Pride and Prejudice

I find this version of Pride and Prejudice extremely good. Lizzy Bennet as portrayed by Elizabeth Garvie really dose have 'fine eyes' and Mr Darcy is a 'big tall fellow' and suitably haughty. It's a shame that the Colin Firth and Jennifer Elle BBC adaptation has taken precedence in the public mind - as this is superior in many ways, though the acting is perhaps more stilted and the costumes and scenes seem more 'staged' to a modern eye. Fay Weldon has kept in much more of the famous lines actually written by Jane Austin and there has been no attempt to try to modernise the story with inclusions of such things as cut away bedroom scenes of Lydia and Whickham, or Darcy in a wet shirt!

For anyone who has actually read "Pride and Prejudice" (rather than just knowing it from the A&E production), this is an excellent and lively adaptation of the book. It is worth watching just to see the parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, in action. Unlike the A&E version, which took enormous liberties with Jane Austen's novel, much of the dialogue is straight from the pen of Austen herself. Adorable as Colin Firth is, David Rintoul does a much better job of capturing the essence of Dr. Darcy as created by Austen, and Elizabeth Garvie is a spirited Elizabeth Bennett. The supporting cast is also for the most part excellent, particularly Charlotte Lucas, Mr. Collins, and Lady Catherine. In a few places, the pace is stilted, and it was clearly made for TV before big budgets, fancy sets, and more modern technology. Nevertheless, if someone wants to view an adaptation true to Austen's creation, this is an enjoyable experience.

This version aired on UK TV fifteen years before the renowned Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle adaptation of Jane Austen's famous book. As such, it shows its age, being rather studio-bound and stiff in its construction.

However, Elizabeth Garvie does come across as closer to Austen's conception of Lizzy Bennet that either Jennifer Ehle or Greer Garson in the Hollywood film. Sabina Franklyn is particularly good as Jane, not a mouse but just a genuinely nice person, while Clare Higgins (Kitty), Tessa Peake-Jones (Mary), and Natalie Ogle (Lydia) are good as the remaining Bennet sisters.

Of particular interest though is David Rintoul's Darcy. Of a very different stamp to the brooding landowner of the 1995 version, he gives an extremely interesting portrayal, just as attractive in its way, and again, closer to the character depicted in the book. Others of note in the cast are Moray Watson as Mr Bennet, and Judy Parfitt as Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

I have seen the movie with Greer Garson and the new BBC mini-series, and this 1979 version is my favorite of the three. But they all have something to recommend them. The Greer Garson movie is gentle and courtly and it doesn't take itself seriously at all...the new BBC series is *very* romantic. But I think the Garvie/Rintoul series really does capture the spirit of the book. What some people have described as stilted reading is, I think, just evidence of the care that Austen took with each phrase, so the words are carefully chosen and carefully spoken...and, assuredly, the Darcy/Elizabeth exchanges are filled with emotion underneath the surface of propriety. David Rintoul does a wonderful, wonderful job, he is totally believable as the enigmatic Darcy, and Garvie as Elizabeth is wise and restrained, yet also shows her youth. The other characters are also well-played, and the music is very appropriate. The sets are simple, yes, but they seem very authentic, and the scenery is marvelous. Although I did enjoy both other versions I saw, it is in this one where I feel the real passion is, despite of, or, perhaps because of, the restrained actions of the characters...you can see them boiling underneath the veneer of civility. :) But the lush BBC version and the gentle, kind movie version have much to be said for them, too...they are all good in their own ways, and, therefore, should be enjoyed for what each of them brings to the novel. Enjoy. :)

Without doubt, this is the truest to the original novel by Jane Austen of all the versions made to date, and equally the quietest, the most stately and sedate. I won't worry about the story; anyone likely to watch this now will know already what it's about. It seems more and more likely to my sense that Elizabeth Garvie's Lizzie best represents the vision Jane Austen had of her brightest, most sparkling character: the sweetness is there, an interesting but not a perfect face (just as it should be); though perhaps just a little of the liveliness and archness that Austen wrote about is missing that you can find more easily in either Jennifer Ehle's excellent 90s TV Lizzie, or even Keira Knightley's more recent film outing. But in her bonnet and parasol, her curls wilfully asserting themselves, she's almost exactly what I imagined (apparently not everyone agrees).

David Rintoul's Darcy is on first watching, excessively stiff and not particularly entertaining to watch. There is so little mobility in his face, and on occasion even in his voice, that only careful repeated viewings reveal nuances in his performance. I do find myself liking his portrayal more now: it's very subtle, to be sure, no diving into pools or striding open-shirted through dawn meadows, but once you're used to the subtlety, the great formality provides a backdrop against which Darcy's own wit and growing interest in Lizzie stand out in the gentlest relief, like the pattern on a damask cloth.

So rich a text is bound to be full of favourite moments; and Weldon's script manages to include much of the wit – and some of the humour – of Austen's original, while also teasing out themes on marriage and happiness which suit her personal brief as a great feminist writer. I particularly love Lizzie's singing (I think it's dubbed but Garvie's acting of the singing is itself a pleasure to watch). The supporting cast is on the whole very good; I liked Uncle and Aunt Gardner and thought Mr Bingley and his sisters well cast. Mr Bennett was a little severe, and didn't seem to take the requisite pleasure in tormenting his wife.

I didn't find Mr Wickham very charming; but then I never do. It seems to me they never make him handsome enough – how else could he charm her so much as to blind her to real goodness and excellence? I guess the makers of these programmes are always afraid he'll steal the limelight from Darcy – but since that's exactly his function in the book, take the risk! Perhaps this version has receded into time and been superseded by later attempts that speak more directly to women now. But I'll be keeping it on my DVD shelves for a long time to come, to remind myself how well a little stately simplicity can work.