This is such an exciting contest! I’m thrilled we can offer it. I hope you will enter now and come back every day this week to enter again, and, at the same time, share a love of the Regency with us.
To enter, all you have to do is put a comment on our blogs. Say something more than “nice blog.” Tell us what you think about what we say, or tell us what you liked about the A&E version of Pride & Prejudice. The only other thing is, you have to live in the US or Canada to win, because the DVD is formatted for Region 1. On Sunday Oct 8 we’ll select the winners at random. Two of you lucky people!
You really should look at the A&E Store, because there are extras included in this 10th Anniversary Limited Edition Pride & Prejudice, as well as a lot of other wonderful things to buy!
It is always a joy to watch this mini-series. In 2003, when Amanda and I returned from our Regency Tour of England (a tour created by my friend Patty Suchy of Novel Explorations, Inc.), Amanda spent a day at my house. You know what we did? We watched the whole 310 minutes of Pride & Prejudice, drooling over Mr. Darcy and screaming “We were there!” whenever we found a place we’d visited. Later, my critique partners, Darlene Gardner, Karen Ander, Lisa Dyson and our friend, Marjanna, wanted to learn more about the Regency time period, because all they knew about it was what they read in my books. So we gathered for a night of Pride & Prejudice! And, of course, they loved it.
One of the things my friends did not understand about the P&P mini series was why Jane was considered the beautiful Bennet daughter and not Lizzie. “I think she is prettier than Jane,” one of them said.
This is where I think the filmmakers were so masterful in their casting! Because I think Jane (played by actress Susannah Harker) is the ideal Regency beauty.
Take a look and compare to this detail of one of my 1815 La Belle Assemblee fashion prints:
Jane has the same oval face, pointed chin, big wide eyes as the 1815 image. She could have modeled for the ladies magazine!
Now look at Lizzie (Jennifer Ehle) compared to another 1815 fashion print detail:
Lizzie’s face is round and her complexion is rosier, not pale like Jane’s. Her mouth is full. Her “fine eyes” are not as large and round as Jane’s and the La Belle Assemblee ladies.
Luckily, however, Mr. Darcy learns to appreciate that pair of “fine eyes.”
I am certain we can all agree, however, that Mr. Darcy is the perfect Regency gentleman!
What do you think of the casting of Pride & Prejudice? Did they get Jane Austen’s characters right? Who would you have cast differently? Mr. Collins, maybe? Lydia?
Do you have a favorite character in the cast?
Let us know and you will be entered in our contest!
Cheers,
Diane
Wheee!!! What a great idea for a contest. I’m posting about it on my blog today.
AWESOME! I’ll blog it tomorrow!
Came here from Colleen’s blog. I am excited by the contest and by finding this great blog!
The casting was ideal, although until I read this post, I too thought Ehle was the more beautiful sister. Now that misconception’s been cleared away, and I can honestly say, the casting was ideal. I especially liked Mr.and Mrs. Bennet, he of the quiet sarcasm and she of the outrageous behavior. Bingley was just right as Darcy’s diffident friend.
To me, the casting was perfect, although (cough, cough), I’ve never actually read the book, so I didn’t have any preconceived notions about what the characters should be. In comparison, the most recent P&P with Keira Knightly was, IMHO, not well cast. I think the only character I did like in that one was Mr. Bingley.
One thing I always notice is that Jane and Lizzie are always dressed in the same necklines, different from the other’s. Jane’s always in a V-neck, and Lizzie is always in a square. I don’t know if this says anything about the characters, though. 🙂
I thought the casting in this mini series was fantastic 🙂 I love the detail they could go into by covering the story in this format.
While I’ve seen and enjoyed the Keira Knightly version of P&P, I’ve not seen this one. But I’ve heard its praises sung repeatedly.
Ooooh, I remember our England trip, Diane! Lacock Village (Meryton in the movie)–every time I watch now I remember our wonderful visit. 🙂
I have a little story to tell about the casting. When the series was first aired, six of us friends, three guys, three gals, had a P&P party and settled in for a fun evening of Austen. We loved the casting of the sisters, family, etc., but when it came to the scene where we first saw Darcy…the money shot, Colin FIrth’s haughty profile…all three women in the room spontaneously cried “Ugh!” and two of us followed up with “That’s not Mr. Darcy!” We eventually had to turn it off, superficial skin-deep snotrags that we were.
Only years later did I try watching the series again and realized, hey wait, this guy is PERFECT. He is the DEFINITIVE Darcy, and wow, can he act. So there you have it, folks–these DVD’s are worth posting for. Or paying for.
