Best Jane Austen adaptation?
I am–and this is embarrassing–finally watching the 1995 BBC production of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. And yes, it does have Colin Firth in a sexy white shirt.
Jennifer Ehle is superb and the world created by the show feels very real. And yet….
I prefer the more modern movie version with Keira Knightley and Matthew MacFayden. Which has one of the most romantic scenes I’ve ever seen in a film and NO I DON’T CARE THAT IT ISN’T IN THE BOOK.
I was unable to find any accounting of how many Austen adaptations have been made over the years but I hazard it’s at least in the hundreds. The first film version came out in 1940 and the first TV one in 1938. They are a global phenomenon (they’re very popular in Bollywood).
Everyone those they love and those they don’t. The 2005 movie Pride and Prejudice is my favorite but I also routinely rewatch the 1996 film of Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow and Bridget Jones’ Diary.
How about you? What’s your favorite Austen adaptation?
The Kiera Knightly Pride and Prejudice is so beautiful. The art direction is the best of all the films, but the casting of KK, the Pemberley scenes and the Sixteen Candles ending was just awful. I did enjoy the Bennett family’s domesticity which seemed more true to the era than other JA adaptations. I loved the casting of the Bennetts and their neighbors.
Sense and Sensibility is my favorite JA adaptation and I’ve probably seen it more than any other film ever. Amanda Root is the best Anne Elliot and I also liked her in The Forsythe Saga. Romola Garai is the best Emma and the most sympathetic, but Alan Cummings and Juliet Stevenson are the best Mr. and Mrs Elton even though the rest of the casting besides Jeremy Northam was just wrong.
I really like Romola Garai she is fantastic in Daniel Deronda.
Not a JA adaptation but two Dickens miniseries I really love are Our Mutual Friend with Anna Friel and Little Dorrit with Claire Foy, she’s wonderful in the role.
I do enjoy the art direction in the KK Pride and Prejudice. While I don’t like the costume design at all the scene where she is silently communing with the marble statues, in particular the one by Raphaelle Monti of the veiled lady is just stunning.
I love that you called it the Sixteen Candles ending! Now all I can think of is Sam and Jake Ryan sitting on the table there with the birthday cake!
I also love Our Mutual Friend! Not many people mention it, but I think the cast is first rate and I adore the last line about him “being the greater gentleman and her the greater lady”. Now I want to watch it again.
Thanks to all the recs in this post I just watched DVD version of Emma Thompson, et al’s version of Sense and Sensibility. There is only one substantive feature added to the DVD but so worth tracking down: Emma Thompson’s Golden Globe speech (the only female nominee for screenplay – for the WIN) delivered as Jane Austen.
Having read the comments above, it is clear that there are several Jane Austen adaptations that I have not seen, but of the ones that I have my favorites are Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson as Elinor and Kate Winslet as Marianne and Persuasion with Ciarán Hinds as Captain Wentworth and Amanda Root as Anne. Now looking back, it’s interesting to think that these all came out in 1995.
I love the 1995 P&P and Love & Friendship, the latter of which is underrated in that not enough people have seen it (in my opinion) but everyone who has seems to really enjoy it.
I’m not a Kiera Knightley fan (once someone I was dating pointed out how frequently she sucks in her nostrils, I’ve never been able to unsee it) but I was surprised that her version of P&P was still entertaining.
On the periphery, I liked Becoming Jane and the miniseries Lost in Austen is just delightful and perfect when I need a cheering up. Also, the Darcy in Lost is pretty great!
What about printed adaptations? And sequels and (oh gosh!) variations?
One reason I finally read Pride and Prejudice was because I became fascinated by the many P&P variations available in print and Kindle. I realized I wouldn’t understand them until I read the book. Watching the miniseries gave me the final push!
When my youngest son was in 9th grade, his teacher made them read P&P. He could not get through it so I gave him Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. He loved it and did just fine on the test!
