Welcome to my 10 week critique of films based on the works of Jane Austen. I will review each installment of PBS's "Masterpiece: The Complete Jane Austen" and also take a look at other adaptations of the same novel. Enjoy!
Note: "Masterpiece" just ended it's three week presentation of the 1995 Pride and Prejudice mini-series. During these three weeks, I gave a synopsis of each installment and also examined different types of P&P adaptations, including the tv mini-series and the Hollywood period piece. This week, I will focus on modernized interpretations of the story, which I call far-flung adaptations.
Pride and Prejudice Vol III
Synopsis:While enjoying her vacation in the Derbyshire countryside, Elizabeth Bennet is surprised to be Mr. Darcy's honored guest at his palatial home. She becomes quickly attached to his younger sister Georgiana (the would-be bride of the lecherous Wickham), who has heard so much of Lizzy from her brother. But before Lizzy can make sense of this new dynamic, she receives a shocking letter from her sister Jane: their youngest sister, Lydia, has run off with Wickham. Darcy happens to visit Lizzy just as she is receiving the news and she confides in him. As she prepares to return home immediately, he abruptly leaves. Knowing that she is, in all likelihood, about to become the sister-in-law of his arch nemesis, Lizzy realizes that she may have lost Darcy's interest forever, and that actually bothers her.
Lizzy returns to a home in turmoil. Her father has gone to London to find Lydia and Wickham and her mother is hysterical. Lizzy feels guilty for not revealing Wickham's true character beforehand. Soon, it becomes apparent that the couple have not married, and Lydia may be destined for a terrible reputation and no marital prospects (a fate actually worse than being married to Wickham). Mr. Bennet fails to find the two and returns home in shame. Miraculously, the Bennets receive word from the Gardiners that Wickham and Lydia have been found and will marry if Mr. Bennet agrees to give them one hundred pounds annually. Knowing that this could never be enough to entice Wickham, Mr. Bennet suspects that the Gardiners have bribed Wickham handsomely.
The newlyweds pay an uncomfortable visit to the Bennet home. As Lydia is bragging to her sisters about the wedding, she accidentally mentions that Mr. Darcy was there. Burning with curiosity, Lizzy confronts her aunt Gardiner about Darcy's role in Lydia's marriage and finds out that it was Darcy who paid Wickham to marry her. Lizzy realizes that he could only have done this out of consideration to herself and her hopes are rekindled. Shortly after the Wickhams leave for Newcastle, Bingley return to Netherfield with Darcy in tow. Jane and Lizzy are reunited with their suitors and Bingley quickly proposes to Jane. Darcy, however, is his old standoffish self, which confuses Lizzy. But she is completely thrown when Lady Catherine De Bourgh shows up on her porch, demanding that Lizzy promise to never marry her nephew.
Two of the very best Pride and Prejudice adaptations are modernizations of the text: the 2001 film version of Bridget Jones's Diary and the 2004 musical Bride and Prejudice. One story reshapes an average modern-day single Englishwoman as Elizabeth Bennet while the other faithfully interprets the marital politics of the original text through a Bollywood lens.
Bride and Prejudice's main success as a P&P adaptation is that very thoroughness that simply cannot be achieved in a contemporary western interpretation of the story. Most American women today are unlikely to relate completely to the marital woes of the Bennet girls. But in the context of an eastern society, where arranged marriages and dowries are more the norm, Elizabeth and Jane - or in this case, Lalita and Jaya - actually make complete sense in the present. In this version, Lalita and Darcy are socially divided by class and cultural differences. He is a brash, arrogant white American and Bingley is the Indian English Balraj Bingley who brings him to Armristar for a friends' wedding, where they meet the Bakshi daughters. And with the dazzling musical number that follows, this film really takes off. In addition to telling Austen's story really well, B&P adds enormous fun by being a Bollywood musical.
Famous Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai is well-cast as Lalita - she has the chops for the musical bits and she also gets the smartness of the character. Martin Henderson's Darcy, though not being nearly as dashing as Colin Firth or Laurence Olivier, is quite perfect as an obnoxious American. It's amusing to see Darcy interpreted this way. And for some fun, against-type casting, check out Naveen Andrews (tortured ex-torturer Sayeed from "Lost") as Bingley and Gilmore Girl Alexis Bledel as Georgie Darcy.
The casting is just another fine feature of this very canny adaptation. Overall, this version of P&P captures the spirit of the story better than most, and even outs forth a compelling and believable premise, despite the ramdom outbursts of song and dance.
