Jane Austen et. al.
prolepia -- Mon, 06/16/2008 - 15:03
Please come and praise (or disparage if you must) Jane Austen (et al.).
What do you think of the BBC's version of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice? What about Emma (with Gweneth Paltrow)? Mansfield Park and Sense and Sensibility?
Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband (with Rupert Evrett and Jeremy Northam)and The Importance of Being Earnest? Masterpiece Theater's version of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre?
The BBC's version of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South, Wives and Daughters, and (most recently) Cranford?
I'll start with one: One of my personal favorites North an South--a viewing of which must be accompanied by a reading of the book. The way that Gaskell understood the complexities of the time as well as the interior life of her characters is something to be marvelled at!
Don't you agree?
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Because the character portrayal is so central to these novels, I think the film version matters a lot (thankfully there is often a choice, but caveat emptor!).
Pride and Prejudice, in the 1996 Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle version is stunningly good. But another version of P&P I found almost comedically bad.
I can't help but agree with discman. Pride and Predjudice was well done, but all of the others are laughable. The acting is poor and the storylines fail to get beyond the dark, hackneyed abyss of feminism and into the more nuanced plot points of these stories.
1. I agree with you, discman, that character portrayl is central to many of these films. (costume design, cinematography, and fidelity to the underlying wit of the original authors is also, i might add, part of the entertainment factor)
2. I feel that the versions I have chosen and listed above are versions which deliver (to varying degrees) on most if not all these fronts: character portrayl, costume, cinematography, and underlying wit.
3. The 2005 BBC version of North and South is particularly excellent in all regards. Daniela Denby-Ashe did a marvellous job of portraying the proud, principled, and compassionate Margaret Hale. Richard Armitage was great as the stormy, unwavering and ambitious Mr. Thornton. And on other fronts too, North and South was well-done. (I will admit that some of the dialogue is a bit contrived and self-conscious, but for the most part the film is to be recommended.
4. TBMshark, I'm wondering about your definition of feminism and I am unsure whether I would use that word with the movies I have listed above. Would you be able to clarify it for me? I understand the word in at least two different senses. First, women assert themselves in masculine ways and in traditionally male roles in order to gain recognition, power etc..Second, women appreciate or assert their unique dignity as women.
5. I am also unclear as to what you mean about more nuanced plot points. If we were to get beyond the "hackneyed abyss of feminism" what characters would we see and what kinds of nuanced plot points would we encounter? I do think that the plots of many of these films tend to be based on the same basic plot line and the fun of watching them is to see the different and subtle variations. (the reversals and recognitions as Aristotle might've called them).
I have to agree with you on North and South. While not as fun/lovable as P&P, it is an amazing film and gave me real insight into the period (they all do this, but because N&S has an industrial setting the perspective is different).
I think Gaskell has another big novel that has been filmed, is that right?
Some of Gaskell's other books "Wives and Daughters" and "Cranford" have both been made into films by the BBC. Wives and Daughters, like North and South, gives a good sense of the period. I have not yet seen Cranford in its entirety so I'm unable to comment. Are these the books you were thinking of?