Thank you for the laugh of the day! That was brilliant! I didn’t read it, but I understand much of the original writing is maintained, so I shouldn’t be surprised he did well. I found audiobooks were a great way for my kids to “read” books they weren’t into. We’d listen during lunch or dinner, or while driving. Some books, like The Hobbit were so much better read by a skilled narrator instead of me. We listened to P&P on a longish car trip. I’d always read aloud to them on car trips, so moving on to audiobooks was a natural. We went through most of P.G. Wodehouse that way, as well.
Absolutely. One of the most riveting listens our family ever had was Call of The Wild which is about sixty times more engaging when heard rather than read.
If anybody else is having this issue – the Manga Classics adaptations of Jane Austen novels are excellent reads on their own, but also good alternatives to the full text.
Thanks!
1995 is the best overall. the stars are excellent. The 1980 version final proposal walk was the best one of those. Jennifer is the perfect lizzy. Her facial acting was great. The 2005 dance scene was incredible as well as the proposal rejection.
I like Kiera Knightly’s P&P best, followed closely by the Jennifer Ehle version (yes, I know, blasphemy!).
But my all time favorite for Jane Austen adaption is Ciaran Hind’s Persuasion. The understated and quiet tone of the movie reflects the book’s faithfully. And the ending, when Anne and Capt. Wentworth are walking down the city street with a circus coming to town making all kinds of ruckus around them, yet they don’t even notice anything or anyone else but each other? Swoon-worthy!
Followed closely by Emma Thompson’s Sense and Sensibility. Alan Rickman as Col. Brandon, enough said!
For Emma, I prefer Gwyneth Paltrow’s version best.
One more comment about the 2005 P&P: I think Matthew Macfadyen played Darcy as shy rather than proud, which goes against the very title of the novel. A bit more arrogance mixed in with the reticence would have served the role better. (I liked Macfadyen a lot in the British TV series MI-5, where he shone, as did David Oyelowo and Richard Armitage – be warned, however, that this series is not for the faint of heart).
Susan, your mention of Richard Armitage reminded me of another great adaptation, North and South, written by Elizabeth Gaskell. He was wonderful in that one.
That may be my favorite historical adaptation of all time.
North and South is stunning! I’ve read the book by Elizabeth Gaskell, and it’s written in the overly romantic style of the late 19th century and can be a little slow going, but it is a great story. The adaptation is very true to the book while avoiding the slightly melodramatic flare of Gaskell’s writing. The show is so atmospheric. I personally consider this as Gaskell’s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, because the main love story is so similar in feel.
Yes, the book is wonderful! To me it seemed like a cross between P&P and a Dickens novel, with more focus on class divisions, truly poor people and their lot, etc. It’s not as crisp as P&P, and but I think there is more depth and social commentary, which can be a bit slow at times, but it’s a good read nonetheless.
I loved, loved, loved “North & South” with Richard Armitage and Daniela Denby-Ashe. I thought they were both perfectly cast, and the story was such a good mix of the historical, social, and romantic.
The best! And that kiss!
MI-5 isn’t for the faint of heart at all and I agree MacFadyen was better as Tom Quinn than Darcy. That show also featured Rupert Penry Jones or as I think of him, the “not as good Captain Wentworth” from the made for TV Persuasion. Richard Armitage is always my favorite though. He would have made a great Captain Wentworth.
MI5? You mean Spooks?
Yes they had to rename it for the U.S.
The 1995 P&P adaptation is my favorite. It is very true to the book, the performances are superb, and the chemistry between Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle sizzled. I really wanted to like the 2005 KK version, and I recently rewatched it to give it another chance, but it didn’t work for me. In my mind, Keira was not Elizabeth, and MacFayden was never Darcy. Their scenes never sizzled. In the clip above, their facial expressions seem frozen. And I agree with the comments about Donald Sutherland. Sorry, Dabney! My sister saw the 2005 version first and that’s her favorite. I wonder if we tend to prefer the one we saw first?
I’ve never watched any! Nor have I read any Austen books. Does that mean I’m kicked out of the club?
