What with Miss Ball’s recent Mansfield Park deflowering, (and some of you got deflowered along with her, I know), it’s been a confessional little old time over here at Austenacious. And since they say confession is good for the soul . . . or catching, at any rate . . . I too have a confession to make. I’ve never read Pride and Prejudice!
Ha, ha, no, psych! I’ve read all Jane Austen’s major books many times, I’ve read Lady Susan, The Watsons, and Sanditon each more than once, I’ve read Jane’s History of England—I’ve even read the Juvenilia, which are pretty hilarious and a lot less refined in more than one way, if you know what I mean. I’ll admit that I haven’t yet read the complete Letters, but that is not my deep dark secret. No, gentle readers, the secret that I have hidden from you all this time . . . is that I have never seen the 1995 BBC Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle Pride and Prejudice. Nope! Never seen him jump into the lake even once! (How do I know he jumps into a lake? Have you met yourselves at all, AustenFirth fans??)
“But how can this be, Mrs. F?” I hear you cry. “Were you not raised by a good, Austen-lovin’ mamma?” Well, I was. But those were different times, and I was raised on the clean, wholesome 1980 BBC version, always dear to my heart. I did see 2 minutes of the 1995 version when it first aired, and, bear with me here, I thought Jennifer Ehle was far too sappy to be Lizzie. No Colin Firth onscreen, and I didn’t stick around.
Well, that was 1995 and this is 2012. And here I am, ready to give this another try. Miss Ball and Miss Osborne will be on hand to laugh at my ignorance. And if you haven’t seen the Colin Firth version recently, say this year, you can laugh along with them! We’ll be liveblogging Pride and Prejudice this coming weekend:
4/28, 12-3 pm, PT: Episodes 1-3
4/29, 12-3 pm, PT: Episodes 4-6
Will my curmudgeonly heart stay true to Elizabeth Garvie and David Rintoul, or will I be swayed by the wet, billowy cotton of Colin Firth? Stay tuned! And come on, I know you all need a refresher course, right? I mean, can you think of a better way to spend the weekend?
See you on Saturday!
Tagged: A History of England, Colin Firth, David Rintoul, Elizabeth Garvie, Jane Austen, Jennifer Ehle, juvenilia, Lady Susan, Mansfield Park, Pride and Prejudice, Sanditon, The Watsons on Sunday, April 22, 2012 · 7 Comments »
I’m actually *more* shocked that you hadn’t seen the miniseries than the joke about not reading the book. I have Miss Osborne to thank for introducing me to the show nearly 20 years ago. It is divine.
I too saw and loved the 1980 version well before viewing the 1995. I will never quite love the latter, no matter how much others praise it. I’ll be very interested to read your thoughts!
I promise you’ll love it. The whole series is a joy from start to finish – a great cast, and a great script.
I’ve never seen any of the earlier productions. I fully credit the 1995 production for actually sparking my interest in Jane, and as such, it will always be my gold standard by which other P&P productions are measured against.
I think you’ll love it. Maybe not as much (at first) as your dear old friend, but the characters are so alive and just what they should be. Charming, exasperating, annoying, lively, stuck-up, mercenary, flirtatious, obsequious, amusing…. After watching it, oh, probably 30 times by now (maybe more), it still hasn’t gotten old, and even though I can clearly see areas that could have been improved upon, I still love it. Colin Firth’s plunge into the lake is slightly titillating, and a blatant attempt to sex up the production–but boy does he look good wet.
My confession: I have not seen more than 5 minutes of the recent Keira Knightly production–and I don’t intend to. I have nothing but contempt for the little upstart!
I’m only surprised because you love Austen and I thought you would have explored it all. I have the video on my ipad, so clearly I like my Austen portable and cross-media. Mr. Collins is very well done. This Lizzy is not exactly how I imagine her when I read P&P, but she’s still good. The Lizzy in my mind is less somber and more fierce and has a good laugh throughout. Enjoy Colin Firth.
The 1980 version is what started me on Austen. And i still think it’s THE BEST depiction of Lizzie’s parents. All other versions make the dad a spineless wimp . Mrs. Bennett is AWFUL in the 1995 version, although Brenda B is good in the movie. All the different depictions of Lizzie have something to offer (but i think jennifer ehle was too old).
i love them all,for different reasons!
i could go on all night, but i won’t.
What I’ve heard from many people, and some of the commenters here back this theory up, is that the version of P&P you see first will be your favorite. My parents love the 1980 version and will not be swayed on the subject, whereas 1995 is what converted me to Austen and I find the 1980 version leaves me cold. I feel like Darcy never warms up—he’s as haughty at the end of the movie as he is at the beginning—and Lizzie doesn’t do much for me; she’s just too flippant for my tastes.
But anyway, the point is, maybe you’ll never love 1995 like 1980, but it’s worth seeing. At the very least, it’s rather pretty.