The courtship of Elizabeth and Darcy takes a very different direction in Bridget Jones's Diary. Renee Zellweger's Bridget bears little resemblance to our Lizzy, at least at first. This character is best known for her flaws - her (over)weight, her propensity to get drunk and then stumble into work hungover, her "verbal diarrhea" tick, etc. In other words, she's a normal, lonely, single woman in her early thirties. Her main problem is that she has no confidence. Her discontent comes into a focus when she meets stuffy Mark Darcy at her mother's New Year's party and she overhears him insulting her. And like a modern-day Lizzy Bennet, she soon finds herself sleeping with Darcy's nemesis, Daniel Cleaver, who also happens to be her boss.
And thus, we have a contemporary tale of a questionably marriageable woman. In this rendition, our heroine suffers more from personal demons than social constraints, but our hero is just the same. In fact, this Darcy is also portrayed by Colin Firth, who, along with screenwriter Andrew Davies, carries much of the 1995 P&P mini-series into this story. His interactions with Zellweger bring out her inner Lizzy, as she unwittingly mocks his high class world with her nervous banter. Hugh Grant's Cleaver is the best Wickham that ever graced a P&P adaptation, bearing the perfect balance of sleazy and sexy. Even though you immediately sense his danger, you understand why Bridget falls for him.
A beautifully paced collection of hilarious vignettes, BJD is one of the most beloved Austen adaptations. In an era where an Elizabeth Bennet is no longer ahead of her time, it is so refreshing to see, instead, a woman who embodies all of our common fears. And in the end, that very average lady can still get her Darcy.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Jane Addiction Part 6 - Pride and Prejudice Vol. II
Welcome to my 10 week critique of films based on the works of Jane Austen. I will review each installment of PBS's "Masterpiece: The Complete Jane Austen" and also take a look at other adaptations of the same novel. Enjoy!
Note: "Masterpiece" is in the midst of it's three week presentation of the 1995 Pride and Prejudice mini-series. During these three weeks, I will give a synopsis of each installment and also examine three different types of P&P adaptations: the tv mini-series, the Hollywood period piece, and what I like to call far-flung adaptations, but more of that later. This week, I will focus on the Hollywood's straight adaptations of the story.
Pride and Prejudice Vol II
Mrs. Bennet is angry with Elizabeth for refusing Mr. Collins's marriage proposal, but is livid when Lizzy's friend, Charlotte decides to marry him, instead. Charlotte isn't much into romance and she assures Lizzy that she is happy with this choice as it will secure her financial health, but Lizzy is incredulous. At the same time, Jane must contend with the Bingley crew's abrupt departure from Netherfield. Both Elizabeth and Jane's marital prospects are suddenly shaky, especially after Wickham becomes suddenly engaged to a wealthy neighbor.
Jane and Lizzy find respite in respective holidays - Jane travels to London to visit her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner (also in hopes of reuniting with Bingley) and Lizzy visits Charlotte in her new home at Rosings. Wishing for Lizzy to regret all that she gave up in refusing his proposal, Mr. Collins makes a big show of introducing her to his rich benefactress, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Elizabeth is thoroughly unimpressed by haughty, bossy Lady Catherine, who happens to be Mr. Darcy's aunt. Soon enough, Lizzy finds herself in the company of her nemesis. Her anger toward Darcy roils with each passing day, especially when she learns that he expressly deterred Bingley from pursuing Jane. Unaware of her growing resentment, Darcy throws Lizzy for a loop when he asks her to marry him.
Elizabeth curtly refuses Darcy, pointing to his interference with Jane and Bingley as well as his past mistreatment of Wickham. Darcy storms off and soon leaves his aunt's house. But before he goes, he gives Lizzy a letter which explains his interference with Bingley (claiming that Jane's seeming indifference and the Bennet family's general ridiculousness made it look like a bad match) and his full history with Wickham (including the part where Wickham tried to run off with his underage sister). After Lizzy returns home, she takes a serious look at Wickham, her family and herself and increasingly finds that Darcy was on target. She tries in vain to prevent her father from allowing Lydia to travel alongside the regiment to Brighton and fails equally in keeping her mother from constantly haranguing Jane about Bingley.
Again, Lizzy finds balm in travel, joining the Gardiners on their trip to her aunt's hometown in Derbyshire. While there, Mrs. Gardiner insists that they tour neighboring Pemberly, Mr. Darcy's estate. Lizzy is at first nervous, but when the housekeeper at Pemberly informs them that Darcy is out of town, she is able to relax and take in the beauty of the surroundings. The trio are surprised by the housekeeper's unabashed praise of Darcy's character when suddenly, the man himself appears on the scene. Darcy politely introduces himself to Elizabeth's relations and cordially invites them to return during their visit in town. Lizzy leaves Pemberly pleasantly dazed by Darcy's newfound manner.