No–we’re a very tolerant bunch!
Never! You are just an Austen fan who hasn’t discovered it yet.
Hate the Kiera Knightley version, not for her, but because any version that ends (UK version) with two men agreeing on Elizabeth’s future has misunderstood the book entirely.
The Colin Firth version is probably my favourite.
I’m a big fan of the most recent Emma – I think it’s the first that feels true to how I read the book, as chick-lit rather than romance. (Which is why Clueless works.) I do think Mr Knightley is too good looking, and Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax don’t get a fair representation – but something is always lost in translation – and as well as being gorgeous to watch, and funny, it gets Emma and Harriet right, and centers female friendship. (And Miranda as Miss Bates is fabulous.)
I love both the 1995 and 2005 versions of P&P. I own both and switch between them regularly, depending on time and mood. I’m always fascinated as I’m watching the 6-hour version. I think that there is no way a 2-hour version could ever do the story justice. Until I put the movie on, and think, how did they do this? It so definitely works!
As mentioned, I love the 1995 mini series. BUT I’ve always felt that Jennifer Ehle’s Lizzie is a bit too “old”/mature/sensible; and far too pretty. Ehle’s Lizzie is at least as pretty and practical as Susanah Harker’s Jane (who is supposed to be the family’s best hope for a good marriage, and far better looking than Lizzie) and that creates a bit of cognitive dissonance for me – at least until lose myself in the the rest of the story/performances.
The fact that Knightly is gawky and “out of step” and odd-looking in the 2005 version works for me, because that is how I read Lizzie in the book. And I actually prefer the look and feel of the 2005 version. Joe Wright’s vision for how the movie ended up looking (sets, costumes, sounds) is so different and gorgeous and “in your face” (it doesn’t feel so much like a performance on a stage as the other).
FYI: KK was 20 to MacFadyen’s 31; and Ehle was 26 to Firth’s 35 at the time each actor played their respective parts.
It’s not my favorite but I also really enjoy the fabulous Bride and Prejudice with the stunning Aishwarya Rai. It’s a Bollywood musical version of P&P directed by the wonderful Gurinder Chadha who also directed Bend It Like Beckham. I defy you to get the melodies out of your head after watching it.
Like many versions of P&P you have to overlook the fact that Lizzie is the most stunning woman in the movie and that Jane is supposed to be more beautiful.
Rai is literally the one of the most beautiful woman in the world. It’s impossible to imagine anyone EVER thinking her plain.
Also, now you’ve made me want to give this another go.
Now I’ve got the “Dola Dola” song from the stick dance in my head.
Ugh Aishwarya Rai is so beautiful it almost hurts to look at herl. To be fair, the actress playing Jane in Bride and Prejudice was gorgeous as well (as are all Bollywood stars) but no one in their right mind, would ever be able to call Aishwarya plain. To be fair, I seem to remember them playing up the cultural differences more in the Bride and Prejudice adaptation, rather than Darcy’s dismissal of her looks.
You could, but I watched it during quarantine and I agree with you; it dragged a little. The dancing and weddings were super-fun, though. I don’t think I would want to rewatch it, and I will always rewatch KK’s P&P and ET’s S&S.
Those are both wonderful. It’s not an Austen adaptation, but I adore Ten Things I Hate About You and rewatch it at least once a year!
“Like many versions of P&P you have to overlook the fact that Lizzie is the most stunning woman in the movie and that Jane is supposed to be more beautiful.”
I know, right? I give Olivia de Havilland credit for sticking to her guns about how Melanie Hamilton should be presented to the audience in the movie version of Gone with the Wind. They wanted to prettify her for the role- curled hair, fancy gowns and all that- but she insisted they keep her plain like the character in the book because she mustn’t ever physically outshine Scarlett. Plus, she had the makeup department pencil in a widow’s peak because she didn’t have one in real life and said little details like that were important to the character.
