It’s always very easy for me to remember Jane Austen’s birthday, because it is also my mother’s! (Though luckily only one of them expects a present…). It’s also the birthday of Beethoven and Katherine of Aragon (among others), and it also tells me It’s Almost Christmas. But it’s not always easy to think of what to write about. There are so many things I love about Austen’s books, and so many gifts they’ve given me as I read them over the years. But since Janet and I got to meet Andrew Davies at the JASNA AGM back in October (and hear about his work on various adaptations), I decided to take a look at my DVD shelf and review my thoughts about some of the various films from Austen’s books.
What follows is a Highly Scientific Analysis:
Pride and Prejudice
1995–really, really love (probably my second favorite of all the adaptations!)
2005–love (a controversial opinion, I know, but I thought it very romantic…)
1980–I have the DVD but it’s been a long time since I’ve felt the urge to watch it. It’s a little…slow. But I like it, mostly for Elizabeth Garvie’s Elizabeth
1940–good for a laugh
Sense and Sensibility
1995–really liked
2008–also really liked (especially since the actors were more age-appropriate)
Persuasion
1995–really, really, really love (my number one favorite of all)
2007–the least said the better, I think
2007–loved (so adorable!)
1986–I only saw it once; I think I might have liked it better if I hadn’t been overwhelmed by that music…
Mansfield Park
1999–sorta liked? (it was…interesting)
2007–another one where the least said the better
I really think MP is ripe for a Davies miniseries treatment…
1996 (the Paltrow version)–liked
1996 (the Beckinsale version)–also liked. I wish I could combine aspects of these two to make something better
2009–sorta liked, especially the beginning (until Romola Garai’s weird facial expressions started to get to me)
And there you have it! This is what I think about every Austen adaptation I have seen. What are your favorites?? Least favorites?? Which one would you like to see made again, with your own dream cast???
I liked it more because it was Keira Knightly than it was because of the movie itself…so I probably have to agree with you that the earlier version was a better script and it was a mini series so it was a much longer version and it had Colin Firth. Now had they combined Keira Knightly with Colin Firth…I’d be wearing out the DVD mighty quick.
Very scientific and scholarly analysis, Amanda!
I love your list, Amanda! Sort of a pocket-summary-and-review.
My favorite would be tied between the Firth/Ehle P&P and the Root/Hinds Persuasion — so there we agree!
My second-place (I get a second-place because I’m passionate on this subject) would be tied between the 2007 Northanger Abbey and the Emma Thompson S&S, with third place going to both the Paltrow and the Garai Emmas.
I’ve never met a Mansfield Park that I liked.
Fun!
Cara
This is weird, because your opinions almost exactly jive with mine. And I figure mine are atypical. Maybe they’re not so atypical after all!
I like both of the most recent P&P’s equally. It depends on my mood whether I watch one or the other.
I really didn’t like the 1980 one. That guy who played Darcy just put me off. He was too stiff and formal and girly for me. Which is weird because my agent loved him.
I agree that it would be nice if they could combine the Kate Beckinsale Emma and the Gwyneth Paltrow one. Like them both for different reasons.
I agree that Andrew Davies should do an MP mini-series. I’d love to see that!
And yes on the Northanger Abbey. O.M.G. So weird.
I’ve seen some of the versions, but I can’t say I remember them much.
I would rather comment on yesterdays’s question about a birthday close to Christmas {had a deadline at work so couldn’t be online} :). My birthday is Dec 20 [and i’ll be 65 this year – o my!]. I don’t remember many specific birthdays but do remember the 2nd grade: Mother invited the girls in my class room to come to a birthday party and we made Christmas cookies and decorated a tree. Then as an adult, about 15 -16 yrs ago, my hubby gave me a mobile phone as a combined birthday-Christmas gift.
