A 1980 adaptation fan video set to Chopin

This romantic video makes the 1980 version look quite cinematic, with lots of lingering looks, smiles and of course stiff upper-lips from David Rintoul.

Pride & Prejudice – Harry Potter Style

A very cleverly edited Pride and Prejudice trailer using video footage of Harry Potter.

Pride and Prejudice – She’s Like The Wind

We have featured this video already on this site, but in view of Patrick Swayze’s tragic passing it seems right to remember once again at his most awesome. Here is Pride and Prejudice 2005 set to Swayze’s ‘She’s Like the Wind’ from Dirty Dancing.

Pride and Prejudice Trailer Spoof

I don’t want to write too much about this for fear of spoiling the quite horrible surprise! This is my personal favorite…

Lost In Austen- Amanda & Darcy- She’s A Lady

So Miss Amanda Price of Hammersmith might have had Jane Austen spinning in her grave ‘like a cat in a tumble-dryer,’ but she still won the heart of Mr Darcy in Lost in Austen with her radical manners and quirky modern ways. Here is Lost in Austen set to Tom Jones’ ‘She’s a Lady.’

So there we have it. Delightfully absurd and quite absurdly delightful. Once again, please let us know about your favorites too. Also, please don’t forget to check out Mitchell and Webb’s Disco Darcy sketch, entirely unrivaled in its ridiculousnesses, for a guaranteed giggle.

Here are My Pride and Prejudice’s all time top 10 pictures of the beautiful, kind and good-natured Jane Bennet.In no particular order and from all the major screen and TV adaptations we have Rosamund Pike (2005), Susannah Harker (1995), Sabina Franklyn (1980), Maureen O’Sullivan(1940) and Morven Christie (lost in Austen).

Unlike the 1980 series, however, it does include the wonderful scene in which Elizabeth declares her love of Mr Darcy to her father, at which point he heartily gives his consent.

Elizabeth and Darcy are walking together. Bingley and Jane are some way ahead.

DARCY:
I have been a selfish being all my life. As a child I was given good principles but I was left to follow them in pride and conceit. And such I might still have been but for you, dearest loveliest Elizabeth.

Jane and Elizabeth are before their mirrors.

JANE:
Engaged? To Mr Darcy? No. You are joking! It is impossible.

ELIZABETH:
This is a wretched beginning. If you don’t believe me I’m sure no-one else will. Indeed, I am in earnest. He still loves me, and we are engaged.

JANE:
No, Lizzy, it can’t be true. I know how much you dislike him.

ELIZABETH:
(Laughs) No, no. It is all forgotten. Perhaps I did not always love him as well as I do know, but in such cases as these a good memory is unpardonable.

JANE:
Dearest Lizzy. Do be serious. How long have you loved him?

ELIZABETH:
It’s been coming on so gradually, I hardly know. But I believe I must first date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley!

They laugh.

JANE:
Lizzy!

Mr Bennet gets out of his chair.

MR BENNET:
Are you out of your senses to be accepting this man, Lizzy? Have you not always hated him?

ELIZABETH:
Papa…

MR BENNET:
I’ve given him my consent. He’s the kind of man, indeed, to whom I should never dare to refuse anything. But let me advise you to think the better of it. I know your disposition, Lizzy. My child, let me not have the grief of seeing you unable to respect your partner in life. He’s rich, to be sure, but will he make you happy?

ELIZABETH:
Have you any objections apart from your belief in my indifference?

MR BENNET:
None whatever. We all know him to be proud, unpleasant sort of man, but this would be nothing if you really liked him.

ELIZABETH:
I do. I do like him. I love him. Indeed he has no improper pride. He’s perfectly amiable. If you only knew his generous nature… I didn’t always love him, but I love him now so very dearly. He is truly the best man I have ever known.

MR BENNET:
Well, my dear. If this be the case, he deserves you. I could not have parted with you to anyone less worthy, Lizzy.

Mr Bingley and Miss Bennet, and Mr Darcy and Miss Elizabeth are being married. There is much grinning…

MINISTER:
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of God and in the face of this congregation, to join together this man and this woman, and this man and this woman, in holy matrimony, which is an honorable estate, instituted by God in the time of man’s innocence, signifying unto us the mystical union that is between Christ and his church and therefore is not by any to be enterprised lightly or wantonly to satisfy man’s carnal lusts and appetites, but reverently, discreetly, risedly, soberly and in the fear of God, duly considering the causes for which matrimony was ordained.

