AIBU - Pride & Prejudice.

[2020iscancelled]

A much beloved book
A fantastic BBC adaptation mini series

Then the horror of THAT awful, awful Keira Knightly film.

I knew it was bad but I rewatched it recently and it is just terrible.

I will concede the film itself is fine, the locations beautiful and no issues with the acting per se. But it is so far away from the real P&P it’s actually criminal.

So AIBU?

YABU - it’s wonderful and sums up the story to perfection.

YANBU - it’s an abomination

I thought Alison Steadman as Mrs Bennett was a let down. I can't rewatch it because of her. I actually like Alison Steadman but not in this part.

Does anyone remember the TV series where lizzie appears in someone's bathroom and then that person goes to live in pride and prejudice world?

I mean Alsion Steadman in the BBC version.

Yes I was @florascotia2 and no need to be so aggressive @SpiderGwen

I really like it as a film.
But it’s nothing like the book, so as an accurate adaptation it’s poor.

But the BBC version is fantastic and I have watched it a zillion times.

I loved Kate Winslet in Sense & Sensibility though, I had music from that film at my wedding

I LOVE Charlotte in the film. She's a properly rounded character. I hate everything else about if.

I LOVE Charlotte in the film. She's a properly rounded character. I hate everything else about if.

Now that's the one way in which the film has the edge I do agree.

To my mind it's Charlotte who is really the 'heroine' of that book (or if not that, a far more realistic representation of contemporary women's true lot).

I also hold my hands up to being a Mary fan. Mary of the Beeb adaptation was great! She must have had so much fun playing that part.

They're mostly so badly miscast! KK makes Lizzie all simpering and silly

Yeah but then so's Jennifer Ehle - simpering, silly, stroppy and buxom. Not Lizzie's character at all. Colin is just playing Colin. He's exactly the same in Bridget Jones.

I've never managed to sit through more than 10 mins of it.

It's a looonnng time since I read the book but I don't remember a description of Elizabeth. Was she described as plain?

I quite like the KK version and the BBC version. One thing I noticed about the film is there are a few set scenes which look just like a painting but I can never quite put my finger on the painting. There are 3 I can think of.... the scene right at the beginning in the house with the sister playing the piano... Reminds me of perhaps a Dutch classic like Vermeer or something. Then the scene on the tree when Lizzie is eating an apple with her uncle and aunt. And the scene with Lady Catherine when the men are posing in a line. Always irks me cos I can't quite put my finger on what those scenes remind me of.

I like the KK one and hate The BBC one. So shoot me.

I've seen worse. The Billie Piper version of Mansfield Park makes Kiera's P&P look like a masterpiece.

The music's nice and it looks pretty but BBC adaptation much better!!

@TatianaBis

They're mostly so badly miscast! KK makes Lizzie all simpering and silly

Yeah but then so's Jennifer Ehle - simpering, silly, stroppy and buxom. Not Lizzie's character at all. Colin is just playing Colin. He's exactly the same in Bridget Jones.

I've never managed to sit through more than 10 mins of it.

LOL Colin Firth in Bridget Jones is supposed to be playing his character in P&P.

@Mrgrinch

Just jumping in to recommend the Bollywood version of this, 'Bride and Predjudice'. It's absolutely amazing!

Bride and prejudice is fantastic. I love that film

The only nice thing I could say about it is the casting of Jane- is how I’d always pictured her to look but the rest of the film no.
I absolutely love the bbc version it is perfection in my opinion ❤️

Was she described as plain?

Not really. Jane was described as beautiful. When Mr Collins was transferring his advances from Jane to Elizabeth, Elizabeth was described as being second to Jane in birth and beauty (i.e. better looking than her other three sisters, and even Lydia was described as 'tolerable' in looks). Darcy comments favourably on her attractive eyes. I formed the impression that JA pictured her as pretty but not beautiful like Jane.

@Elwynne

Does anyone remember the TV series where lizzie appears in someone's bathroom and then that person goes to live in pride and prejudice world?

Is this called Lost in Austen?

The cinematography was stunning, but it just wasn't long enough. I seem to remember Wickham being a very minor character in it - I guess there just wasn't enough time to develop his character. It's a shame they can't go back and take the best bits from the film and the series. I felt the same about the Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Beckinsale "Emma" films - each could have been better. Preferred the Kate one on the whole - I love Toni Collette, but she was so miscast as Harriet Smith.

@LApprentiSorcier

I've seen worse. The Billie Piper version of Mansfield Park makes Kiera's P&P look like a masterpiece.

This was a travesty.

@JaneJeffer

Yes I was *@florascotia2 and no need to be so aggressive @SpiderGwen*

In which case I apologise unreservedly.

I thought you were accusing MM of cheating on his wife (I'm a fan of both) and took exception.

Hated it. lacked any nuance. Stripped the story down to the dull bare bones of who ends up with who, without any character detail and social comment. Massively prefer Austen, Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.

Tatiana The BBC version was was adapted for modern sensibilities, yes. Like so many others, I thought Alison Steadman really should have known better. Ditto Mr Bennet. But - and this is a genuine question - what should adapters do? What is the PURPOSE of the adaptation? Sadly, it's often just to make money, but otherwise, is surely it to bring a great text to the notice of a wider public, however simplistic that might seem? Or what? Or what? Please do say.

Of course, the original is ALWAYS much better. Austen 's understated irony has rarely been bettered. Her text is a delight. But how many people are going to read her books today, even though they are not really linguistically 'difficult''?

To properly understand a writer, one should of course have an appreciation of the context in which they wrote, etc etc . We all know that. But how many people are going to read around to find obscure comparative works by (eg) Susan Ferrier?

Almost by definition, an adaptation is always going to be less good than the original. But - to my mind - it has to be designed to fit in with its audience, otherwise it's pretty pointless. Should it never be attempted? It's a prefectly respectable argument to say that no, it should not be. But in some ways, rather a sad and dismissive one.

As I said above, if we have to have adaptations - and I think we do - then the Amanda Root/Ciaran Hinds version of Persuasion is streets ahead of any adaptation of P&P. Though I did rather like the David Rintoul version of that. Its admirable restraint was designed to fit in with a past, more restrained, era. Which rather fits my point, I suppose.

Am I right in thinking the woman who played Jane in the 95 BBC version was heavily pregnant for a chunk of it?

@LApprentiSorcier I agree the Billie Piper Fanny Price was a travesty. Mansfield Park is such a sophisticated, complex novel, and to do that to it.......

Also agree with previous posters that the pantomime dame version of Mrs Bennett as performed by Alison Steadman pretty unwatchable. Apart from anything else she was played far too old. Mrs Bennett would only have been about 42.

To my mind, there IS a definitive version of Persuasion, with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds, plus a fabulous supporting cast

I was going to say that! It is a terrific cast, and very true to the book. Ciaran Hinds conveys that Wentworth is tough and has had a life of action, without overdoing it. (Wentworth is my favourite Austen hero.)

It used to be on YouTube, I don't know if it still is.