 "Just enjoy it" | 2009-10-26 |
| - Reviewed By User: AARLHHM23KF1V |
| Well, I have read many "1 star" reviews. I understand why they think this movie worths only one star. But, it's a movie, an adaption. There will be never a perfect adaption. If we always try to pick up the faults on a literature adaption when watching it, I doubt who can really enjoy it. I just want to let my brain flow with the characters, sit back and relax. I think this movie does a fairly good job on making the story entertaining and romantic. If I want to study each character and the details of the era, I will pick up the book and enjoy its originality. |
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| "Charming; Clever Dialogue" | 2009-10-18 |
| - Reviewed By User: A22RY8N8CNDF3A |
Jane Austen's famous novel brought to life again with beautiful cinematography filmed on location in the United Kingdom. This is the 2005 movie version about an elegant young gentleman (Mr. Darcy - played by Matthew McFadden) who was proud and the beautiful young lady (Elizabeth - played by Kiera Knightly) who was prejudiced. They spend most of their time hating each other until they find out they discover they love each other.
It is charming, ancient romance story and interesting dialogue opens a window on the mores, culture and class distinctions of that time and culture (England near the end of the 18th Century).
The cast is superb, Kiera Knightly, Matthew Macfadyen, Donald Sutherland, Brenda Biethyn, Judi Dench and many others.
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 "A Question of Superiority" | 2009-10-15 |
| - Reviewed By User: A178OWW3HD7UYN |
Pride & Prejudice: Two Movies
Jane Austen's novel, Pride & Prejudice, is set in rural, early nineteenth century England. It centers around Elizabeth Bennet, the second daughter of five. Though her family lives in what today seems a mansion, and her father is a gentleman, they are considered poor in the society in which they live. Mrs. Bennet seems to think of nothing but having her daughters married to the finest, richest men, she contrives to know of and meet. When two such men (jovial and friendly Mr. Bingly, and distant and proud Mr. Darcy) enter the community, the Bennet household is sent into an uproar of chatter and anticipation. Pride and prejudice on both sides, however, threaten to spoil the blossoming prospects.
One adaptation of the classic was made in 1995, by A&E and the BBC, with Colin Firth (as Mr. Darcy) and Jennifer Ehle (as Elizabeth Bennet). In this version, the photography is on a grand scale, with picturesque scenery. Many of the lines are taken from the book, the story is accurately depicted, and the acting is superb. Also not to be forgotten, is the beautiful, sometimes lively, sometimes serene, musical score, which sweeps the viewer into its mood.
Taking a more modern approach, the 2005 adaptation (the one on this page) casts Matthew Macfadyen as Mr. Darcy, and Keira Knightly as Elizabeth Bennet. It also stars Judi Dench as Lady Catherine de Bourg, aunt of Mr. Darcy. The photographic angles in this version were contemporary, as opposed to the traditional drawing room style of the BBC. This version takes much more liberty with the customs and propriety of the times (characters walking miles through the countryside in their nightclothes, or bursting into rooms with no announcement). All of the actors had big shoes to fill, but Knightly, Macfadyen, and Dench did a good job at casting new, and well-executed light on their characters (where the script allowed for it). Most of the other actors/characters, however, I don't think filled those shoes hardly at all. The costumes, music, and sets in this were all much shabbier than those in the 1995 version. I think this script would be difficult for a newcomer to the story to follow, especially regarding introduction of characters. Also, in trying to make the script different from other versions, the characters simply changed their minds, instead of growing and learning throughout the narrative, and the lessons of the story were lost for the most part.
All this said, I prefer the 1995 adaptation, because: it adheres to the story and times; the music, landscape, and costumes are elegant; the acting (in my opinion) is superior. Pride and Prejudice - The Special Edition (A&E, 1996) |
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| "Love in the life of Austen" | 2009-10-01 |
| - Reviewed By User: A26900KSQ7E6S8 |
If you like to watch movies that are full of love, chaos, nature, english accents, ballroom dancing and horse and carriages then this is a good movie to see. When I stumbled upon this movie I was entranced; I am now a Jane Austen fan.
Watching Pride & Prejudice, for the first time, I can't help but want to steer the characters in the right path and want to be Elizabeth Bennetts friend and help her along in finding love with dear Mr.Darcy. |
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| "THE BEST VERSION OF THIS TIMELESS LOVE STORY" | 2009-09-29 |
| - Reviewed By User: AWUZZV3BR7BQX |
| I ORDERED NEW ON THIS DVD AND THAT'S JUST WHAT I GOT. I HAVE ENJOYED IT OVER AND OVER. THE PRICE CAN NOT BE BEATEN AND THE QUALITY THE BEST. |
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 "Mr. and Mrs. Bennet as Ma and Pa Kettle" | 2009-09-23 |
| - Reviewed By catthecat |
Yet another Jane Austen movie? You could say that this stinker is an Austen-INSPIRED movie. But any inspiration was all on Miss Austen's side. Any movie adaptation must take some artistic license even with a literary classic, but this dreadful production takes too many unforgiveable liberties. This is for the crowd that reads Austen and thinks, "Great story, but where's the sex?"
The movie goes off course in very basic ways--plot, theme, characters and setting. The principal characters are prominent people of means. Why do they all look as though they need a hairbrush and a bath? Mr. Bennet is a solitary bookworm with an acerbic wit. How did he become become a disheveled hick? Miss Austen writes that Elizabeth had a lively air of sportive playfulness that made it difficult for her to offend anybody. So why are we treated to so many views of Keira Knightley's bared, vampiric teeth as she bites off her sadly abridged lines? Matthew Fayden is an equally unsatisfactory Darcy, so far removed from the handsome, elegant, arrogance of the original that we keep waiting for the hero to show up and get the story going. Lady Catherine is all sweaty vitriol, too vituperative to be as ridiculous as she should be.
The change of setting to the Georgian period is a poor fit, as is the barnyard the Bennets appear to occupy. Mr. Bennet is a gentleman, not a gentleman farmer. The Elizabeth-Darcy romance is better attuned to the early age of romanticism, particularly in the relationship of the characters to nature. Austen heroines like to be outdoors, and many pivotal scenes take place in a garden. This aspect was far better treated in the films "Sense and Sensibility" and "Persuasion," and the BBC's Austen productions, which are more appropriately set in the Regency period.
Worst of all is that final scene! Like so many dimwitted authors who spin off Austen's novels into hot steaming garbage, someone tacked a jarring final scene onto this film that feels all the more coarse for bringing such an elegant tale to a tasteless conclusion. Not that all the scenes that precede it are much better; but they merely distort the story. Its clumsy ending hammers it into a cynical, profit-seeking uber-anachronism.
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