My casting quibble with this version has always been Wickham. That guy is just NOT attractive. The only thing (and I do mean the ONLY THING) I liked about the new film version was the boy who played Wickham (Rupert Friend, also seen as the lovely boy in THE LIBERTINE). Finally a version where I understand why all the ladies take his side (too bad about everything else).
As for Lizzy and Jane, I always thought pretty much as you did, Jane is the more conventional beauty, but it’s Lizzy who draws the eye and holds it. Love both those actresses (and the fact that Lydia is played by Julia Sawalha, aka Saffy from Ab Fab).
What a great contest! I just recently read P&P for the first time and it instantly became one of my favorites. I still have yet to watch a movie verison though. 🙂
Colin Firth makes a perfect Mr. Darcy!
I’ve seen the other versions, but not this one. Would love to invite my friends and have a movie night!
I’ve always felt Jane was miscast but now I concur with you. My favourite is without question Colin as Mr Darcy.
I’ve not seen this version of P & P but I think it’s a great point that what we consider attractive today, like being tanned, was not considered attractive back then.
Ack! Attempting to repost since Blogger ate my earlier brilliant comments.
The main reason I like the mini-series over the movie is because the storyline there stays true to the books. The movie takes far too much “creative license.”
I have to say though that I liked Mrs. Bennett from the movie much better. She is far too shrill and annoying in the series. And Mr. Collins was pitch-perfect in the delivery of his lines in the movie.
Mr. Bingley was the only secondary character that I loved in both the movie and the series. For every other character, I liked one actor over the other.
Caroline = movie
Wickham = movie
Mr. Bennet = series
Mrs. Bennet = movie
Mary = series
Lydia = movie
Kitty = series
Jane = movie
Mr. Collins = movie
I LOVED the A&E version of P&P! I’m not a big fan of Matthew Macfayden or Keira Knightley. But, ooooh! COLIN FIRTH, with his mop of brown curls and a hint of a smile at the corner of his lips…What’s not to like? 🙂 I thought Jennifer Ehle suited the role very well too…’cause she had a fuller bosom ;-), acted with greater composure and generally looked prettier than Keira Knightley who looked like an anorexic garden rake with dishevelled hair.
What fun! I just got done watching this version of P&P for the first time and loved it. I was just checking to see how much it would cost me to get the set when I saw this. WooHoo! I guess I’ll hold off on my purchase until after you announce the winners on Sunday.
I’ll be back!
What a great contest. I love the Colin Firth version of P&P. I always picture his Mr. Darcy as the perfect Regency man. Of course, my favorite scene is when he removes his cravat and jumps into the lake. *sigh*
“Who would you have cast differently?”
Mr. Wickham! For someone who was supposed to be a handsome rake, I thought the actor who played him was, well, ugly.
Love this cool blog. Pics are fab and so interesting.
This is the best contest ever. Love your blog and the impressive pics and information. am very impressed
Just loved this mini series since it was so ideal. Wonderful blog and contest.
Great blog. Interesting and am fascinated by the series which I found wonderful and accurate.
This version and casting is super. Love the entire series. Great contest and site.
I will always be a Colin-Firth-as-Darcy gal.
He can come over and take a look at my “fine eyes” any day!
I haven’t seen this series so I don’t know all the characters. I did see the P & P version with Keira Knightley and loved that one. The only character that maybe didn’t make the top of my list was Mr. Bingley.
I really adored Mr. Collins–not in an “I adore Mr. Darcy” way (please, I’m not that much of a pervert), but watching David Bamber tying himself into obsequious knots and boring everyone to death–and the servants rolling their eyes behind his back–was such a joy. And his dancing!
Janet, oh yes, I was ROFLMAO over Mr. Collins in the series, too. That scene where he came over to the girls’ house to basically say, “You have died a horrible social death, rest in peace, I’m sooooo sorry”–classic, just classic.
I love all these comments! For you who have not seen this version, it is a treat.
I’m glad my little Regency observation was interesting to you. I must admit, my friend Helen first pointed it out to me.
I loved the Keira Knightly/Matthew Macfadyen P&P, too. It was just different, but it made for a good love story.
I also notice that some messages that were on here earlier are now gone. I don’t know what happened to them, but, I assure you, I took nothing off. It might be a Blogger blip. So be sure to enter everyday this week so your name is certain to get in our cyber-hat!
What a fun contest!!
I think I am the last person who has yet to see PandP!!! I feel so ashamed!! I need to at least see this film so I can talk about it when people ask me about the characters 🙂
I liked the casting of the miniseries, but I thought Mr. Collins was better in the earlier BBC miniseries. Does anyone remember that one? (Or I just hallucinating Austen again?) The way the camera focused on his goofy long-legged stride as he walked up to the house just got me. He was so perfectly ridiculous, in fact, that he became the inspiration for the hero in my first book. I decided to take a ridiculous, cowardly, self-absorbed guy and see if I could make him likeable by the end of the book. It was immense fun. I’ve had readers tell me how their perception of him changed (and they started picturing better- looking actors by the end).
