Saturday, April 01, 2006

Oh Jane, dear dear Jane...

I'm in a state of grace right now (and I hope this expression means the same in English as it does in Portuguese). I have just seen the latest version of Pride and Prejudice and now you'll have the pleasure of making the acquaintance of a side of me that you may not have known, but perhaps just suspected - I am a true Janeite. There, I've said it. A quite fervent one, as a matter of fact! This will come as no surprise for my dear blogging buddy Alice, who wrote a lovely post about Jane Austen last January, in which I included a comment "outing" myself.

I read Pride and Prejudice in my 19th century English literature survey course in college, but it was not until I came to the U.S. a few years later that I had the chance (and the time, for that matter) to read all her other books. My favorite is Persuasion (both the book and the screen adaptation even though the last film is very close favorite now). I have enjoyed the movies and miniseries immensely, and browsed through this book which I very much wanted to buy and just included in my Amazon wish list :) There are other, such as this and that one which I did not know about (and which are a year or two older than the first).

Some words about the other "recent" screen adaptations, if you will...
I enjoyed Sense and Sensibility (Kate Winslet's hair does look ridiculous in that cover, though!) and Emma, and Jane Austen's Emma as well the earlier Emma inspired Clueless. In terms of faithfulness, though, the BBC's Pride and Prejudice could not (and perhaps can't) be rivaled (even if it adds the wet shirt Darcy, but maybe because of that ;). Unfortunately (now, not then), my husband bought it for me as soon as it came out on DVD back in 1999 (he paid 50 dollars for it!) It was a lovely birthday present, but now my copy doesn't have any special features like the one that was released in 2001. I enjoyed Mansfield Park even though my friend hated it because it is her favorite novel and she felt it was changed beyond repair (I hope you're reading this, Nelia, I'd love to know what you think of the latest movie!). Of course I've already said it, but Persuasion is my favorite movie adaptation, though it took forever to be released in video/DVD (and when it first did it had a hideous "fake" cover, I guess they just thought the real actors were just too plain looking and pictured this gorgeous couple in what looked like a romance novel cover - argh! I wish I could find it online, you wouldn't believe it!). I watched it on TV, taped it and kept watching it over and over again. I own the DVD for Mansfield Park and just got the Persuasion DVD last Christmas (thanks, honey!). I gave away my VHS tapes of S&S and Emma hoping to buy the DVDs, but haven't gotten them yet.

Now... back to the most recent movie. I adore it! And I am the most critical viewer of book adaptations you can possibly find, one of those who gets absolutely mad if they change or add anything. I just couldn't resist it, though... I mean, how can you "argue" with the film-maker over small changes when he has the proposal scene on a rain filled day under a beatiful collonade? Or the mirror-beholding while receiving the letter, or the foggy morning of the last scene. I guess they had me at the cinematography (we call, or used to call it photography in Portuguese for some reason). One of my favorite scenes in the mini-series, the Catherine de Bourg-Elizabeth confrontation does come across a bit off with a night setting, but "Dame" Judy Dench does not disappoint (why should she?). Well... enough said. Go see it right now, and don't forget to let me know what you think!

P.S. I almost forgot one of the most relevant things! My husband has seen all the movies with me and he also likes Persuasion best, but I was never successful in convincing him to watch the BBC P&P mini-series, so now I can finally "introduce him" to P&P, Jane Austen's most popular book!! And last but no least, now I know what I want for my birthday :)

10 comments:

Alice said...

Lilian, I really have to come back later and re-read this post again and check out your links (I am in bit of a rush now). For now all I wanted to say is Congratulations on "coming out" (LOL) and welcome to the club! ;)

Anonymous said...

I'm a Jane-ite too! Have you seen the four hour bbc version done of p&p in 1980(ish)? far and away my fave adaptation. altho wet shirt darcy is nice too...

L said...

Thanks for commenting, Kateri, it's good to know there are more Jane-ites out there :). No I haven't seen any of the "older" Jane Austen adaptations, though I've seen them in the video stores. Now I have to check the P&P's though :)

Choco Pie said...

My daughter just saw P&P with some of her 7th grade friends yesterday. She thought she wasn't going to like it (too old-fashioned, too proper, too classic), but turns out she did like the movie. I knew she would!

Anonymous said...

Lilian
I adore the new P&P as well. I must admit that my favorite Jane Austen novel is Mansfield Park, and while changed quite a bit in the movie, i must also admit to adoring Johnny Lee Miller and being willing to ignore a lot of the movie's faults because of his performance and the lead actress's performance as well (can't remember her name, but she was wonderful). I also have to say that I enjoy the new adaptation of P&P more than the Colin Firth one...and I don't even like Keira Knightley. I LOVED the actor playing Mr. Darcy and I loved both the rain scene (I kept thinking that them *almost* kissing was AMAZING) and the foggy morning scene...Mr. Darcy bewitched me and I love, love, love him. It was the first adaptation I have seen which treats JA's characters as real people who feel the same emotions as we do, but live in a different time, as opposed to somehow the emotions being played through a set of attitudes. Oh, I could go on and on...but I shouldn't hijack your blog comments anymore than I already have. If you want, we could discuss in much more detail. :)

L said...

Please folks, hijack the comments all you want!! I'm so excited to hear your thoughts on Jane Austen and her movies adaptations that I'd never tire of reading your words on the subject...

Yes, chicagomama, I was taken completely by surprise by the almost kiss. And you're right, Mr. Darcy is bewitching. I *LOVE* your comment about how this "was the first adaptation I have seen which treats JA's characters as real people who feel the same emotions as we do, but live in a different time, as opposed to somehow the emotions being played through a set of attitudes." Thanks for commenting! :)

Susan said...

My 6th grader was just in a really impressive production of P & P, which she tried out for because she had seen this latest movie and loved it. We are up to our ears in P & P in this house! Have you seen the Indian "Bride & Prejudice?" It's a hoot!!

L said...

Thanks for the suggestion, Susan! I had been curious about "Bride & Prejudice," but I had completely forgotten about it. Thanks for reminding me - I want to see it for sure!

Libby said...

Bride & Prejudice is a hoot--definitely check it out. My friends who are Bollywood fans say it's not really Bollywood enough, but I don't really have that frame of reference. I also love Bridget Jones's Diary (book and movie) as a modern-day Pride & Prejudice--just as funny as Clueless. The 2nd Bridget Jones, Edge of Reason, is sort of a Persuasion knockoff, but I don't like it as much, mostly becaue Bridget is so stupid, which an Austen heroine would never be.

Ah, I could go on...but I won't!

L said...

I'm putting Bride & Prejudice in my queue right now, as for Bridget Jones, yes, I've seem it (and while I was in England for the first and only time), I guess I just didn't think of it as much as Jane Austen (and I didn't know about it in the first place), but it definitely is, and the same Darcy as the BBC's intensifies the parodic effect :)