen adaptations I want to know what they would do!


But seriously I need to catch up with the 80's adaptations. I am afraid I'm so sold on most of the 90's that I won't keep an open mind.

[danceronice]

Both versions have various pluses and minuses. 1995 seems to stay closer to Victorian times. ...

Regency.

[Tesla]

I highly, highly recommend Persuasion (starring Ann Fairbanks and Bryan Marshall).

Thank you!

But seriously I need to catch up with the 80's adaptations. I am afraid I'm so sold on most of the 90's that I won't keep an open mind.

I'm doing that now via YouTube. I'm watching the 1980 Pride and Prejudice. I really haven't gotten very far yet. I started watching it last week, but today, I started over from the beginning. At first I thought it was atrocious, but now it's starting to grow on me. I won't surpass the 1995 version for me, but I think it will be better than the 2005 version. I much prefer the openness and beauty of the 1995 version. The 1980 production values are hard for me to get past.

I plan on watching the 1971 Persuasion next (YouTube!). I absolutely love the 1995 version.

[AYS]

Thank you!



I'm doing that now via YouTube. I'm watching the 1980 Pride and Prejudice. I really haven't gotten very far yet. I started watching it last week, but today, I started over from the beginning. At first I thought it was atrocious, but now it's starting to grow on me. I won't surpass the 1995 version for me, but I think it will be better than the 2005 version. I much prefer the openness and beauty of the 1995 version. The 1980 production values are hard for me to get past.
.

I own the 1980 P&P on tape but when I first got it years ago and started to watch it, I also was turned off early on and never finished watching for the same reason. I'll have to dig it out again (before I don't have a working VCR in the house...since my VHS tapes are clearly destined to go the way of all my vinyl albums tacked in a corner of the basement. Followed by CDs and DVDs in the not too distant future.

[nubka]

Besides liking the 1980 P&P, I also like all the 70s and 80s BBC adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, and Emma. I highly, highly recommend Persuasion (starring Ann Fairbanks and Bryan Marshall). Very true to the book and IMHO the best Anne. I like the 1986 Mansfield Park too, though I find Fanny a teeny more awkward than I care for. Very excellent acting in 1972 Emma (starring Doran Godwin and John Carson) though Emma was basically 21 going 35. Perfect Jane Fairfax in that series though. The Knightley/Emma scene also can use a bit more passion, but other than that an excellent adaptation.

Bless her heart, Godwin's Emma always makes me think of Big Bird!

Also, John Carson's (Knightley) hair looks very greasy/unwshed all through the movie...

[Erin]

1980 production values are hard for me to get past.

I have the same problem. Someone upthread had mentioned the 1980s BBC production of Mansfield Park and while it was more faithful than the later adaptations, I found the production values so distracting that I couldn't enjoy it. Same with the 80s version of Sense & Sensibility, which someone had given me as a gift, sometime before the 2007 version came out. I was hoping that I would enjoy that there was a version that included Anne Steele, Lady Middleton, Willoughby's confession, etc. but it was just too cheesy for me to appreciate that. After those experiences, I'm not sure that it's worthwhile to give the 1980 P&P a try.

[Tesla]

After those experiences, I'm not sure that it's worthwhile to give the 1980 P&P a try.

I'll admit that I haven't read the book in several years, and so I really only have the movies to go by, but good golly, 1980 Elizabeth is a petulant brat! Give me Jennifer Ehle any day. I know Elizabeth Bennet is quite prejudiced against Darcy, but this version really just makes me want to smack her and makes me wonder how the heck she falls for Darcy (and why he likes her). I'm only up to the first Darcy proposal scene.

ETA This version isn't wholly terrible. I like the added scenes with Charlotte, and the scenes of Darcy meeting up with Elizabeth on her walks around Rosings Park.

[dinakt]

I have the same problem. Someone upthread had mentioned the 1980s BBC production of Mansfield Park and while it was more faithful than the later adaptations, I found the production values so distracting that I couldn't enjoy it. Same with the 80s version of Sense & Sensibility, which someone had given me as a gift, sometime before the 2007 version came out. I was hoping that I would enjoy that there was a version that included Anne Steele, Lady Middleton, Willoughby's confession, etc. but it was just too cheesy for me to appreciate that. After those experiences, I'm not sure that it's worthwhile to give the 1980 P&P a try.