What with the budgets and the big stars, it would seem that Hollywood would have no problem producing the very best Austen adaptations and yet, this is consistently the most disappointing type of Austen adaptation. In fact, Hollywood filmmakers seem to do a much better job of modernizing or otherwise reinterpreting these texts (examples such as Bridget Jones's Diary and Bride and Prejudice will be explored next week), for when it comes to giving us a feature-length story that looks and feels like the novel, the industry largely fails. It is difficult to pinpoint a single reason why this is so. Both the 1940 and 2005 theatrical releases of Pride and Prejudice fall far short of the text, but in markedly different ways.
Robert Z. Leonard's 1940 Pride and Prejudice is certainly the worst of all P&Ps and it's badness is along the lines of what you would expect from a shoddy adaptation. Foremost is that the plot in Aldous Huxley's script barely resembles the novel. In this version, neither Darcy or Elizabeth are flawed as much as they are misunderstood, mostly by each other. Their tension sprouts from a series of childish misinterpretations and assumptions, sort of like a "Three's Company" episode. Some of the villains aren't so bad either, like Edna May Oliver's Lady Catherine, who only puts on a front of haughtiness to test Elizabeth's strength(?).
Nevertheless, this version remains popular to this day, undoubtedly due to Laurence Olivier's portrayal of Darcy. Colin Firth's Darcy may be more to the heart of our hero, but could there ever be a more perfect movie star cast in this role? Olivier, the prince of classic film royalty, is Hollywood's best answer to English aristocracy. How unfortunate that he should be paired with Greer Garson as Elizabeth. In addition to being bland and a little prissy, Garson seems too matronly to play this young woman. She cannot evoke youthful pride. She has no spark.
In comparison to that farce, Joe Wright's 2005 Pride and Prejudice is stellar, and even outside the comparison, this one manages to get a lot right. Screenwriter Deborah Maggoch masterfully wraps together every key scene in just 129 minutes, without dropping too many characters or plot turns. Roman Osin's cinematography - the use of natural light, fog, rain - is breathtaking, even on the small screen. The palette of rich blues and browns is especially flattering to Keira Knightley, who is as beautiful but also as understated as Lizzy should be.
The real rub of this version is that Knightley's resemblance to Elizabeth ends there. She's very good in the role she plays, but that role just isn't Lizzy. Instead, she comes off as a typical modern-day 20-year-old - a little boy crazy and very brooding. There are numerous shots of her sulking in the corner, frowning to herself as she twirls on a swing, sighing in her lonely sorrow- these are the moments when the movie really drags. Beside that, her portrayal simply isn't consistent with Austen's 20-year-old heroine, who is beloved for being the ideal of good-humored womanhood.
But Knightley isn't alone in missing the target. When many good actors go wrong, the director is usually to blame. Wright must have strove to make this P&P unique by pushing his players to reinterpret these well-worn roles, but ultimately, the story suffers. Donald Sutherland's Mr. Bennet is the worst example. Instead of being a sharp-witted man who has grown too used to making a joke of his wife and daughters, he's a dizzy dilettante who doesn't know any better. In the end, he's a helpless romantic. Sutherland's stab at Mr. Sensitivity is not only inappropriate to the tale, it's also poorly executed. He seems to be hopped up on Vicodin. Also a disappointment is Rosamund Pike's distractingly odd Jane. While the novel's Jane is certainly reserved, this one is said to be very shy, which Pike emotes through a lot of weird "deer in the headlights" facial expressions. Though pretty in certain flashes, her face is undeniably British.
Brenda Blethyn, on the other hand, rocks the reinterpretation in her remodeling of Mrs. Bennet. She makes the most of Sutherland's sleepy portrayal by toning down her own character, who is usually the harpy to Mr. Bennet's wise ass. Blethyn's Mrs. B is no less of a drama queen, but she also captures this overgrown teenager's arrested development. Sadly, her performance is the only quality standout in this well-written, gorgeously shot but poorly directed attempt at a feature-length Austen adaptation.
Note: "Masterpiece" is in the midst of it's three week presentation of the 1995 Pride and Prejudice mini-series. During these three weeks, I will give a synopsis of each installment and also examine three different types of P&P adaptations: the tv mini-series, the Hollywood period piece, and what I like to call far-flung adaptations, but more of that later. This week, I will focus on the Hollywood's straight adaptations of the story.
Pride and Prejudice Vol II
Mrs. Bennet is angry with Elizabeth for refusing Mr. Collins's marriage proposal, but is livid when Lizzy's friend, Charlotte decides to marry him, instead. Charlotte isn't much into romance and she assures Lizzy that she is happy with this choice as it will secure her financial health, but Lizzy is incredulous. At the same time, Jane must contend with the Bingley crew's abrupt departure from Netherfield. Both Elizabeth and Jane's marital prospects are suddenly shaky, especially after Wickham becomes suddenly engaged to a wealthy neighbor.