Olivia de Havilland has been one of my favorite actresses since I was a child. I love that she stuck to her guns and knew Melanie was her part even when Jack Warner told her she was crazy. In any other year with different competition she would have taken home an Oscar but you cannot begrudge Hattie McDaniel her triumph. It’s no wonder she went on to win two best actress Oscars for roles where she de-glamorized herself.
You could argue that in the KK Pride and Prejudice and P&P and Zombies versions Jane is prettier. It just depends on what is your type. I’m not sure where you could find someone to outshine Aishwarya. The director even made her gain weight for the role to try to deglamorize her a little. Not that they tried much and honestly I’m not sorry.
“but you cannot begrudge Hattie McDaniel her triumph”
I *love* Hattie McDaniel. She got a lot of flack in her lifetime, but she was a fricken powerhouse- never saw her give a poor performance. Without a doubt, she always played the most intelligent character in any given story. Yes, I understand the controversy regarding her playing slaves and maids. It was, unfortunately, the time period. But from what I’ve seen, she always imbued her roles with indomitable dignity and strength. It’s a real shame her Oscar got stolen during a riot and has yet to be recovered. What disrespect!
2007 Persuasion. I don’t fall in love with heroes and Sally Hawkins far surpasses Amanda Root in her ability to emote yearning, which is what the appeal of the story is based upon IMHO.
I agree. ITV’s 2007 Persuasion was great. Sally Hawkins as Anne Elliot conveys so well sorrow, longing and fortitude that makes her so appealing as a heroine.
I also very much enjoyed Bride and Prejudice
I love her movies and I adore Bollywood but that movie just fell flat in the last half for me.
The running around London bit got stale but they brought me back in with the big wedding finish.
Definitely Clueless. Emma is my favorite Jane Austen book and I’ve never seen a better adaptation (although I haven’t seen the Emma that came out this year yet!)
Clueless is the best Emma adaptation. I was so excited about the 2019 Emma but it was disappointing despite cameos from Bill Nighy as Mr. Woodhouse.
Maybe if there had been a lot more Nighy and less Emma & Knightly, both of whom were miscast, IMO.
One of my favorite P and P versions is the very inaccurate and delightful version with Greer Garon and Lawrence Olivier. The actors are wonderful! I Believe it’s the 1938 version. Dame Edna May Oliver steals the movie!
Sense and Sensibility with Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson. I love the sister chemistry the two actresses have and Alan Rickman as Col. Brandon is everything. Clueless is another favorite because it keeps the spirit of Emma without following the source material too closely.
My votes:
’95 P&P (Though I really enjoy aspects of the Knightley P&P)
’95 Persuasion
’19 Emma
I love Clueless but… I kept thinking Rudd could do better.
Hahahaha
There are a lot of Austen adaptations I haven’t seen, but I remember a ghastly Mansfield Park that I quit about a third of the way through. I don’t know what they were doing, but it wasn’t Mansfield Park.
I did, however, love the 1995 Pride and Prejudice. (I remember that at the end of the scene where Lizzie turns down Darcy’s first proposal, my husband said, “It’s amazing how erotic formality can be.”) And I also loved Emma Thompson’s Sense and Sensibility. Perfect casting.
That is an exceptional cast!
I think the Keira Knightly adaptation of P&P is too flippant. All I could see as I watched the movie was Keira, not Lizzie. But I know that is a lot of people’s favorite.
I love the 1995 miniseries, and perhaps that is my favorite adaptation. Other than the Knightly one and the 1999 movie Mansfield Park, which I didn’t care for since it changed Fanny completely from the book, I rewatch all the Austen adaptations regularly. I personally love Kate Beckensale’s EMMA,which co-stars Ciaran Hines.
Emma is too complex a book to be narrowed into 2 hours, so until the Garai series came out (which is excellent!) I liked to watch both the Paltrow and the Beckensale version of the books for their different emphasis. And Ciaran Hines makes the best profession of love of any Mr. Knightly! In my opinion, the Beckansale version gets a nudge simply because it chooses to spend more time of the Frank Churchill storyline, and the acting is superb.
