Pride and Prejudice (or, how I watched a movie and it changed my outlook.)
Call me a woman. Call me emotionally in tune with life. Call me anything but a real man. I am no longer pure of heart and mind. Why? Why do I say these things? They go against the grain of men across the globe. Manly men. (No, not men in tights, Emma!) Real hairy, burpy, farty, watching-sport-every-waking-moment MEN. Why am I no longer worthy of the title of a real man, if indeed I ever was worthy in the first place?
I watched the movie version of Pride and Prejudice - and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The bane of my movie/TV watching life has been the pressure to indulge in some kind of womanly pursuit of the ultimate of ultimates, the Everest of Chick Flicks-Made-From-A-Novel..... Pride & Prejudice. Our American Friend (TM) Christy, who loves this kind of stuff, never quite managed to get me to watch the television version made by the BBC, because it went against my manly sensibilities.
Lisa picked up a DVD copy of P&P at the video store, and I internally spontaneously combusted. I had grabbed a copy of Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire, a substantially less girly film with at least dragons and other cool stuff. Our trade off is that if I get to watch a boysy movie, she gets to watch a girly movie. Most would consider this a fair trade. Trouble is, I forgot that P&P was coming out. Had I realised, I would have obfuscated the fact, and tried to watch something we already had in the collection.
We got home, and I managed to convince Lisa that we would watch Happy Pot Smoker first. Thank goodness!
Harry Potter ended up being a great little flick. Then, it was too late in the evening to watch the second film. Great!
Off to bed I went, and got up and went to work the following morning. I got home, and Lisa was watching the special features of P&P (having obviously just finished watching it). I noticed that Judi Dench was in the film, and sudden'y my interest was piqued. I love Dame Judi, and if she was in this film then maybe I should have a quick look at it.
Against my better judgement, and with Harry Potters theme still running through my head, i embarked upon a journey that has subsequently changed my life.
P&P was a sumptuous, extravagent film about women with nothing better to do than plan weddings. And Kiera Knightly. The things we saw in Bend It Like Beckham, Pirates of The Caribbean, and even Domino (to a lesser degree) are exemplified in true movie star form in this film. Knightly has a certain luminous quality, a wide eyes innocence that, simply put, makes her extremely easy on the eye. Kind of like Marylin Monroe, or even a younger Ava Gardener. She retains a certain "freshness" that comes across every time I see her on screen.
And the film itself: great. The acting performances across the board are excellent, with the exception of some of the younger female cast (who do little more than act as window dressing, and perhaps should have received a little more fleshing out) and of particular note is Brenda Blethyn, who plays Mrs Bennett. She first came to international prominence in the wonderful film Calendar Girls, and has since then been seen in a number of high profile British Productions, and here she really hits her stride. Utterly captivating. And on the other side of the coin, we have the great Judi Dench. A certified British National Treasure, Dench is pure vindictiveness in this, and a more astonishing cameo performance one will be hard pressed to find. For her exceptionally limited screen time, she makes the most of it.
Cinematically, the film is languidly paced, and beautiful to look at. Production design, location filming and set design are all perfect. The shot of Knightly on the bridge, at the end of the film, looking at camera and then spotting Mr Darcy off to her left, is simply magical for its radiance.
Yes, I am now gushing. I should stop. But I cannot. This is a great film, and by Chick Flick standards, outclasses Ever After in the pantheon of highly romantic movies. I hope and pray that all women and their men get to watch this.
I cannot recommend this beautiful film highly enough. Watch it: immediately. Those living in the shadow of the BBC series will soon forget it.
Enjoy.
**Post script***
Sob, sob, my poor and battered manliness. It was great while it lasted. But by inviting disdain amongst my male peers, by enjoying an unabashed chick flick of such high quality, I hereby request that I am no longer known as a real man, but instead as a Half-A-Man.
Thankyou.
I watched the movie version of Pride and Prejudice - and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The bane of my movie/TV watching life has been the pressure to indulge in some kind of womanly pursuit of the ultimate of ultimates, the Everest of Chick Flicks-Made-From-A-Novel..... Pride & Prejudice. Our American Friend (TM) Christy, who loves this kind of stuff, never quite managed to get me to watch the television version made by the BBC, because it went against my manly sensibilities.