Jane and Lizzy find respite in respective holidays - Jane travels to London to visit her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner (also in hopes of reuniting with Bingley) and Lizzy visits Charlotte in her new home at Rosings. Wishing for Lizzy to regret all that she gave up in refusing his proposal, Mr. Collins makes a big show of introducing her to his rich benefactress, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Elizabeth is thoroughly unimpressed by haughty, bossy Lady Catherine, who happens to be Mr. Darcy's aunt. Soon enough, Lizzy finds herself in the company of her nemesis. Her anger toward Darcy roils with each passing day, especially when she learns that he expressly deterred Bingley from pursuing Jane. Unaware of her growing resentment, Darcy throws Lizzy for a loop when he asks her to marry him.
Elizabeth curtly refuses Darcy, pointing to his interference with Jane and Bingley as well as his past mistreatment of Wickham. Darcy storms off and soon leaves his aunt's house. But before he goes, he gives Lizzy a letter which explains his interference with Bingley (claiming that Jane's seeming indifference and the Bennet family's general ridiculousness made it look like a bad match) and his full history with Wickham (including the part where Wickham tried to run off with his underage sister). After Lizzy returns home, she takes a serious look at Wickham, her family and herself and increasingly finds that Darcy was on target. She tries in vain to prevent her father from allowing Lydia to travel alongside the regiment to Brighton and fails equally in keeping her mother from constantly haranguing Jane about Bingley.
Again, Lizzy finds balm in travel, joining the Gardiners on their trip to her aunt's hometown in Derbyshire. While there, Mrs. Gardiner insists that they tour neighboring Pemberly, Mr. Darcy's estate. Lizzy is at first nervous, but when the housekeeper at Pemberly informs them that Darcy is out of town, she is able to relax and take in the beauty of the surroundings. The trio are surprised by the housekeeper's unabashed praise of Darcy's character when suddenly, the man himself appears on the scene. Darcy politely introduces himself to Elizabeth's relations and cordially invites them to return during their visit in town. Lizzy leaves Pemberly pleasantly dazed by Darcy's newfound manner.
What with the budgets and the big stars, it would seem that Hollywood would have no problem producing the very best Austen adaptations and yet, this is consistently the most disappointing type of Austen adaptation. In fact, Hollywood filmmakers seem to do a much better job of modernizing or otherwise reinterpreting these texts (examples such as Bridget Jones's Diary and Bride and Prejudice will be explored next week), for when it comes to giving us a feature-length story that looks and feels like the novel, the industry largely fails. It is difficult to pinpoint a single reason why this is so. Both the 1940 and 2005 theatrical releases of Pride and Prejudice fall far short of the text, but in markedly different ways.
Robert Z. Leonard's 1940 Pride and Prejudice is certainly the worst of all P&Ps and it's badness is along the lines of what you would expect from a shoddy adaptation. Foremost is that the plot in Aldous Huxley's script barely resembles the novel. In this version, neither Darcy or Elizabeth are flawed as much as they are misunderstood, mostly by each other. Their tension sprouts from a series of childish misinterpretations and assumptions, sort of like a "Three's Company" episode. Some of the villains aren't so bad either, like Edna May Oliver's Lady Catherine, who only puts on a front of haughtiness to test Elizabeth's strength(?).
Nevertheless, this version remains popular to this day, undoubtedly due to Laurence Olivier's portrayal of Darcy. Colin Firth's Darcy may be more to the heart of our hero, but could there ever be a more perfect movie star cast in this role? Olivier, the prince of classic film royalty, is Hollywood's best answer to English aristocracy. How unfortunate that he should be paired with Greer Garson as Elizabeth. In addition to being bland and a little prissy, Garson seems too matronly to play this young woman. She cannot evoke youthful pride. She has no spark.
In comparison to that farce, Joe Wright's 2005 Pride and Prejudice is stellar, and even outside the comparison, this one manages to get a lot right. Screenwriter Deborah Maggoch masterfully wraps together every key scene in just 129 minutes, without dropping too many characters or plot turns. Roman Osin's cinematography - the use of natural light, fog, rain - is breathtaking, even on the small screen. The palette of rich blues and browns is especially flattering to Keira Knightley, who is as beautiful but also as understated as Lizzy should be.
The real rub of this version is that Knightley's resemblance to Elizabeth ends there. She's very good in the role she plays, but that role just isn't Lizzy. Instead, she comes off as a typical modern-day 20-year-old - a little boy crazy and very brooding. There are numerous shots of her sulking in the corner, frowning to herself as she twirls on a swing, sighing in her lonely sorrow- these are the moments when the movie really drags. Beside that, her portrayal simply isn't consistent with Austen's 20-year-old heroine, who is beloved for being the ideal of good-humored womanhood.