The newest Emma with Anya Taylor-Joy is frankly awful. The screenwriter and/or director wanted to make STATEMENTS and it ruined the movie, along with Mark Strong’s dehumanized Darcy.
Sense and Sensibility has been done well several times. I like the Emma Thompson movie very much, and it’s difficult to top Alan Rickman as Brandon. The 2008 version is entertaining, and perhaps truer to the book, but I don’t think the acting is quite as good.
Persuasion (1995) remains one of my all-time favorite Jane Austen adaptations. I hear there is to be a new adaptation coming soon, so hopefully it will be good.
I enjoy the other adaptations, Mansfield Park with Billie Piper is good, but her bleached blond hair with the roots showing was distracting. Love and Friendship (Lady Susan) is enjoyable. None of the Northanger Abby adaptations are likely to hit the top 5 list, but I still enjoy 2007 version.
Now I’m going to look up the older versions I’m hearing about here in the comments!
Sorry, Mark Strong plays in the Beckensale version, not the newest version, and I got him confused with Ciaran Hines from Persuasion. I don’t know how to edit my posts. I loved Mark Strong in that role. There was almost nothing I liked in the newest Emma.
The newest Emma does not call to me and I haven’t seen it. I also haven’t seen the Kate Beckinsale version which I will now pursue. Thank you!
The Beckinsale version is pretty good – shoe-horned into two hours, but I like it. Mark Strong was an unusual choice for Knightley, but it works. Jeremy Northam is probably my favourite of the recent Knightleys though – strikes a really good balance between the big brother figure and the would-be lover.
He worked for me!
I love Jeremy Northam’s Mr. Knightley. You can tell even when he chastises Emma it’s hurting him as much as her.
Jeremy Northam is [swoon]. See him in ‘Gosford Park’?
“sad face”
It’s currently not possible to stream that version of Emma.
When covid allows I will gladly loan you my DVD. :-)
Thanks!
I wonder if–writ large–Americans and Europeans see this question differently. I suspect one’s age also influences this.
Probably more likely that died-in-the-wool Janeites will have the strongest POV on these things, Dabney, and they come from literally everywhere in the world. I personally prefer the lower key versions of classics rather than those with “big name” stars but with my US/UK background, can’t see that either influence my likes and dislikes. I do prefer it when time is taken to flesh out a novel that I love and so that’s probably more likely to be a UK thing as the BBC and ITV have for years serialised the classics and then they appeared on PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre, etc., where I saw quite a few of them many years ago such as Poldark, The Forsythe Saga, The Pallisers, etc.
The “Pride and Prejudice” 1940 movie adaptation with Greer Garson as Lizzie and Laurence Olivier as Darcy (and screenplay co-written by Aldous Huxley!). It’s utterly wrong in every particular (starting with the time period obviously being bumped up a few decades to take advantage of the frothier costumes of the mid-1800s)—and yet I return to it again and again…perhaps because Olivier is so handsome and haughty—he’s a very good Darcy (he makes a better Darcy than he does a Heathcliff).
I should add that—much like the movie adaptation of GONE WITH THE WIND—the 1940 version of PRIDE & PREJUDICE works best if you disassociate the book from the film adaptation. If you’re expecting a faithful adaptation, it doesn’t work, but if you accept the movie on its own terms, it’s very entertaining.
It is utterly wrong, but Olivier is so gorgeous and Greer Garson so luminous that I just go with the flow…
Olivier was better in Rebecca. Just watched Armie Hammer make a complete balls-up of Maxim.
Kristen Scott Thomas was superb as Mrs. Danvers.
That I believe!
Agree with that, Maggie Boyd. It was as if feelings of mother love was competing with sexual love for Rebecca and she was unhinged but so, so subtle. She’s such a fine actress.
The latest version of Rebecca is getting across-the-board negative reviews from my friends, so I’m steering clear of it.
Not a fan of Armie Hammer. I haven’t watched it yet but I was afraid this would be the case.
