Pride and Prejudice the movies

[hoodedwarrior]

Hmm. Just wondering. I like the old BBC one better because it closely follows the book, nearly word-for word. It's so rare to find a movie which hasn't butchered the story in some way. And I thought Colin Firth played Mr. Darcy very well indeed.

But the new one, while it provides some laughs and good quotes I find isn't faithful to JA's story.
They left out characters and scenes. Ok that's off to a bad start,
but in the extra bits on the dvd, one of the producers (or someone like that) said that they tried to show that in spite of it all, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett really did love each other and that they were a family. What?! One of the main themes in the book was showing how dysfunctional the family really was. How Mr. Bennett could not respect his wife, and how silly she was.

But despite my ranting , I'd love to hear your thoughts. perhaps you'll even change my mind. I'm open to discussion

[CynanMachae]

I had to vote "new". Despite the fact that I loathe Keira Knightly, I thought the movie was awesome. I believe the actor who played Mr. Collins goes by Tom Hollander. He did an AMAZING job. I Also loved Mr. Bennet... he was good.

[dreamer]

I had to say both. If I had to pick one, I'd probably pick the old simply because there is more of it to enjoy!! And I love the fact that it is very close to the book.

But the new one is good too. I love them both and own them both and enjoy watching them both as well!!

The only character I liked as much in the new one was Keira Knightly. She was as good as Jennifer Ehle. The rest, I liked the BBC casting better.

Just my opinion, but I love it all!!

[dgan]

I love Keira Knightly. I guess she's a love/hate actress for people, but I fall on the side of absolutely loving her on screen. I think she's phenomenal.

Yes, it isn't the complete story, thus is a different story. But so seldom do movies ever live up to good books that I am content with letting them tell a story more conducive to movie-making. Especially since regardless of how good the movie is, if it gets ridiculously long I am likely going to hate it.

I guess I look at it like this: Movies impact a different part of us than books do. Movies require an entertainment value where books can easily substitute that for thought-provocation. Books are able to suspend time, where movies cannot. When they try, you end up with those long uncomfortable closeups.

So I think the new movie was extremely well done. The old one has accuracy value of course, but it isn't as good as the book either. So it is neither as good a story, nor as good a movie. So give me the book or give me the new movie.

[CynanMachae]

Not to start a Keira Knightly debate, but I guess the main reason I don't care for her is because of the movies she's in, with the exception of P&P and Pirates of the Carribean.

It's been my experience that she's cast in ways that do not flatter her ability to act at all. For instance, King Arthur. In that movie she was, to put it gently, terrible. Her lines were cheezy and I thought that her only purpose of the movie was to get naked with Clive Owen.

That's probably why I liked P&P far above all her other movies, except maybe Pirates. In P&P she is certainly NOT cast in the same way as she was in Arthur, and the romantic feel of the movie covered any opinions I might have about her acting ability, or lack thereof.

That's just my opinion, though. I know that thousands of people disagree with me. In fact, I'll admit that I'm probably the minority..

Sorry to get the discussion off-track. Pride and Predjudice is a great movie.

[Daae]

I definately prefer the old version with Colin Firth to the new one. He and the woman who played Mrs. Bennet were perfectly cast in my opinion. It also probably has something to do with the fact that the book is one of my favorite books and I love how close the BBC one is to it. The biggest problem I had with the new one was probably Keira Knightly. It wasn't that she wasn't good, because she was pretty good, but I just had trouble seeing her as Lizzy. (I still say the best role I saw her in was Robin Hood's daughter in the movie Princess of Thieves.)

[dgan]

fantasyfan said:

Not to start a Keira Knightly debate, but I guess the main reason I don't care for her is because of the movies she's in, with the exception of P&P and Pirates of the Carribean.

It's been my experience that she's cast in ways that do not flatter her ability to act at all. For instance, King Arthur. In that movie she was, to put it gently, terrible. Her lines were cheezy and I thought that her only purpose of the movie was to get naked with Clive Owen.

That's probably why I liked P&P far above all her other movies, except maybe Pirates. In P&P she is certainly NOT cast in the same way as she was in Arthur, and the romantic feel of the movie covered any opinions I might have about her acting ability, or lack thereof.

That's just my opinion, though. I know that thousands of people disagree with me. In fact, I'll admit that I'm probably the minority..

Sorry to get the discussion off-track. Pride and Predjudice is a great movie.

No, I definately hear what you're saying. A great example IMO is Nicholas Cage - I think talent-wise, he is one of the best actors of our time. (Matchstick Men was a lights out phenomonal acting performance.) But some of the movies he winds up in and the characters he is cast as are just abysmal!

Incidentally, I don't remember her getting naked in Arthur. I must have been so busy being curled up in the fetal position out of embarrassment for the movie that I missed that part...unfortunately...

[Jherprincess]

I haaven't seen the old one yet, but the new one is probably my all time favorite movie! It nearly ranks before LOTR and POTC and that is saying a lot for me!