But Knightley isn't alone in missing the target. When many good actors go wrong, the director is usually to blame. Wright must have strove to make this P&P unique by pushing his players to reinterpret these well-worn roles, but ultimately, the story suffers. Donald Sutherland's Mr. Bennet is the worst example. Instead of being a sharp-witted man who has grown too used to making a joke of his wife and daughters, he's a dizzy dilettante who doesn't know any better. In the end, he's a helpless romantic. Sutherland's stab at Mr. Sensitivity is not only inappropriate to the tale, it's also poorly executed. He seems to be hopped up on Vicodin. Also a disappointment is Rosamund Pike's distractingly odd Jane. While the novel's Jane is certainly reserved, this one is said to be very shy, which Pike emotes through a lot of weird "deer in the headlights" facial expressions. Though pretty in certain flashes, her face is undeniably British.
Brenda Blethyn, on the other hand, rocks the reinterpretation in her remodeling of Mrs. Bennet. She makes the most of Sutherland's sleepy portrayal by toning down her own character, who is usually the harpy to Mr. Bennet's wise ass. Blethyn's Mrs. B is no less of a drama queen, but she also captures this overgrown teenager's arrested development. Sadly, her performance is the only quality standout in this well-written, gorgeously shot but poorly directed attempt at a feature-length Austen adaptation.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Jane Addiction Part 5 - Pride and Prejudice Vol. I
Welcome to my 10 week critique of films based on the works of Jane Austen. I will review each installment of PBS's "Masterpiece: The Complete Jane Austen" and also take a look at other adaptations of the same novel. Enjoy!
Note: "Masterpiece" began it's three week presentation of the 1995 Pride and Prejudice mini-series this past Sunday. During these three weeks, I will give a synopsis of each installment and also examine three different types of P&P adaptations: the tv mini-series, the Hollywood period piece, and what I like to call far-flung adaptations, but more of that later. This week, I will focus on the mini-series.
Pride and Prejudice
Synopsis: Mrs. Bennet is hell-bent upon marrying her five daughters: gentle, sunny Jane, the eldest; witty Elizabeth, who takes after her father; prudish, pretentious Mary; stompy whiner Kitty; and baby Lydia, an obnoxious flirt who greatly resembles her mother. When wealthy, single Mr. Bingley moves into nearby Netherfield estate, Mrs. Bennet decides that he must become her son-in-law.
The very affable Bingley is instantly struck by Jane and their courtship commences at a village ball. On that occasion, he introduces his sisters and his best friend, Mr. Darcy to his new neighbors, who are thrilled to discover that Darcy is even richer and just as eligible as Bingley. But Darcy's stuffy manner makes a bad impression, especially upon Elizabeth, who happens to overhear him criticizing her appearance. Her contempt for Darcy sealed, she finds much mirth in making fun of him.
As Jane and Bingley's romance blossoms, two new suitors appear on the scene - sniveling Mr. Collins, a cousin of the Bennet girls who stands to inherit their father's estate and Mr. Wickham, a dashing young soldier in the local regimen. Elizabeth and Wickham hit it off immediately and he confides in her that he was once close to Darcy, hinting that he was responsible for ruining his intended career as a minister. The two bond over their shared antipathy for Darcy. Meanwhile, Mr. Collins tells Mrs. Bennet that he intends to marry one of her daughters and that he is leaning toward Jane, but since she expects Bingley to propose to Jane, she pushes him to choose another. He fixes upon Elizabeth, who is mortified when she finds herself receiving Collins's long-winded proposal. At the same time, she has no idea that she has also drawn the attention of Mr. Darcy.
The tv mini-series is undoubtedly the best potential format for a Jane Austen adaptation. It's all about having enough time to get the story right. It takes a good five or six hours to tell a tale that truly resembles the book. However, it takes great direction, screenwriting and acting to tell that story well. Both the 1980 and 1995 mini-series versions of Pride and Prejudice trump almost all other performances of this or any other Austen novel in meeting that criteria.
Simon Langton's 1995 adaptation became the gold standard P&P and remains so, even after the much lauded (and overrated) 2005 Keira Knightley feature film. Again, veteran Austen adaptor Andrew Davies delivers a script carved out of Jane's own prose, adding no more filler than a few gratuitous Darcy bath scenes. And when Colin Firth is playing our unlikely hero, what's so bad about that? Firth (not to be confused with slimy Peter Firth from the 1986 Northanger Abbey), with his proud jaw and stilted speech, is Darcy inside out. His chemistry with Jennifer Ehle's Elizabeth, which must have certainly reflected their real-life on-set romance, builds steam from the moment they meet. Her manner of speaking through half-choked up laughter is the perfect foil to his urbane stoicism - just the way that Lizzy and Darcy ought to be.
