One of my favorite movies is Sense and Sensibilities. The end of that movie makes me laugh and cry all at the same time. But I have not been a big fan of Pride and Prejudice, and I’m not sure why. I like Bridget Jones which is a take off on P&P. My husband, who adores all things British, loves the A&E version of P&P. We’ve both seen the Keira Knightly movie with her starring as Lizzie Bennett. But alas, I still didn’t get it. And everything seems to be coming up Jane Austen these days. For some odd reason this weekend, I was up late and decided to put on Pride and Prejudice. And suddenly, I got it. I got Mr. Darcy. I got them falling in love. I got the angst and the beauty at the end. So now, I’m quietly obsessed with P&P. What’s up with that? One thing I definitely like better about the P&P starring Keira Knightly (and is it Matthew MacFayden?) is that Mr. Darcy comes across with deep feeling. The Colin Firth version of Mr. Darcy comes across (to me anyway) as simply angry. My daughter and I are now listening to an audio version of the book. So, are any of you out there Mr. Darcy … oops, I should say Jane Austen or Pride and Prejudice fans?
I like the A&E version of P&P for its more thorough treatment of the characters’ motivations. That said I prefer to watch the newer version. I love the way MacFayden’s Darcy struggles with his prejudice! It’s such a flaw but because he struggles, we can forgive him (and so can Miss Prideful Lizze 🙂
I agree, Julie, about the A&E version. After all, it’s 6 hours, not 2, so much more time to deal with things. What I love about MacFayden’s treatment of Darcy is that you can really see the humility in him at the end. To me, that’s missing in Firth’s portrayal. Another thing I like about the shorter version is Mrs. Bennett, the mom. I can see she really does care for her girls. The A&E Mrs. Bennett seems more selfish. But I so totally love that I finally get this story!