Saturday, July 16, 2005

New PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

I'm a bit of a Jane Austen freak, so when I ran across a couple of websites for the upcoming theatrical film version of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and viewed the trailers, I was stoked! The new film casts Matthew MacFadyen as Darcy, which is a great choice. MacFadyen proved he could brood with the best of them in his role as Tom Quinn in the British series MI-5.

I was a little less sold on Keira Knightly as Elizabeth; though I'd liked her in BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, I hadn't seen her as Lizzy material. However, I recently caught her in the role of Guinevere in 2004's KING ARTHUR, opposite the yummy Clive Owen, and she convinced me she has the chops to play the role of possibly the most delightful romantic heroine ever.

These two sites are the ones I came across yesterday. The second one has the best trailer, IMO.

2 comments:

MJFredrick said...

I am not excited about it. The BBC version was so perfect, how can they think to improve upon it? And Keira Frightly....I dunno.

Paula said...

I can understand what you mean, Mary, but I've liked all the Austen adaptations, in one way or another.

I liked the Paltrow/Northam Emma, for instance, but I also liked the A & E version with Kate Beckinsale as Emma, although it was a vastly different production.

I liked the old BBC version of P & P with Elizabeth Garvey and David Rintoul. I liked the movie with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. And will there ever be a more perfect Darcy than Colin Firth? At the same time, I never did feel that Jennifer Ehle was right for Lizzie--she was too old, too worldly an actress, and it showed. So I'm looking forward to seeing how the new movie handles the old, beloved story.

Paula