(DIR) Return Create A Forum - Home
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       MS Speaks
 (HTM) https://msspeaks.createaforum.com
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       *****************************************************
 (DIR) Return to: MOVIES, TV
       *****************************************************
       #Post#: 88--------------------------------------------------
       PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1995)
       By: agate Date: December 27, 2013, 6:22 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       A TV series running over 5 hours based on one novel that was of
       only average length may indicate that some padding has occurred,
       but here it almost certainly didn’t. This dramatization of Pride
       and Prejudice seems to follow the book very precisely, capturing
       some of the details that really cry out to be included since
       they round out the characters who are on stage.
       Mr. Bennet as played by Benjamin Whitrow has been especially
       well cast, and as he is the master of a household of six women,
       he is a particularly important character in the story. How his
       five daughters will marry is the question of the family, who are
       probably facing financial catastrophe. Because of the leisurely
       pace of this dramatization, we can see what Mr. Bennet means
       when he complains that his three younger daughters are the
       silliest of women. We see and hear instances of their silliness.
       The two more sensible daughters, Jane and Eliza, are the focus
       of the story, however.  Though Jennifer Ehle turns in a splendid
       performance as Elizabeth, she seemed to me to lack sparkle
       sometimes. And Susannah Harker as Jane just seemed wrong now and
       then–a bit too brooding.
       But these could be the carping criticisms of someone who had
       seen a very fine version of Pride and Prejudice (with Darcy
       played by David Rintoul) televised in the early 1980s and
       remained persuaded that it could not be outdone.
       This 1995 version should be prized for the way it incorporates
       much of Jane Austen’s wit without bludgeoning us with it. In
       fact, some of the wry comments go by so fast that they are easy
       to miss.
       This Pride and Prejudice has many hilarious moments, and, as
       with the book, a person comes away with the sense that the
       author saw through the falseness of the world she lived in and
       had a marvelous time laughing at it.
       *****************************************************