MINISTER (VOICE-OVER):
Firstly, it was ordained for the procreation of children.

Lady Catherine de Bourgh is at home, looking rather grumpy next to her daughter, Anne, who is coughing into her tissue.

MINISTER (VOICE-OVER):
Secondly, as a remedy against sin and to avoid fornication.

Mr Wickham is sitting on a bed drinking wine, as Lydia strokes him with her foot.

MINISTER:
Thirdly, for the mutual society, help and comfort that the one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity and adversity, into which holy estate these persons now here present come now to be joined.

Amidst great celebrations the married couples walk to their carriages. The Bingleys are seated first. The carriages leave together. Mr and Mrs Bennet are waving.

MRS BENNET:
Three daughters married. Oh, Mr Bennet! God has been very good to us.

MR BENNET:
Yes, so it would seem.

In their carriage, Mr and Mrs Darcy kiss.

Darcy

Carl Davis was a veteran composer for BBC dramas when he wrote the soundtrack for Pride and Prejudice, having worked on scores for the corporation since the mid-1970s. He was a great fan of the book, having said in an interview that he battered down the door for the chance to compose the soundtrack, especially when he heard producer Sue Birtwistle was making the series. An anglophile born in New York, Davis came to England in 1960 to pursue his love of English literature, theater and cinema. He ‘…thought Elizabeth Bennet must be one of the greatest heroines of English literature, and the book is wonderfully easy to read, with its strong themes and bright wit.’ He was, in other words, the perfect choice to compose the score for the BBC Pride and Prejudice 1995 series.

Colin Firth looking wistful during 'Thinking about Lizzy'.

Davis also chose the source music along with Sue Birtwistle, picking, for example, a Handel piece that was just outside of Mary’s vocal range for her cringeworthy performance at Netherfield. The soundtrack, however, only contains Davis’ original pieces – not that I am longing to have Mary’s performance on CD!

To capture a ’small town in 1810′ feel, Davis chose against using a full symphony orchestra. For the larger scenes, no more than 18 musicians were used, and the soundtrack features the fortepiano. This is an instrument from the Regency era which was, as Davis explains in the sleeve notes, a forerunner of the modern piano. ‘The ’slight, hunting refrain’ that flows through the entire score reflects the theme of the hunt for husbands, and also gives continuity to the soundtrack as an album, making it delightful dining, driving or even husband-hunting music.

Mr Darcy and Elizabeth professing love to 'Darcy's Second Proposal'.

The opening song of the album is unsurprisingly the opening title music for the series, and of course the most familiar song to fans of the TV show. In a nice homage, this is the tune used for the ring-tone on Amanda Price’s cell phone in Lost in Austen. It’s a tune that instantly brings back fond memories for those of us who fell in love with the series back in 1995, and stands on its own as an excessively diverting, bright and lively piece. Once you’ve become tired with hitting the rewind button and had your fix with this opening gem, it’s time to move on and explore the rest of the soundtrack.

Most of the tracks should be instantly recognizable to the more ardent fans of the series, and it’s suprising how evocative it is to relive the scenes through the music that accompanied them.  A few tracks may have you scratching your head, but the CD comes with explanations of where each song is used, and in any case it’s a welcome excuse to dust off the DVD and find them all again…

Overall, this is a great album for lovers of the 1995 series, looking for a calming, yet bubbly soundtrack for their commute, workout session or candlelit bath. This album will surely be trespassing on the hospitality of my iPod for some time to come.

Your aurally intoxicated friend,

Lizzy

Jane Austen wrote nothing about the hair color of Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice (although she does have dark eyes), and was similarly silent about Darcy’s, Jane’s and Bingley’s barnetts, so where does this certainty come from?

A decidedly dark Elizabeth Bennet

Casting directors have seen it differently in the past. In the 1940 adaptation, Greer Garson’s Elizabeth has blonde hair, while Jane Bennet (Maureen O’ Sullivan) is a brunette. Also, in the 1980 series, Elizabeth Garvie has light brown hair and, again Jane’s (Sabina Franklin) hair is dark. However, from the 1995 BBC production the hair color has been fixed, as is evident in the 2005 movie and in the TV spin-off Lost in Austen.

