Pride and Prejudice (new Netflix series)

[VibeCurator]

Not sure when this is being released (?) but I’m really looking forward to it. I loved the old BBC series and afaik there’s not really been a remake (besides the films) so this is quite exciting.

The cast has just been released too. What do we all think?

I am still recovering from the atrocity that was Persuasion, when she hiked her skirt to pee against the tree I called it quits.

I cannot tell you how much I love the BBC 1995 adaptation. Flawless to me, feels like it was lifted straight from the book. Also Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson. Persuasion I think I have 3 versions of it, all have their own good points.

I will probably watch this one from behind a cushion but stop watching should it get ridiculous.

😀

Agree the 1980 BBC version with Elizabeth Garvie and David Rintoul is the best TV adaption but IMO the definitive version is the 1940 film with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. It really brings out the wit of Austen's novel.

I also think Emma Corrin is far to drippy to play Lizzie but that's probably because I can only see her as Diana.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_and_Prejudice_(1980_TV_series)
www.imdb.com/title/tt0032943/

Arghhhhh it's another insufferable adaptation designed to appeal to 'a new generation'. They can have it, Olivia Colman and all.

Looking forward to it. Great cast and the author will thankfully keep the script close to the novel. It's a book full of comedy but a serious examination of strict class structure at that time. Plus who doesn't love the joy of all those daughters in one house. I say this as one of four daughters in a household.

Rufus Sewell was so good as Will Ladislaw in Middlemarch (1994) when he was young and beautiful, and more recently equally as mesmerising as a Nazi in The Man in the High Castle.

If it’s as bad as their Persuasion it’ll be a real hate watch. I’ll remain optimistic for something good though.

I LOVE the Greer Garson/Olivier version. Maureen O’Sullivan was the most beautiful Jane Bennett! It’s not completely true to the story, but incredibly enjoyable.I really enjoyed the 1995 version, but couldn’t get on board with Susannah Harker as the local beauty. David Bamber was utter perfection as Mr. Collins, And as much as I like Alison Steadman, I did think she was miscast as Mrs. Bennett.

Did anyone watch Lost in Austen about 20 years ago? Alex Kingston was an excellent Mrs Bennett and really put a fresh spin on the character.

Yes @KiIIingMeDeftly I have it on DVD somewhere and keep meaning to re-watch. I loved Lizzie (Gemma Arterton?) worrying about "Switching off the appliances as I must reduce my footprint" and that Darcy was played by the same actor that played the viking (Ragnar?) in Sinbad, but looked completely different. I had to Google where I knew him from.

Jack Lowden is extremely charismatic, so I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Tom Hollander is my perfect Mr Collins. He's exactly right, and puffed up and obsequious, ridiculous and stultifying in just the right ways - sufficiently ghastly.

Emma Corrin casting has really put me off this.

Jane was wooden and plain - not at all how Jane was supposed to be. No shade to the actress who is a perfectly nice looking woman but if you're casting a great beauty you need a great beauty.

….

but couldn’t get on board with Susannah Harker as the local beauty.

I agree against our modern beauty standards Jennifer Ehle is the more beautiful, but Susannah Harker had very Grecian features which I imagine would have been the more desirable standard in Jane Austen’s time? So I think the casting is probably historically accurate?

I agree with both points. I’ll watch it cos Jack is in it

Looking forward to this. Thanks for the heads up. I think there’s a podcast being made too.

I think they did Susannah Harker dirty with the hairdo. She’s a very beautiful woman in real life.

It was very distracting when I watched it recently, because she kept reminding me of the guy from Resident Alien.

Mr Collins is 25 at the start of the book. All the adaptations make him too old. As much as I enjoyed the 1995 production, they were all too old.

Lol at Alan Tudyk! You're not wrong 😄

Unpopular opinion but I didn't like the Jennifer Ehle version at all. She really ruined it - so smug, and smirking in every scene.

Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility will always be the gold standard for me

Amanda Root Persuasion is my gold standard. Sublime from start to finish. Ciaran Hinds as Captain Wentworth perfection.

i loved the Emma Thompson S&S but overall prefer the Hattie Morahan & Charity Wakefield version of S&S.
I also prefer the Romola Garai version of Emma.

I have little enthusiasm for another version of P&P but will no doubt watch. The most recent version of Emma grew on me. Persuasion did not.

I liked the Emma Thompson S&S, apart from the fact that she was glaringly too old for the role of Elinor.

She would have made a more realistic Mrs Dashwood, given the age of the youngest daughter. As it was, there was a knock-on effect, and Gemma Jones also looked a bit too old in the role.

After the fabulous BBC version I didn’t think I’d like the Keira Knightly offering but it’s my favourite now..the styling, the music..everything. It’s more atmospheric than the BBC version (which I still love)
The modern Far From the Madding Crowd with Carey Mulligan was a no..it’s Christie/Stamp/Bates forever. Not sure about the casting, I can take or leave Olivia Colman and Stath as Mr Collins will be interesting.

Looking at the photos they all seem a bit old. The girls are 15-23. This lot are all over 20 for sure.

What is the point? The BBC Colin Firth version cannot be beaten IMO (except I agree with PP re casting of Jane, but a minor quibble). There are so many other books to choose from. I predict that the new one won't use authentic language and there will be a lack of hats.

I liked the Emma Thompson S&S, apart from the fact that she was glaringly too old for the role of Elinor

That's true actually... When I went back and re-read the book, it struck me that it's a very different story when Elinor and Marianne are younger. So the film version is not true to the book in that sense. But I like the way the film plays up Elinor's fear of spinsterhood and a lonely old age - it seems more poignant when she's already on the wrong side of 25.