Director Langton succeeds exactly where so many others fail in grasping the proper tone. The story is largely funny, especially when we see the acerbic Mr. Bennet (Benjamin Whitrow) needle his nutty wife, played by the expertly shrill Alison Steadman. But it also succeeds in conveying the Bennets' serious dysfunctionality, from Mrs. Bennet's bald-faced manipulation to her husband's careless indifference toward his daughters' future financial stability. But no one is more deliciously fucked up than Julia Sawalha's Lydia. If you are familiar with Sawalha as bookish, conservative Saffron from "Absolutely Fabulous", you will be blown away by her portrayal of this vain and trampy troublemaker.
Overall, this P&P triumphs in thoroughness and detail, vividly capturing every key episode and plot turn. Only in comparison to Cyril Coke's 1980 version of the story do it's shortcomings appear. This earlier P&P has every quality that the latter version boasts - including a stellar adapted screenplay by Fay Weldon and a just-as-sexy Darcy (David Rintoul) - but adds to that a more convincing and likable Elizabeth. Elizabeth Garvie's Lizzy, though not as pretty as Ehle's, is more subtle, more dry. Her ceaseless laugh is less in her voice and more in her eyes. Sabina Franklyn's angelic Jane is appropriately radiant, whereas in the 1995 version, the producers chose horse-faced Susannah Harker to play the eldest Bennet girl. This is the single biggest flaw in the latter version; it is simply unbelievable that she could be the reputed beauty of the neighborhood. The producers fall into the common trap of casting a lead actress who is exponentially prettier than the other women, simply because she is the heroine.
If it can trump the much beloved 1995 version, the 1980 version is surely the best P&P around. Besides being thorough, well acted, and beautifully shot on one of those BBC dollhouse sets that they just don't make anymore, it is exceptionally nuanced. Through some unusually elegant voice-over narration, we get to know Elizabeth's mind and really feel her discomfort in realizing that her crazy family is quickly imploding.
Note: "Masterpiece" began it's three week presentation of the 1995 Pride and Prejudice mini-series this past Sunday. During these three weeks, I will give a synopsis of each installment and also examine three different types of P&P adaptations: the tv mini-series, the Hollywood period piece, and what I like to call far-flung adaptations, but more of that later. This week, I will focus on the mini-series.
Pride and Prejudice
Synopsis: Mrs. Bennet is hell-bent upon marrying her five daughters: gentle, sunny Jane, the eldest; witty Elizabeth, who takes after her father; prudish, pretentious Mary; stompy whiner Kitty; and baby Lydia, an obnoxious flirt who greatly resembles her mother. When wealthy, single Mr. Bingley moves into nearby Netherfield estate, Mrs. Bennet decides that he must become her son-in-law.
The very affable Bingley is instantly struck by Jane and their courtship commences at a village ball. On that occasion, he introduces his sisters and his best friend, Mr. Darcy to his new neighbors, who are thrilled to discover that Darcy is even richer and just as eligible as Bingley. But Darcy's stuffy manner makes a bad impression, especially upon Elizabeth, who happens to overhear him criticizing her appearance. Her contempt for Darcy sealed, she finds much mirth in making fun of him.
As Jane and Bingley's romance blossoms, two new suitors appear on the scene - sniveling Mr. Collins, a cousin of the Bennet girls who stands to inherit their father's estate and Mr. Wickham, a dashing young soldier in the local regimen. Elizabeth and Wickham hit it off immediately and he confides in her that he was once close to Darcy, hinting that he was responsible for ruining his intended career as a minister. The two bond over their shared antipathy for Darcy. Meanwhile, Mr. Collins tells Mrs. Bennet that he intends to marry one of her daughters and that he is leaning toward Jane, but since she expects Bingley to propose to Jane, she pushes him to choose another. He fixes upon Elizabeth, who is mortified when she finds herself receiving Collins's long-winded proposal. At the same time, she has no idea that she has also drawn the attention of Mr. Darcy.
The tv mini-series is undoubtedly the best potential format for a Jane Austen adaptation. It's all about having enough time to get the story right. It takes a good five or six hours to tell a tale that truly resembles the book. However, it takes great direction, screenwriting and acting to tell that story well. Both the 1980 and 1995 mini-series versions of Pride and Prejudice trump almost all other performances of this or any other Austen novel in meeting that criteria.