Really? I loved him in On the Basis of Sex.
He’s just miscast in my opinion. He doesn’t have the years or sophistication that Maxim requires. He’s also too close in age to Lily James. There’s a real father figure element to their relationship for the first half of the story in a lot of ways. She even says something to Max like “you are my father and my brother and my son” in the book I believe.
Oh. I thought you didn’t like him in general. I find him quite alluring.
IMO, the 1995 version of P&P is the definitive version. I’m sorry, but the 2005 movie just doesn’t compare. I like Matthew Macfadyen as an actor, but he’s not a Darcy – and I can’t stand Keira Knightley, so that version was never going to work for me anyway. I also remember the Fay Weldon adaptation very fondly – I think it was shown around the same time I was studying the text for my O levels :)
There are some other good ones; Emma Thompson/Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility is surprisingly good at keeping to the spirit of the original and Romola Garai is probably THE best Emma; although there’s not yet been what I’d call a definitive version of it (my favourite Austen novel), that one comes pretty close. I like the Paltrow movie although Toni Collette is woefully miscast. And yes, the older (1995) Persuasion is excellent, too.
I liked that version of Sense and Sensibility as well.
The Keira Knightly version was ruined by casting Donald Sutherland as Mr Bennett. KK has just one facial expression: a gurn like no other!!
I love Keira Knightley! I could watch Bend It Like Beckham over and over again! (Although I dislike her role in Love, Actually.) And I liked Donald Sutherland in that role.
Finally we part ways! It had to happen sometime! Keira is fine in some things but she’s no Lizzie Bennet sorry to say. I do love Bend it Like Beckham however.
It was nice whilst it lasted….. ;)
It can be the exception that proves the rule.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TazHNpt6OTo
Lol, Oh Dabney if you only knew how much I’d like an escape right now.
Not a fan at all of KK as Lizzie. It’s not her part. I thought Lily James in the silly Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was a much better Lizzie than her.
I agree that the 1995 P and P is the best and I also like Emma Thompson’s Sense and Sensibility. Ciaran Hind’s Persuasion is lovely as well.
It’s a classic although not an Austen adaptation, but Ciaran Hinds in the 1997 TV miniseries of “Ivanhoe” is sex on a stick. He’s the villain, and I didn’t care much for the actress who played Rebecca, his love interest, but his last line is among the most romantic lines ever (just saying).
Thanks for the recommend. I’ll have to look this up!
Finally someone else who has seen that version of Ivanhoe! I adore Ciaran Hinds as Brian de Bois-Guilbert. I grew up with Sam Neil playing him opposite Olivia Hussey and Ciaran made him sexy instead of just crazy. He also made a great Mr. Rochester too although it’s not my favorite adaptation of Jane Eyre.
What is?
Oh Timothy Dalton for the win! Like the 95 P&P it includes all the great language. But I must confess I do love Orson Wells’ delivery in the 40’s version with Joan Fontaine. His voice is amazing and he’s one Rochester that really isn’t a handsome guy like Dalton and many others are.
I just checked on Amazon and they’re are TONS of versions.
So Many! I enjoy the Toby Stephens one (it’s the sexiest) even as I acknowledge he is too pretty to be Mr. R. and it’s a little over the top.
I do not care for George C Scott, Michael Fassbender or William Hurt as Rochester.
Ugh. It also can’t be streamed. I adore Ruth Wilson.
Agree, Chrisreader, on your POVs on Rochester. Really disliked Michael Fassbender who came across to me as playing the role as a bit of a joke. George C Scott?? I kept thinking of him in Patton. The advantage of the Toby Stephens/Ruth Wilson version was that it was longer and so far more nuanced and the MCs more fully developed. Toby Stephens was in the 1996 version of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and he was very good. A much overlooked novel.
I enjoyed the Tenant Of Wildfell Hall too. It had a great cast and even a small role for James Purefoy, another favorite of mine.
Agree that George C. Scott has to be the worst Rochester casting ever.
