Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

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Re: Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

Post by elengil »

Inanna wrote: I actually really liked the Keira Knightley version. I think I need to re-read the original P&P. With my new glasses on, so to speak.
What do you consider the 'original' version? I enjoy the Colin Firth adaptation, but I will always love the 1980 BBC version. It was my very first introduction to Austen way back when and it will always be what I compare the others to.
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"Does anyone ever think about Denethor, the guy driven to madness by staying up late into the night alone in the dark staring at a flickering device he believed revealed unvarnished truth about the outside word, but which in fact showed mostly manipulated media created by a hostile power committed to portraying nothing but bad news framed in the worst possible way in order to sap hope, courage, and the will to go on? Seems like he's someone we should think about." - Dave_LF
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Re: Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

Post by Primula Baggins »

elengil wrote:
Inanna wrote: I actually really liked the Keira Knightley version. I think I need to re-read the original P&P. With my new glasses on, so to speak.
What do you consider the 'original' version? I enjoy the Colin Firth adaptation, but I will always love the 1980 BBC version. It was my very first introduction to Austen way back when and it will always be what I compare the others to.
That was the version that opened the door to the books for me, as I've said here before. Austen describes almost nothing in any detail, because of course the people she wrote for lived in that milieu. But as a young 20th-century woman, I knew nothing about that time and place—what people wore; what the heck a "pelisse" was, or a "phaeton"; how much money "two thousand a year" was; what their houses looked like inside. This production showed me all that, and the next time I picked up an Austen novel, it came alive in my head.

The Colin Firth adaptation took over for me because Darcy was vividly portrayed, not just Elizabeth, and because they dared to show some events from Darcy's POV—a liberty Jane Austen never took, but one that really heightened the romantic suspense for me. But I enjoy both versions.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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Re: Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

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Elengil, I meant re-read the book.
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Re: Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

Post by elengil »

Inanna wrote:Elengil, I meant re-read the book.
Book? Book! :scratch: Oh, right. LOL

yes, I should do that, too!
The dumbest thing I've ever bought
was a 2020 planner.

"Does anyone ever think about Denethor, the guy driven to madness by staying up late into the night alone in the dark staring at a flickering device he believed revealed unvarnished truth about the outside word, but which in fact showed mostly manipulated media created by a hostile power committed to portraying nothing but bad news framed in the worst possible way in order to sap hope, courage, and the will to go on? Seems like he's someone we should think about." - Dave_LF
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Re: Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

Post by Teremia »

I'm just starting a new "remix" (that's the term the publishers are putting out there) of Pride and Prejudice: PRIDE, by Ibi Zoboi. It's set in the gentrifying Brooklyn of today! I very much liked Zoboi's AMERICAN STREET, so I'm interested to see what she does with Austen.....
“Wilbur never forgot Charlotte. Although he loved her children and grandchildren dearly, none of the new spiders ever quite took her place in his heart. She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.” E. B. White, who must have had vison in mind. There's a reason why we kept putting the extra i in her name in our minds!
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Re: Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

Post by Primula Baggins »

Ooo, that’s intriguing! I look forward to hearing what you think about it, Teremia.

On a much more mundane level, my son gave me the Blu-Ray of the Ehle/Firth Pride and Prejudice a while back. I have owned, in sequence, the VHS tapes, the DVDs, the full-screen DVDs with extras ... anyway, it took me a bit to get around to another viewing of yet another version. He nudged me (he and his wife love this show, it’s comfort viewing for them). I finally got to it this weekend.

I highly recommend these. Visuals are so sharp you can compare the prints on the wallpaper or identify flower species in the gardens; and even the acting (which is wonderful) comes across in more depth when you can see small details of expression. The sound is crystal clear. I’m halfway through watching it, haven’t even gotten to the extras (which my son says are great), and I highly recommend it.

Also, it cost my son $4.00, Christmas 2016. Might be worth adding to the collection.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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Re: Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

Post by Impenitent »

I could invest in that. I still have the original DVDs. Despite my loving care, freezes are starting to occur.

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Re: Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

Post by Primula Baggins »

Having finished all but the last couple of extras, I must strongly recommend this remastered version (the "Keepsake Edition" Blu-Ray; there is another Blu-Ray, the "Restored Edition" that isn't like this one) to anyone who loves this miniseries. It is absolutely worth seeking out and buying. P&P was shot on film, and this edition was remastered from the film negatives, not the developed film. The negatives have a resolution that well exceeds 4K; my cinematography-degree son says you can basically think of it as infinite.