I have such a conflicted point of view about the 1980 P&P. On the one hand, it is strangely addictive, and quite different in characters to 1995 version, so it's interesting in its own right. On the other hand, the conversations are lacking inflection and emotion quite often- and while I can more easily forgive it to Mr. Darcy- after all, he is quite open to interpretation ( someone upthread said Colin Firth is more Byronic than Jane Austen might have intended- and it might be so, as much as I adore 1995 Darcy and as much as I think he fits Lizzie's character that way). But 1980 Lizzie, as perfect as she is visually, is so verbose and yet placid, that it is hard for me to get past it. Where is the famous vivacity and archness? She is described as combination of archness and sweetness in the book, and archness is utterly lacking to my eye in 1980 Lizzie. After the infamous first proposal Lizzie smiles after Darcy leaves. Smiles. How? After she said all those horrid things and heard all the horrid things in return?... In the book, she cries for half an hour, and stays very agitated for long times afterwards. People in early 1800 did get agitated. Not so in 1980, apparently.
And yet there is something compelling in 1980 version, which makes me watch it by small increments- until I cannot stand the placid speeches any longer and need to take a break. But then it calls me back again.
( this thread is turning me into P&P connoisseur, LOL)

[Holley Calmes]

I loved how Ehle and Firth got to be in a movie together again in "The King's Speech." What else might they have been in together? Anybody?

[dinakt]

I loved how Ehle and Firth got to be in a movie together again in "The King's Speech." What else might they have been in together? Anybody?

I don't think they acted together between P&p and " The King's Speech"- I remember reading that "the King's Speech" was their reunion after all these years.

[Tesla]

I don't know if it's because I'm hot and tired, but this 1980 version seems to go on for. ever. (and not in a good way).

[Fergus]

...and I always have a fondness for the 1940 version with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. Each has it's charms. None are exactly the way I picture the story or characters.

Oh I totally agree!

Set in the wrong decade, Garson & Olivier both old enough to play Mr. & Mrs. Bennett, but it's so charming and has such a great supporting cast! Mary Boland and Edna Mae Oliver are hysterical (though changing around Lady Catherine & Elizabeth's final confrontation was a bit annoying....but Oliver played funny better than meanie ).

[danceronice]

(just for the record: in Venice there are no catacombs as in "burial chambers". But there are underground passages in several buildings, Doge's Palace underground prison, Dogana's basements which are now considered for exhibition space, and several other buildings and churches have passages and chambers below the water level. most of them lined with Istrian Stone which can hold water pressure).

Additional FTR: It was Last Crusade, not Temple of Doom.

Regarding Ciaran Hinds being a bit rough for Wentworth, I think that actually works well into Sir William Eliot's foppy carping about how the sea "ruins" men and ages them--Anne (and the 'good' female characters) appreciate the men who've gone to sea for their personalities, not their sense of style, instead of the pretty-pretty (but rotten to the core) cousin who stands to inherit.

[Laney]

I loved how Ehle and Firth got to be in a movie together again in "The King's Speech." What else might they have been in together? Anybody?

I was also sooo excited about the reunitation and it was the reason why a friend of mine and I were going to cinema to watch it. We didn´t knew that "Mr.Collins" (Bamber?) also had a small part in it but we were screaming like crazy and giggled when we saw him Not so nice for the other guests... But we were all about P&P. And we both liked "The kings Speech", too! Colin Firth forever!!!

[kia_4EverOnIce]

definetely BBC with Firth!!!

[Spareoom]

Kind of random, but has anyone seen the Lizzie Bennet Diaries? It's a Youtube video blog that roughly follows the events of P&P in a modern setting. I've found it highly amusing, especially their portrayal of a 2012 Lydia, haha. Everyone is very eagerly awaiting the time when Darcy and Bing Lee make an appearance!

http://www.youtube.com/user/LizzieBennet?feature=watch

[Latte]

I've seen it, but my favorite adaptation is the A&E version with Kate Beckinsale as Emma. That version really brings in the Frank Churchill/Jane Fairfax story strongly. I don't like Mark Strong's Knightly, though - waaay too angry/preachy! Jeremy Northam is my favorite Mr. Knightly.

Kate is my favorite Emma BY FAR!

[Tesla]

Not that anybody cares , but I watched the 1971 version of Persuasion, the 1981 version of Sense and Sensibility and the 1980 version of Pride and Prejudice and boy am I glad I YouTube'd them! I thought they were pretty bad. Persuasion was the best, and I thought about buying it, but I changed my mind. The S&S and P&P versions just feel interminable. Oh my god, these versions are each, like, 10 hours long! I'm glad I watched them, but I don't think I'll do a rewatch. I watched the S&S version today because I thought I shouldn't watch the 1995 version of P&P again (I watched it two days ago). Well, these versions def. make me appreciate the later ones!