I think Toby Stephens is an underrated actor. He clearly inherited a lot of talent from both his parents.
I like Keira Knightly, but she is lovely and it makes nonsense of Darcy’s line at the assembly that Jane is beautiful but Elizabeth has nothing to recommend her except her eyes.
Oh yes, that version of Sense and Sensibility is lovely!
(And I love Romola Garai, though I’m very fond of last year’s edition of Emma).
The Romola Garai Emma is terrific.
Love it too!
Completely agree with you Caz – the 1995 version of P&P is my favourite. Jennifer Ehle perfectly encapsulates Elizabeth and her fine eyes, while Colin Firth is the quintessential Mr. Darcy. I also think that Romola Garai is the best Emma and I loved the chemistry between her and Jonny Lee Miller (who played Mr Knightly). As for Sense and Sensibility, I have a soft spot for the 2008 series. The actresses playing Elinor and Marianne are simply wonderful!
Completely agree. Keira Knightley is a disaster in this movie – leading every line with her jaw, and clomping like her shoes are weighted.
Yikes!
I cannot sit through the part about “my pearl” and all that nonsense. It makes me grind my teeth.
Ditto to every single thing you said – especially the bit about KK.
Caz just said she can’t stand Keira. I’m thinking you’re echoing Caroline’s remarks?
And, because I am made of sterner stuff, I am not going to be shamed into retracting my KK love!
Keira Knightly never blends into the role for me. I always feel like I’m watching Keira Knightly. She plays her too gawky and shy. She doesn’t have any of Lizzie’s pride or aplomb IMHO.
I think she seems far less arch than Ehle. I’m not a big fan of arch.
But Lizzie IS arch. It even says so in the book and she is very aware of her similarity to Mr. Darcy in that sense.
“Both,” replied Elizabeth archly; “for I have always seen a great similarity in the turn of our minds. We are each of an unsocial, taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak, unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room, and be handed down to posterity with all the eclat of a proverb.”
I think that’s the beauty of Austen- she’s willing to make her heroines have unlikeable qualities. Lizzie is a smarty pants know it all, so those of us who think we are too enjoy that – others maybe not so much. Austen was worried no one would like busy body Emma.
Yes, this! Lizzie is arch, and that’s why I love her and Ehle’s interpretation of her.
She’s not my favorite. Dittoing Caz.
It is the definitive version! The cast! The language! It’s 99% or more of Jane Austen’s beautiful language. Jennifer Ehle is Lizzie Bennet for me and Colin Firth captures Mr. Darcy’s combination of arrogance and insecurity beautifully. I could watch it endlessly. Lizzie facing off against Lady Catherine alone is worth price of admission.
How I wish I could tell someone “and I beg you not to importune me on the subject any further!”
I have honestly watched this version at least 8 times, and it thrills me every time.
I couldn’t count how many times I have watched it from the time I was setting my VCR to tape it off of A&E TV when it premiered in the states. It’s great every single time. Not just the romance storyline but all the amazing supporting parts as well. The ones you love and the ones you love to hate.
My favourite Austen adaptation is the 1979/80 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. It was adapted by Faye Weldon and she used much of the original dialogue. IMO the casting is sublime and the actors play very close to how the characters were written in the book. Elizabeth Garvie, as Elizabeth, is perfect as she is able to light up from within and David Rintoul’s Darcy is really stiff, stern and obnoxious until Elizabeth melts him.
This is not a version with extra splashy bits, it’s just a classy rendition of a wonderful book.
Persuasion, from 1995 with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds. It’s perfection.
My choice as well, Tina. Superb production values. The hair, make-up, lighting, costumes with muddy hems, no “beautiful” people made it so real and believable. Just simply the best interpretation of my favourite JA novel.
You and Tina beat me to it! This is by far the best version – and my favourite of the novels. So understated and romantic. I also love the ending of ‘Wives and Daughters’ for much the same reason. Less is more!
And see for me, sometimes, less is too little. It’s a fine line!