The most recent P&P movie had a lot of good things going for it, but I HATED when they got all artsy and went for the “time stopped” slow motion bits. It would have been cool if they started to do that in a dance scene and then had all the other dancers smack into them.
What a fun topic you’ve started!
–Kate Dolan
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I saw the A&E version many years ago, and so I can’t remember much detail from it. However, I must say that looking at that to-die-for photo of Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy, I feel the urge to kiss that cleft chin. 😉
I haven’t seen all of the series version yet, but I hope to soon!
If not by winning it here (which would be awesome!), then I’m sure that I’ll watch it at Christmas with my sister-in-law, who has been obsessed with P&P since she was 10…..I think this may have something to do with the fact that our last name is the same as one of the characters in the book!
–Oh, and I came here via Colleen’s blog!
Dare I mention that I will always love David Rintoul’s Dary best?
I liked the new movie very much, but I think it is impossible to stay as close to the book in a 2 hour film as you can in a 6 hour miniseries. And I liked the leads in the miniseries very much–especially since we got a chance to see Jennifer Ehle on stage while we were living in London, and then saw the miniseries shortly afterwards.
I will not make odious comparisons between Jane and Lizzie; but (as my wife can tell you), I’ve long admired Jennifer Ehle. For her fine eyes. Among other things. 🙂
Todd-who-keeps-his-mind-on-higher-things-mostly
I really enjoyed your comments on the beauty thing, Diane! Very interesting. I’ve often studied Regency-era fashion illustrations and portraits, and noted how different their idea of beauty was. For one thing, the women mostly had aquiline noses and very soft, almost double chins. Very unlike our conventional standard of beauty nowadays — at least if you go by magazines & Hollywood, etc.
Though, actually, I wonder if they were all trying to look like the (very German, and rather well-fed) royal family? 🙂
As to the casting of the A&E Pride & Prejudice — I agree with Manuelita. For me, too, the only real problem was Wickham, who seemed sort of small and sneaky. (There’s a lot of S’s for you!) 🙂 Rupert Friend looks the part much better, IMHO.
I do think Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle are just perfect casting. And Crispin Bonham Carter as Bingley. I think those three are my favorites. Though really, with the one exception I mention above, I think they’re all great!
Cara
I have to agree with Jill. I hated the movie, it was far too condensed and I even fell asleep during it. I also really felt that Kiera was far too anorexic as Elizabeth and that the A&E series perfectly cast both Darcy and Elizabeth.
As to the casting of the series, I thought that everyone was well cast. Though, I didn’t really care for Jane, I thought she looked a little too mannish, but maybe women looked that way in that time period. I always thought that Elizabeth was much prettier.
I also found it funny after watching Ab Fab, that Saffy played Lydia. She was such a completely different character, but she did great as both.
I far preferred the mini-series, but I loved Claudie Blakey’s portrayal of Charlotte Lucas. I read somewhere that Emma Thompson rewrote some of her scenes. Very interesting!
I’m agreeing with everyone about the Wickham in the series.
And oh, how I wish those double chins would come back into fashion!!!
As far as Wickham is concerned, I did not think the movie Wickham was as effective as the BBC/A&E Wickham, who I think had that charming smile that we knew was false but could have fooled country misses. The movie fellow looked like a sulky little boy- I didn’t see his charm at all.
I liked both Mr. Collinses, but nothing can beat that A&E Mr. Collins. He had it perfect!
I thought the casting was perfect.
Great idea for a contest, and I would LOVE to see this version of P & P.
Casting was perfect, I wouln’t change a thing about it. Perfect just as is, I love this movie.
Jennifer Ehle – loved her as Lizzie and I had no clue who she was as an actor so it was nice to see parts of the movie (haven’t seen all of it) and only know the actress as this one character.
Colin Firth was perfect.
CindyS
Unfortunately, I cannot comment on the characters. I haven’t seen a movie version of P & P. From all of the comments and mentions about it, I think I would truly enjoy it. I have read the book many, many times. It’s such a wonderful story.
I’ll have to admit that–gasp!–I haven’t seen the BBC version of Pride & Prejudice. I thought the recent film version with Matthew McFadyen as the aloof Mr. Darcy was very well cast, though. Keira Knightly made an excellent Lizzy, IMO, with her too-thin form, bony elbows and handsome eyes.
I will see the Colin Firth version of P&P at some point, regardless of the contest outcome. Thanks for such a fun opportunity!