[karenee]

What? Bride and Prejudice isn't in the running? If you like the Pride and Prejudice story-line, and you like musicals, and you like comedy... well, then... you simply MUST watch it! Seriously! No, I mean it. Even the guys. My Dearly Beloved laughed himself silly, and didn't even try to escape the second time through.

Uh, and how I rank the new against the old? I love 'em all. This is one of my favorite old books, and it's really hard to ruin the story as it was so well written in the first place. Full word for word would win out, but I haven't seen the BBC version yet. It's on my list, though.

[Gwalchmai]

Not to start a Keira Knightly debate, but I guess the main reason I don't care for her is because of the movies she's in, with the exception of P&P and Pirates of the Carribean.

I know this is a very late comment but I pretty much just read it and wanted to make a comment =P

I'm sorry but I'm a Keria fan. She is really the only actress where as soon as I saw her I asked myself, "wow, who is she?" So I go and check out stuff she's done. And I guess I just dont see what you're seeing. The Jacket was amazing for her and Bend it like Beckham was just fun so whats to hate? So I guess I'm just wondering which movies you're refering to.

And I'm afaraid I can't bring myself to watch P&P so I'm sorry that I can't add to the debate of which was better.

[dgan]

gwalchmai said:

She is really the only actress where as soon as I saw her I asked myself, "wow, who is she?"

Exactly! I don't know if this is what you meant, but I think she's very pretty. And my wife actually loves it that I think she's beautiful because Keira is not, shall I say, artificially enhanced in the typical Hollywood fashion. The fact that she has a fairly unimpressive, although often far too malnourished, feminine physique but is still gorgeous is a bit of an encouragement for women such as my wife -- who is absolutely beautiful herself. I think women get inundated by the media with the idea that guys only find one body type attractive, whereas in actuality there are many MANY aspects of women, both physical and otherwise, and any of those aspects on their own can make a woman beautiful.

Not to mention Keira is a great actress, IMO. I am absolutely captivated by her (and many of the other actors) in P&P.

[CynanMachae]

dgan said:

Not to mention Keira is a great actress, IMO. I am absolutely captivated by her (and many of the other actors) in P&P.

Aha! I just watched P&P again recently, and it IS her best performance, IMO. But that's my point. I don't think it's so much Keira Knightly, it just the roles she plays. So when she lands a good one like Elizabeth, it turns out good. (Especially with the other amazing performances in the show.)

[dgan]

fantasyfan said:

dgan said:

Not to mention Keira is a great actress, IMO. I am absolutely captivated by her (and many of the other actors) in P&P.

Aha! I just watched P&P again recently, and it IS her best performance, IMO. But that's my point. I don't think it's so much Keira Knightly, it just the roles she plays. So when she lands a good one like Elizabeth, it turns out good. (Especially with the other amazing performances in the show.)

I don't follow Hollywood gossip and such, but I wonder if that is more of her actual personality. She just seems so comfortable in that role...it doesn't even look like she's acting.

[waterhouseemrys]

I like both verisons, and I believe that both have their merits. The soundtrack for the new one is absolutely fabulous and was nominated for an oscar for best original score. I read on the liner notes that the composer used the piano to be LIzzie's voice during the movie, which I find sort of funny due to the fact that the character expressed that she played the piano "very ill indeed." Of course, the A&E, BBC version was more faithful to the book and the peroid rules (Almost any peroid drama that Andrew Davies (screenplay writer for A&E verision) adapts is always faithful to the book. If you liked the original, I suggest watching Wives and Daughters [by Elizabeth Gaskell] and Daniel Deronda [by George Elliot] both wonderful adaptations of Victorain classics adapted by Davies.); the new one took all sorts of liberties with the rules of social decorum of that time, which is okay if you're not a purist when it comes to film adaptations! I know there has been much discussion on Keira Knightly's job as Lizzie, but I would like to applaude Matthew MacFayden as Darcy. He took a huge gamble taking on role that is so connected with Colin Firth; I mean that is why the producers of Bridget Jones, hired Andrew Davies to write the screenplay of Bridget Jones Diary for Firth so that they could recreate that role for him. I think all actors would tremble with the prospect of stepping into his shoes! It would be the equivalent of remaking LOTR five years after Peter Jackson's vision and asking Patrick Stewart to play Gandalf. But it amazed me how MacFayden approached Darcy! He did not play the opposite of Firth, nor did he try to replicate Firth's performance. Instead, he just highlighted new characteristics of Darcy, emphasising the shy, unsure aspect of Darcy's character. Of course, Frith used this potrayl as well, but he concentrated on being mroe aloof, distant, sometimes flat out rude; thus, we see more of Darcy's character arch.

If you are into the story line of P and P and don't mind the characters bursting into song and dance once in a while, Bride and Prejudice (from the director and writer of Bend It LIke Beckham with Knightely) has created a Bally verison of the story, which is interesting to see, but be prepared for some increadible cheese!