Very definitely the best adaptation. So many small moments that just make you sighhhhhhhh. When they’ve gone on the long walk and there’s a chance for one of them to have a ride back and Captain Wentworth makes sure it’s Anne and he takes her hand to help her in the carriage. Sighhhhhhh. In that brief 30 second interaction we know that Wentworth still cares a lot for Anne and she starts to realize that maybe there’s some hope.
I also love that the actress playing Anne, while certainly not ugly by any means, does come across as not lovely in the first half of the movie, mostly because she’s been ground down by her family and circumstance. But as she comes to find some happiness and love she just gets lovelier and lovelier.
It truly is the most quietly romantic of them all.
And now I have to go see if this version is streaming anywhere.
Nope. I’m sorry, but I strongly disagree. The best Jane Austen adaptation is ITV’s 2008 Persuasion with Sally Hawkins and Rupert Penry-Jones. Beautiful music, too. And so good, that I forgave the kissing at the end. There is no kissing in Austen!
I liked the subtlety, sadness and slow burn development of the ITV version. And to see Anne slowly become more confident in all aspects of her life from her relations with her family to her belief in herself.
And see I always want kissing!
Oh yeah. Get in here with the kissing.
I’m with you on this one. That’s one aspect of Austen I don’t mind filmmakers tweaking. Although I do agree that in Persuasion they probably should have stepped into an alley or side street first.
LOL, Chrisreader — . PDA in the Regency Period — even though the kiss in the movie is tame by our standards — I just can’t imagine the main characters having a public kiss in the world that Austen so carefully describes. I guess that’s why I don’t like it; it is wildly out of character and does not fit in their world. And one of the many things that I love about Jane Austen is how she paints such a vivid picture of a time period and what it was like to be a woman in that time.
I liked Sally Hawkins as Anne in that one and agree that she did a great job of showing Anne’s progression, but Ciaran Hinds was a far better Captain Wentworth. Rupert Penry-Jones just didn’t work for me as a Naval officer.
I prefer Amanda Root but agree 100% on Ciaran Hinds. They didn’t even bother dressing Rupert Penry-Jones in his Naval uniform all the time. Not sure why that decision was made. No naval officer at that time would be walking around in civilian dress.
I preferred Amanda Root to Sally Hawkins as Anne. Sally Hawkins was amazing in Fingersmith and other works but she was a bit over the top in Persuasion. Her mouth was just open all the time and she did a lot of quivering. I found Amanda Root to be completely believable in the part with no obvious ‘acting’.
I also didn’t like how they changed the story- Captain Wentworth taking Anne to sea with him was more exciting than him getting Kellynch Hall. The story has enough Cinderella elements in a subtle way I felt like the TV movie was guilty of trying to make Austen more ‘exciting’.
There is no comparison between Captain Wentworths in my opinion.
Totally agree, this is hands down the best adaptation. Not only did I love the main characters (Ciara Hinds, sigh…), but the secondary characters were excellent as well. I loved Anne’s friend in Bath with the nurse who gave her such juicy gossip, Anne’s father and sister who did not appreciate her, Anne’s hypochondriac married sister, the sophisticated Mrs. Russell, Captain Wentworth’s sister and husband, etc. The movie really showed Anne coming into her own and Captain Wentworth’s growing realization that he still loved her. I have always loved second chance romance and this movie just shines.
I also love the 1995 Pride and Prejudice, and the 1999 version of Mansfield Park. The 1940’s version of Pride and Prejudice with Greer Garson and Lawrence Olivier is a fun watch, but it doesn’t follow the book very well and every time I watch it I think they got the costumes all wrong (they were beautiful, but wrong time period for the story).
While P&P from 1995 is my all time favorite- I love this movie as well. (It’s like they almost cannot make a great Austen adaptation without Emma Thompson or her sister involved.)
Persuasion is my favorite novel and I can work myself up to a good cry over it still. You truly feel for Amanda Root and I totally believed Ciaran Hinds as a Regency Navy Captain. He has that air of command down pat.