Hair color is of course richly symbolic within our culture; blonde shades, like the color white, signify sexual and moral purity. Jane Bennet, for this reason, could never join the Pink Ladies. Also, blondeness – unfortunately for some (including me!) – still hasn’t lost its association with dumbness in our culture. Perhaps binding these together is our association of blondeness with childhood, puberty being the time when hair thickens and becomes darker.

Three Blonde Moments - A most definitely blonde Jane Bennet

Dark hair and features are of course more readily identified with moodiness, mystery and danger. It’s obvious, therefore, why it suits Elizabeth and Darcy’s fiery courtship. Perhaps it’s also considered more masculine. Andrew Davies did describe Elizabeth as something of a tomboy, because of her love of country walks, her very ‘unladylike’ habit of arguing with her superiors, and her willingness to get muddy. He said he thought it might be Jane Austen’s code for saying Elizabeth had lots of sexual energy (there he goes again!)

Tall, dark and handsome Mr Darcy

Dark hair is also symbolic of the generally more complex world of the adult. Elizabeth and Darcy’s relationship is contradictory and complicated from the start. They both struggle to contain their emotions. Bingley and Jane’s relationship is far simpler. Theirs is such an innocent courtship that it’s hard to see it as adult at all. Bingley is indecisive and Jane is shy. Both are, of course, childlike traits.

The blonde and boyish Mr Bingley

In fact, it doesn’t take a major stretch of the imagination to see the relationships of Elizabeth and Jane, and Darcy and Bingley, as both containing Parent-Child elements. Elizabeth is both awed and saddened by the naivety of Jane’s worldview. She is like a parent with no way to protect her daughter from the cruelty of the adult world. Likewise, it’s only when Darcy ‘pretty much’ gives his permission for Bingley to marry Jane, that the former finally proposes. His words, therefore, must have carried greater authority than those of a typical friend. Moreover, despite trespassing on his younger friend’s hospitality at Netherfield, he speaks to Bingley with an abruptness that few friends would tolerate.

I’m sure there could be other reasons for the automatic way in which most of us associate Elizabeth and Darcy with dark hair and Jane and Bingley with blondeness, but these are what occurred to me. Did I miss any other hints in the book as to their appearance, or have we just filled in the gaps with our own cultural associations?

Lizzy

Getting this thoroughly unpleasant, early Darcy right is a major challenge for dramatizers. We have an entire novel to get used to his transformation, but making it plausible over a movie or TV series is a different matter. We have to dislike him, but not so much that we put down the book, leave the cinema or don’t bother to tune in the following week. Here is how Darcy’s offish exterior was treated in the 2005 movie and 1995 series:

Colin Firth (1995)

Colin Firth explains his character’s behaviour as follows:

I agree to go to this party with my friend Bingley. He encourages me: ‘Come on, it’ll be a great party with lots of women.’ I arrive. I’m terribly shy – terribly uneasy in social situations anyway. This is not a place I’d normally go to, and I don’t know how to talk to these people. So I protect myself underneath a veneer of snobbishness and rejection. Bingley immediately engages with the most attractive girl in the room, and this makes me even less secure.

As Firth explains, Darcy was, by the terms of the day, Bingley’s superior. Therefore, having his friend suggest that the he make do with the plainer sister would have compounded Darcy’s foul mood.

Matthew Macfadyen (2005)

Director Joe Wright’s explanation of Lizzy and Darcy’s early relationship is a little simpler:

In the beginning, Darcy can’t deal with the fact that he fancies Lizzy. They are like children in the playground – in the way that kids pull hair because they don’t know how to express their feelings. He needs her to tease him and to be able to lighten up with her.

In Matthew Macfadyen’s own take on the early Darcy, he mentions the proposal scene, set of course in the pouring rain in the 2005 film:

He is a serious young man, with huge responsibilities for his estate, and he has never met a young woman like her. When he proposes to her, first explaining how unsuitable a match she is, he makes that explanation out of integrity, not arrogance.

It’s interesting that in each of these explanations, there is an attempt to justify (or at least rationalize) his behavior, to link the early Darcy to the gentlemen that Lizzy bumps into at Pemberley. By contrast, Jane Austen was content to paint a pretty simple picture of his character after the ball scene:

[Mr Darcy's] manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity; for he was discovered to be proud; to be above his company, and above being pleased; and not all his large estate in Derbyshire could then save him from having a most forbidding, disagreeable countenance, and being unworthy to be compared with his friend.

So this is how Darcy’s apparent inconsistency has been explained by dramatizers. Please add your thoughts below!