Guess for the most part, I do not mind the Dec birthday, but do think I get short changed just a little. 🙂
I honestly can’t say I have any particular favorites. Like some of you, I would love to mix and match. I do tend to go for the originals because after that then you start comparing lol. And of course I enjoy all the books the most.
LOL Sabrina! I am not sure if my opinions are typical or not, but I do know that people like to argue with me the most about the 2005 P&P (people who don’t like it really don’t like it, and people like me who loved it really love it…). I just watched this one last weekend, and still love it. So there. 🙂
My all-time favorite is the Root-Hinds version of Persuasion. Second-favorite is the Thompson-Winslet-Grant-Rickman version of Sense & Sensibility. I agree with the rest of Amanda’s assessments, although I haven’t seen as many of the newer movies as she has.
Amanda, I have the exact same take on the Austen adaptations. Now I am going to go through my To Be Watched list and check out all the other movies you’ve ever recommended!
I agree that Mansfield Park is crying out for a more faithful remake. I enjoyed the 1999 film but only after I accepted that it was only loosely based on the book.
I have to agree about the Northanger Abbey version with the weird music. I haven’t seen the 2007 version but now you put the thought in my head so I have to look for it. My favorite is definitely the Firth/Ehle Pride and Prejudice.
I think we all have our favorites. What’s fun is having this conversation with your average friend who thinks they’re doing good to hear of Jane Austen. I’ve gotten those concerned looks when they say ‘I loved Pride and Prejudice’ and I say ‘Which one?’
Thanks for the quick review!
LOL Elena! I haven’t seen many new movies lately, but I really enjoyed “Like Crazy” (which starred NA’s Felicity Jones)…
Maureen, you should definitely check out the 2007 NA! It was so cute 🙂
I have not watched any of these in such a long time and can’t pin down what a favorite would be. I am pretty sure my list would come close to resembling yours though.
I am such an Austen slacker. I have the 1940, 1995 and 2005 versions of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, the 1995 SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, EMMA (maybe), and PERSUASION the 1995 version. The only one I have watched is the 1995 P & P. I really need to find a time to sit down and watch them. I may start with the 1940’s version of PRIDE & PREJUDICE and work through the other two. I have really been wanting to watch the 1995 PERSUASION. Will set aside a special night for that one.
Of the Austen adaptations, I agree with you on the P&P adaptations. The one from 1980 is a bit too stagey, but well acted.
S&S: I like the Emma Thompson version best.
Emma: I really like the one with Gmyneth Paltrow (the only thing I have ever liked her in), but must admit I haven’t seen the one with Kate Beckinsale.
Persuasion, the one from 1995, is probably my favourite Austen adaptation of all, but then the book is my favourite among Austen’s novels, so no big surprise.
When Amanda and I met Andrew Davies I asked him if he was planning to do Mansfield Park and he said he was asked that quite often! I think he could really do some outrageous things with it.
I too am a fan of the 1995 Persuasion; I don’t feel any of the others got everything as absolutely right as that movie.
Let’s see! I think preferences have a lot to do with which versions one has seen first.
My very favorite is, I think, the 2007 Northanger Abbey. I just adore it. And it’s short, so you can watch it in one evening easily.
You didn’t like the 2008 Persuasion, but I love it. That has mostly to do with Rupert Penry-Jones, though, than it does with the adaptation itself. Some parts of it could be excised and I wouldn’t miss them, like the Bath 5K that Anne apparently decides to run. I will grant that the 1995 version has some wonderful qualities.
Of the P&P, it’s always Firth. Definitely.
I don’t like either of the Mansfield Park versions, but I will watch the Jonny Lee Miller version repeatedly because I love him.
That’s mainly why I love the newest version of Emma as well. He is a great Mr. Knightley. And I actually like Romola Garai’s portrayal of Emma. I do not like the 1996 films much.
And poor S&S – it’s not my fav. I dislike the Emma Thompson version – they’re all so OLD for the roles. The newer one is better in that regard, but Marianne annoys me so much that I have difficulty enjoying it.