Simon Langton's 1995 adaptation became the gold standard P&P and remains so, even after the much lauded (and overrated) 2005 Keira Knightley feature film. Again, veteran Austen adaptor Andrew Davies delivers a script carved out of Jane's own prose, adding no more filler than a few gratuitous Darcy bath scenes. And when Colin Firth is playing our unlikely hero, what's so bad about that? Firth (not to be confused with slimy Peter Firth from the 1986 Northanger Abbey), with his proud jaw and stilted speech, is Darcy inside out. His chemistry with Jennifer Ehle's Elizabeth, which must have certainly reflected their real-life on-set romance, builds steam from the moment they meet. Her manner of speaking through half-choked up laughter is the perfect foil to his urbane stoicism - just the way that Lizzy and Darcy ought to be.
Director Langton succeeds exactly where so many others fail in grasping the proper tone. The story is largely funny, especially when we see the acerbic Mr. Bennet (Benjamin Whitrow) needle his nutty wife, played by the expertly shrill Alison Steadman. But it also succeeds in conveying the Bennets' serious dysfunctionality, from Mrs. Bennet's bald-faced manipulation to her husband's careless indifference toward his daughters' future financial stability. But no one is more deliciously fucked up than Julia Sawalha's Lydia. If you are familiar with Sawalha as bookish, conservative Saffron from "Absolutely Fabulous", you will be blown away by her portrayal of this vain and trampy troublemaker.
Overall, this P&P triumphs in thoroughness and detail, vividly capturing every key episode and plot turn. Only in comparison to Cyril Coke's 1980 version of the story do it's shortcomings appear. This earlier P&P has every quality that the latter version boasts - including a stellar adapted screenplay by Fay Weldon and a just-as-sexy Darcy (David Rintoul) - but adds to that a more convincing and likable Elizabeth. Elizabeth Garvie's Lizzy, though not as pretty as Ehle's, is more subtle, more dry. Her ceaseless laugh is less in her voice and more in her eyes. Sabina Franklyn's angelic Jane is appropriately radiant, whereas in the 1995 version, the producers chose horse-faced Susannah Harker to play the eldest Bennet girl. This is the single biggest flaw in the latter version; it is simply unbelievable that she could be the reputed beauty of the neighborhood. The producers fall into the common trap of casting a lead actress who is exponentially prettier than the other women, simply because she is the heroine.
If it can trump the much beloved 1995 version, the 1980 version is surely the best P&P around. Besides being thorough, well acted, and beautifully shot on one of those BBC dollhouse sets that they just don't make anymore, it is exceptionally nuanced. Through some unusually elegant voice-over narration, we get to know Elizabeth's mind and really feel her discomfort in realizing that her crazy family is quickly imploding.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Minutia
If Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic Party’s nomination, I will be leading a write-in campaign for No Thanks. That way, I can still flaunt an “I Voted” sticker on Election Day.
Jane Addiction Part 4 - Miss Austen Regrets
Welcome to my 10 week critique of films based on the works of Jane Austen. I will review each installment of PBS's "Masterpiece: The Complete Jane Austen" and also take a look at other adaptations of the same novel. Enjoy!
Note: Since the following film is a biopic and not an Austen adaptation, I will be reviewing it alone. Alas, I have not seen the 2007 biopic Becoming Jane (due out on dvd February 12th) and am unable to make a comparison.
Miss Austen Regrets
Synopsis: Nearing age forty, popular novelist Jane is still a very single Miss Austen. Though an old maid by definition, she is flirtatious and funny and finds endless amusement in playfully mocking her peers - much to the glee of her impressionable young niece, Fanny. But Jane is at odds with other family members. Her mother resents her for never marrying. Her brothers are embarrassed to have a wage-earning sister. These rifts deepen when Jane convinces Fanny to refuse a stuffy minister's marriage proposal, thereby placing her niece in the same shaky financial straits that she, herself, faces daily. Despite her family's palpable anger and Fanny's mounting bitterness, Jane is nevertheless steadfast in her devotion to writing, but when health problems arise she begins taking account of her past choices.
Director Jeremy Lovering's Miss Austen Regrets is brimming with cinematic and narrative delights, not the least of which is the title, a play on Cole Porter's wonderfully macabre melody "Miss Otis Regrets". But instead of detailing the demise of a woman spurned, screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes tells the story of a woman who spurns, for a number of fascinating reasons. This characterization of Jane the Heartbreaker is expertly carried by the lovely Olivia Williams, who may be best known as Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman's shared love interest in Rushmore. Williams's Jane is exactly what Austen fans want her to be - beautiful, clever, sarcastic, and singular.
And yet she remained inexplicably single. Little is known about Austen's life, especially since most of her letters were burned upon her death. The well-know fact that she didn't marry is a puzzle to those of us readers who see ourselves in her thoughtful tales of love and marriage. How could she know so much about the things she never experienced?
