Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge movie review!

 

Finally I am reviewing the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice. I had never seen this version and own the Colin Firth version done by A&E. There are pros and cons to both version of the great work by Austen. In regards to the 1995 version, I did like the settings of the house and that they actually showed more of the servants, I felt this lacked in the previous version. They showed them more with the common folk, and I did think this version of a country dance might have been more accurate. Mr. Darcy though was just too nice from the start, which is not how Austen portrayed Mr. Darcy in the book!  The acting itself was good by everyone, I just felt that Mr. Darcy personality never showed an air of aristocracy. One thing I felt spoiled from watching the miniseries from the 80's was that, in the 1995 version it seemed the film was way too short. Not that the Colin Firth version is perfect, as I think sometimes it did have it's issues as well. I do wish I could have taken the things I loved about both versions and put them together.  

Pride and Prejudice Review...

This review is part of my Spin challenge from the Classics Club. I have never read anything by Jane Austen before, although I have seen the Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice, along with the 2009 version of Emma. I can see why this is a classic, it had so much going on, and learning about the different rules of society (which I greatly enjoyed, although I did already know some of it). I often found myself seeing the scenes from the movie while reading the book. I enjoyed most of the characters, but of course not all. I do think that Mr. Darcy, Miss Darcy, and Mary were all in some way misunderstood. There were all unsure of themselves in society, for a variety of reasons it seemed. Unfortunately, it made them seem aloof, uncaring, etc., but I often wondered if sometimes they hated being unable to show their true feelings and thoughts? Was Austen trying to show that even though they were at the top or somewhat top of society, compared to the normal person, that they in fact were just as human? No matter the type of person, that sometimes we just don't enjoy social situations with lots of people. I was glad in the book it gave more insight into Mr. Darcy's thoughts, as I was previously unaware of them from the movie. I did like Jane's and Elizabeth characters, although thought Elizabeth was sometime's too judgemental. I was not a fan of Miss Bingley, Lydia, Mr. Wickham or Kitty. I thought it was too bad that Mary didn't have a bigger role, and at points throughout the book I would forget she even existed. I wanted to know more about her, and often wondered why Austen put her in, or if perhaps Austen was showing that not everyone fits into the "role" society thinks we should have.

 

Rank: 5 out of 5.

 rewatch the movie!

Challenge:
6th book for Classics Cub. Next book: A Little Princess
1st book for Pride and Prejudice bicentenary challenge. Next: rewatch movie

 

Results of Classics Spin....

The number picked for the Classics Spin is number 14, so I will be reading;

I already started but need to finish Oliver Twist first. I have seen the 1995 movie version of Pride and Prejudice but never read the book. While reading a little bit today, I kept on imagining the scenes from the movie, lol.

Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge

I saw this challenge over at Austenprose blog, and couldn't pass it up for several reasons. I have a lot of Jane Austen's books on my Classic Club readers, and I had already planned on watching ANY movie that is based on books I read from my classic club list. I have seen and own a few movies based on Jane Austen's works, but GASP I have never read any of her books before. Plus I already own most of the books, but just never gotten around to reading them. So good as time as any to start. My challenge for this though will be short, since I am unsure about how my schedule will be for this year. My level of participation will be Neophyte: 1 – 4 selections. I won't but any time constraints on my list, just that I want to have them completed by the end of the year.

• Read & watch Pride and Prejudice (I have the Colin Firth version)
• Read Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange

I think this will be the last of the challenges this year at least for reading. Use the sidebar button to join in on the fun!