It hasn't been possible to remaster from the film negatives before because the negatives were physically spliced together into the final film. Those physical splices mean there's a jump at every splice with normal methods of transferring from film to digital, and if you cut out the jump, some visual information is lost and the image jerks a little. They found a way around this, and one of the extras shows this BluRay version beside the best previous DVD print, full-screen but with one side of the image the new version, and one the old.

There is NO comparison. The new one has much richer color, and the level of detail means I need to watch this again very soon just to feast my eyes on the backgrounds—grass, trees, gorgeous interiors, every bit of lace or embroidery, every strand of hair. And, more importantly, there are details in the performances that I'd missed before—the flicker of an eyelid showing a moment of doubt, a couple of characters in the background exchanging a glance that foreshadows something. (Our TV is old, 1080p, but the difference is still stunning—I'd love to see it on a 4K screen and will eventually.)

The Keepsake Edition is definitive; I really can't imagine any way they could squeeze more detail out of the negatives, at least until there's a display resolution better than 4K. I can't find it discounted on Amazon right now, and haven't searched beyond, but I would've gladly paid full price for this.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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Re: Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

Post by Impenitent »

I can't seem to find it on Amazon at all!

I found it here: https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Pride-an ... ray/89150/
But it says Season 1 (what? There IS only one 'season' so to speak), which makes me suspect that only part of the mini-series is included.

Is this it, do you think?

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Re: Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

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Impenitent wrote:I can't seem to find it on Amazon at all!

I found it here: https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Pride-an ... ray/89150/
But it says Season 1 (what? There IS only one 'season' so to speak), which makes me suspect that only part of the mini-series is included.

Is this it, do you think?

Sent from a tiny phone keyboard via Tapatalk - typos inevitable.

Run time 332 minutes. It's just a quirk of it being a mini-series. Season 1 just means it only ran for one 'season'. I've seen that on other versions, too.
The dumbest thing I've ever bought
was a 2020 planner.

"Does anyone ever think about Denethor, the guy driven to madness by staying up late into the night alone in the dark staring at a flickering device he believed revealed unvarnished truth about the outside word, but which in fact showed mostly manipulated media created by a hostile power committed to portraying nothing but bad news framed in the worst possible way in order to sap hope, courage, and the will to go on? Seems like he's someone we should think about." - Dave_LF
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Re: Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

Post by Primula Baggins »

That’s right, Elengil. Impy, that’s the one I’m talking about.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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Re: Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

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https://www.facebook.com/claire.mcgowan ... 0473592749
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Re: Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

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I was also tempted to share that :D
Daughter and I giggled over it last night.

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Re: Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

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ohmigod, my stomach. Cannot stop laughing.
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Re: Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

Post by Túrin Turambar »

Brilliant!

I don't know if anyone here follows the "Lost in Adaptation" Youtube Channel which analyses film adaptations of books, but about a week ago he did the 1995 P&P miniseries:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Y3MpTFhEk&t=1s
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Re: Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

Post by elengil »

Túrin, that's awesome!

While that isn't my favorite version (by virtue of having seen the 1980 first and thus cementing it as 'thee' version for me) I still love it, and the review was hilarious but also totally spot-on!
The dumbest thing I've ever bought
was a 2020 planner.

"Does anyone ever think about Denethor, the guy driven to madness by staying up late into the night alone in the dark staring at a flickering device he believed revealed unvarnished truth about the outside word, but which in fact showed mostly manipulated media created by a hostile power committed to portraying nothing but bad news framed in the worst possible way in order to sap hope, courage, and the will to go on? Seems like he's someone we should think about." - Dave_LF
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Re: Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

Post by Alatar »

This looks wonderful. With the original Wickham from the BBC Miniseries

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Re: Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

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Oooooooohhhhhhhhh yeeesssssssss!
The dumbest thing I've ever bought
was a 2020 planner.

"Does anyone ever think about Denethor, the guy driven to madness by staying up late into the night alone in the dark staring at a flickering device he believed revealed unvarnished truth about the outside word, but which in fact showed mostly manipulated media created by a hostile power committed to portraying nothing but bad news framed in the worst possible way in order to sap hope, courage, and the will to go on? Seems like he's someone we should think about." - Dave_LF
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Re: Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

Post by Impenitent »

Alatar, doyou know whether the full production is avaiable anywhere to stream on demand? I would love to see it!
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Re: Pride and Prejudice: Adaptations of Austen

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