Lisa picked up a DVD copy of P&P at the video store, and I internally spontaneously combusted. I had grabbed a copy of Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire, a substantially less girly film with at least dragons and other cool stuff. Our trade off is that if I get to watch a boysy movie, she gets to watch a girly movie. Most would consider this a fair trade. Trouble is, I forgot that P&P was coming out. Had I realised, I would have obfuscated the fact, and tried to watch something we already had in the collection.
We got home, and I managed to convince Lisa that we would watch Happy Pot Smoker first. Thank goodness!
Harry Potter ended up being a great little flick. Then, it was too late in the evening to watch the second film. Great!
Off to bed I went, and got up and went to work the following morning. I got home, and Lisa was watching the special features of P&P (having obviously just finished watching it). I noticed that Judi Dench was in the film, and sudden'y my interest was piqued. I love Dame Judi, and if she was in this film then maybe I should have a quick look at it.
Against my better judgement, and with Harry Potters theme still running through my head, i embarked upon a journey that has subsequently changed my life.
P&P was a sumptuous, extravagent film about women with nothing better to do than plan weddings. And Kiera Knightly. The things we saw in Bend It Like Beckham, Pirates of The Caribbean, and even Domino (to a lesser degree) are exemplified in true movie star form in this film. Knightly has a certain luminous quality, a wide eyes innocence that, simply put, makes her extremely easy on the eye. Kind of like Marylin Monroe, or even a younger Ava Gardener. She retains a certain "freshness" that comes across every time I see her on screen.
And the film itself: great. The acting performances across the board are excellent, with the exception of some of the younger female cast (who do little more than act as window dressing, and perhaps should have received a little more fleshing out) and of particular note is Brenda Blethyn, who plays Mrs Bennett. She first came to international prominence in the wonderful film Calendar Girls, and has since then been seen in a number of high profile British Productions, and here she really hits her stride. Utterly captivating. And on the other side of the coin, we have the great Judi Dench. A certified British National Treasure, Dench is pure vindictiveness in this, and a more astonishing cameo performance one will be hard pressed to find. For her exceptionally limited screen time, she makes the most of it.
Cinematically, the film is languidly paced, and beautiful to look at. Production design, location filming and set design are all perfect. The shot of Knightly on the bridge, at the end of the film, looking at camera and then spotting Mr Darcy off to her left, is simply magical for its radiance.
Yes, I am now gushing. I should stop. But I cannot. This is a great film, and by Chick Flick standards, outclasses Ever After in the pantheon of highly romantic movies. I hope and pray that all women and their men get to watch this.
I cannot recommend this beautiful film highly enough. Watch it: immediately. Those living in the shadow of the BBC series will soon forget it.
Enjoy.
**Post script***
Sob, sob, my poor and battered manliness. It was great while it lasted. But by inviting disdain amongst my male peers, by enjoying an unabashed chick flick of such high quality, I hereby request that I am no longer known as a real man, but instead as a Half-A-Man.
Thankyou.
posted by Fernby at Friday, April 07, 2006
4 Comments:
I'll look forward to watching it. But I still love the BBC verion. mmmm Colin Firth. There is a poster of him being drenched in coffee (you know the one, Em). And 'Bridge Jones' was on tv the other day :)
Sorry, Rod, the BBC series is waaaay better.
I still haven't seen it, but don't have high hopes for the new version. Apparently they completely gloss over everything that happens between Jane and Bingly, and the mother isn't nearly as good. Neither is the Mr Collins character.
And especially Em's points number 3,4,5 and 5. I would add Colin Firth in the later Piano Scene as well (the one where Lizzy is playing).
Rodney, you have no excuse not to blog. If I can manage to blog on a rediculously user-unfreindly machine at work, you can certainly blog from your computer at work.
If you don't, I will send Emma a haddock.
And now I will type something in Korea, just because I can.
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