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I used to think that I wouldn’t like any version of Pride & Prejudice more than the BBC version. But Joe Wright is amazing. I think I’ve read Pride & Prejudice at least once a year since high school and passages from that book are burned into my brain. When watching the images alone in Wright’s Pride & Prejudice I can almost hear Jane Austen’s prose describing the scenes – the way the house is situated, how the characters move, even the way the Bennet’s are viewed; it’s an accomplishment on the part of Wright – he’s let Austen seep into the core of this film and it shows.

I would be remiss not to mention Keira Knightly’s performance in this film. I think she embodied Lizzie and brought an era to life. If I had been born in the era of Austen I have a feeling I would have been very much like the Lizzie Knightly portrays in this film.

Joe Wright is an amazing director and he’s proven it even with his short filmography. I can’t wait to see where he goes in the years to come.




Mrs. Bennet: Have you no consideration for my poor nerves?
Mr. Bennet: You mistake me, my dear. I have the utmost respect for your nerves. They've been my constant companion these twenty years.

Jane Austen was not your typical English girl for her era; she was reaching the age that society deemed she’d need to be married or she’d never be married, she had suitors she didn’t want, and she wanted to write. However, soon Jane meets Tom Lefroy, an impulsive poor lawyer and the two fall madly in love. Their romance meets rejection at every turn and Jane begins one of her most popular novels Pride & Prejudice based on the experience.

Becoming Jane is yet another in a long line of Jane Austen movies, though the obvious bent in this particular film is to show the similarities between the life of Jane Austen and her fiction. While I cannot say this film is a failure, as obviously what occurs in the film is framed on Austen’s life, but I can say that the film was not as engaging as I hoped it would be.

What struck me as strange was that one of the issues I had with Becoming Jane was an issue I had with Brokeback Mountain: the two romantic leads meet each other and without any real impetus or motivation besides the writer needing a story beat, they are suddenly, madly, deeply in love and we as an audience are asked to buy it. It’s instantaneous, they are friends then suddenly one character kisses another and the next thing we know they are professing their undying love. My problem is that this moment doesn’t play as genuine because it comes out of left field and it’s the moment that the rest of the film hinges on.

Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy are two actors I could watch in just about any role and they are also fantastic in Becoming Jane. I’m not sure they had a great romantic chemistry in this film, but both are enormously talented and made their relationship onscreen work.

While I don’t think that Becoming Jane was a waste of my time, I do think that if I want a Jane Austen fix I will just watch a version of Pride & Prejudice.

Director: Julian Jarrold
Writers: Kevin Hood & Sarah Williams
Jane Austen: Anne Hathaway
Tom Lefroy: James McAvoy
Mrs. Austen: Julie Walters
Rev. Austen: James Cromwell
Lady Gresham: Maggie Smith

Jane: My characters shall have, after a little trouble, all that they desire.

I know that this is not really a movie either, it’s a mini-series, but I never saw it on tv – in fact, the first time I saw Pride & Prejudice was on VHS and I checked it out from the library. Yeah, that sounds so old and gives me fond memories of high school. The reason I am including this mini-series here is that prior to the recent Joe Wright version of Pride & Prejudice the mini-series was the definitive version.

This mini-series is about six hours long and I never thought another adaptation of the book could be made that could top this version. What the BBC mini-series has that no other filmic version does is save for the books epilogue the entire story is in the mini-series. To the best of my knowledge no film version of Pride & Prejudice has been able to include everything in the novel.

However, after seeing the newest version I do have to say that I like the cast in the Joe Wright version just a little bit more. Both casts are excellent, but the BBC version uses actors that are pretty obviously not the same age as the characters, and what bothers me most is that they are semi-close to the age but obviously skew older. This stands out to me most in the character of Lizzie who is supposed to be about 20 through most of the tale and very obviously looks to be at least in her mid-twenties.