As this version has it, Jane is very familiar with yearnings of the heart. She's entertained advances from more than one suitor and she has even been in love. Her stated claim for never getting hitched is that she has never met a man rich enough for her taste. This is as shocking to Fanny as it is to the viewer. "But all of your heroines married for love and not money!" she insists, to which her father replies, "If you think that's what her books say, perhaps you should read them again." Certainly, all of Jane's heroines wed for love, but most of them also marry into greater wealth (those who don't either come from money or find ancillary support in a sibling's more fruitful marriage). Even in Austen's world, where the virtuous seem to always find true love, marital bliss cannot be had without an ample income.
But Jane herself is no mere fortune hunter. She has at least as much to lose in betrothal as she could ever possibly gain, and the illustration of this quagmire is where Miss Austen Regrets gets really brilliant. It is reminiscent of Elizabeth I, in which Helen Mirren portrays Englands other most famous virgin as a painfully passionate woman who must forgo matrimony to maintain her power. For Jane, her power is in her ability to completely own the time and space she needs to write. The filmmakers capture the sanctity of this time and space in one perfect shot, in which we see Jane's scrawling pen abruptly rise from the parchment at the sound of a servant bustling through the room, hang in midair, and just as swiftly continue writing once the servant has leaves. These artful details elucidate the subtly tragic irony behind this woman's wordy gift of wit.
Miss Austen Regrets will be a bonus feature on the 2008 Sense and Sensibility dvd, to be released on April 8. But if I were you, I would figure out when my local PBS affiliate is rerunning it and watch it as soon as I can.
Note: Since the following film is a biopic and not an Austen adaptation, I will be reviewing it alone. Alas, I have not seen the 2007 biopic Becoming Jane (due out on dvd February 12th) and am unable to make a comparison.
Miss Austen Regrets
Synopsis: Nearing age forty, popular novelist Jane is still a very single Miss Austen. Though an old maid by definition, she is flirtatious and funny and finds endless amusement in playfully mocking her peers - much to the glee of her impressionable young niece, Fanny. But Jane is at odds with other family members. Her mother resents her for never marrying. Her brothers are embarrassed to have a wage-earning sister. These rifts deepen when Jane convinces Fanny to refuse a stuffy minister's marriage proposal, thereby placing her niece in the same shaky financial straits that she, herself, faces daily. Despite her family's palpable anger and Fanny's mounting bitterness, Jane is nevertheless steadfast in her devotion to writing, but when health problems arise she begins taking account of her past choices.
Director Jeremy Lovering's Miss Austen Regrets is brimming with cinematic and narrative delights, not the least of which is the title, a play on Cole Porter's wonderfully macabre melody "Miss Otis Regrets". But instead of detailing the demise of a woman spurned, screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes tells the story of a woman who spurns, for a number of fascinating reasons. This characterization of Jane the Heartbreaker is expertly carried by the lovely Olivia Williams, who may be best known as Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman's shared love interest in Rushmore. Williams's Jane is exactly what Austen fans want her to be - beautiful, clever, sarcastic, and singular.
And yet she remained inexplicably single. Little is known about Austen's life, especially since most of her letters were burned upon her death. The well-know fact that she didn't marry is a puzzle to those of us readers who see ourselves in her thoughtful tales of love and marriage. How could she know so much about the things she never experienced?
As this version has it, Jane is very familiar with yearnings of the heart. She's entertained advances from more than one suitor and she has even been in love. Her stated claim for never getting hitched is that she has never met a man rich enough for her taste. This is as shocking to Fanny as it is to the viewer. "But all of your heroines married for love and not money!" she insists, to which her father replies, "If you think that's what her books say, perhaps you should read them again." Certainly, all of Jane's heroines wed for love, but most of them also marry into greater wealth (those who don't either come from money or find ancillary support in a sibling's more fruitful marriage). Even in Austen's world, where the virtuous seem to always find true love, marital bliss cannot be had without an ample income.
But Jane herself is no mere fortune hunter. She has at least as much to lose in betrothal as she could ever possibly gain, and the illustration of this quagmire is where Miss Austen Regrets gets really brilliant. It is reminiscent of Elizabeth I, in which Helen Mirren portrays Englands other most famous virgin as a painfully passionate woman who must forgo matrimony to maintain her power. For Jane, her power is in her ability to completely own the time and space she needs to write. The filmmakers capture the sanctity of this time and space in one perfect shot, in which we see Jane's scrawling pen abruptly rise from the parchment at the sound of a servant bustling through the room, hang in midair, and just as swiftly continue writing once the servant has leaves. These artful details elucidate the subtly tragic irony behind this woman's wordy gift of wit.
Miss Austen Regrets will be a bonus feature on the 2008 Sense and Sensibility dvd, to be released on April 8. But if I were you, I would figure out when my local PBS affiliate is rerunning it and watch it as soon as I can.
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