What I find most interesting though is the differences in the characters between the two versions; I think it is a perfect example of how a different director/writer can totally change the feel of something. This is most obvious through Mr. & Mrs. Bennet (played by Benjamin Whitrow & Alison Steadman in the BBC, and Donald Sutherland & Brenda Blethyn in the Wright version). In the BBC version the parents are shrill, aggravating and seem to dislike each other intensely, and very rarely seem to get along with or really care for their daughters and Mrs. Bennet seems to only want to get her daughters married to get money; in the Wright version Mr. Bennet is calm and caring, showing affection for all of his daughters and even his wife, and Mrs. Bennet’s obsession for getting her daughters married obviously seems to stem from wanting them to be taken care of.

Both versions are very good, and I highly recommend watching both if you’re interested in seeing the differences in how the same story can be adapted. However, I do have to say that if push comes to shove I would chose the Joe Wright version over the BBC version simply because of the choices that were made in putting that film together to make it a beautiful whole.

Director: Simon Langton
Writer: Andrew Davies
Lizzie: Jennifer Ehle
Mr. Darcy: Colin Firth
Jane: Susannah Harker
Lydia: Julia Sawalha
Mrs. Bennet: Alison Steadman
Mr. Bennet: Benjamin Whitrow
Mr. Bingley: Crispin Bonham-Carter
Kitty: Polly Maberly
Mary: Lucy Briers
Miss Bingley: Anna Chancellor
Mrs. Hurst: Lucy Robinson
Whickham: Adrian Lukis
Mr. Collins: David Bamber
Charlotte: Lucy Scott

Elizabeth Bennet: Lady Catherine, in marrying your nephew, I should not consider myself as quitting that sphere. He is a gentleman, I am a gentleman's daughter. So far we are equal.

The first time I heard they were making a feature length version of Pride & Prejudice I was mystified; the book is one of my favorites and after seeing the BBC mini series based on the book I really didn’t see how a feature length version could be made that would rival the BBC version and stay true to the book – it’s a really complex book. Of course, as I loved the book I was hopeful.

I adore this version of Pride & Prejudice. I think that it was brilliantly cast, visually stunning and kept the right amount of imformation in the book and changed certain things in a way that still kept them true to the book but made them work better for a two hour movie. This was an insane challenge for a writer and a director and I think that both mastered it and were able to create a wonderful adaptation.

Pride & Prejudice focuses on Lizzie Bennet and her family in the 19th century. They are a proper British family living in the countryside and are unfortunately burdened by having five daughters and no sons. As such the family is focused on one thing – getting the daughters married and hopefully married well. The two eldest daughters Jane & Lizze fall into the path of a new neighbor Mr. Bingley and his friend Mr. Darcy and their lives are changed forever. Bingley and Jane fall in love but are forced apart by his friends and family who believe her inferior and Darcy falls in love with Lizzie who does not return his affections. This story is classic and one of the romance films I actually enjoy shockingly enough – probably because it is populated with genuine characters that are fully developed.

I cannot review this film without giving props to Joe Wright. I had never heard of him before this film but will undoubtedly try to see his movies more. This film is beautiful visually and as I have already stated spot on in its translation, acting and every other element. This film is so well put together that you forget that it is put together at all – you don’t think about the editing, the score the acting, the costumes, and that is the goal of making a good movie.

Director: Joe Wright
Writer: Deborah Moggach
Lizzie: Kiera Knightly
Jane: Rosamund Pike
Mary: Talulah Riley
Lydia: Jena Malone
Kitty: Carey Mulligan
Mr. Bennet: Donald Sutherland
Mrs. Bennet: Brenda Blethyn
Charlotte Lucas: Claudie Blakley
Mr. Bingley: Simon Woods
Caroline Bingley: Kelly Reilly
Mr. Darcy: Matthew Macfadyen
Mr. Wickham: Rupert Friend
Mr. Collins: Tom Hollander
Lady Catherine de bourg: Judi Dench

Elizabeth Bennet: And that put paid to it. I wonder who first discovered the power of poetry in driving away love?
Mr. Darcy: I thought that poetry was the food of love.
Elizabeth Bennet: Of a fine stout love, it may. But if it is only a vague inclination I'm convinced one poor sonnet will kill it stone dead
Mr. Darcy: So what do you recommend to encourage affection?
Elizabeth Bennet: Dancing. Even if one's partner is barely tolerable