austen viewing

I still contend the best Pride and Prejudice is the 1995 version, and current watching only confirms this, but--it's actually not all Colin Firth. It' not even mostly Colin Firth, though IMHO no Darcy has matched him.

It's Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth, who is absolutely my favorite Elizabeth. Specifically, because of how incredibly expressive her face is.

Elizabeth Bennet is kind, generous, affectionate, and sarcastic as fuck, which she inherited from her creator, as Austen spends two thirds of every novel deadpanning like its going out of style both textually and metatextually.

Sadly, most Austen movies tend to err on the side of earnestness (and depressingly, readers do too, which is how we get the insane Knightly Is a Pedophile), but Ehle spends a lot of time offsetting it with weaponized expressiveness.

(This may or may not be a paean to Ehle's eyebrow action when talking to Darby, Lady Catherine, Mr. Collins, the way her mouth twitches when someone is being ridiculous, the half-beat she pauses when before answering when someone is being a dick, and her gleeful weaponizing of the rules of civility. I don't think anyone ever has ever conveyed 'fuck you so very much' with an eyebrow.)

I also vote for this being the best Lydia; the actress looks and acts like a ditzy, spoiled sixteen year old gloriously.

However: there's the problem of Jane Bennet.

The thing is, I don't think it's the actress herself so much as the problem of Jane Bennet's entire character being the ideal Regency gentlewoman: quiet, sedate, well-bred, kind, earnest as fuck. She actually does follow the book Jane, and that characterization works fine in text, but when you take it to the visual medium, you're sharing the screen with Elizabeth and Mr. Bennet's sarcasm and mockery, Mrs. Bennet's pseudodrama, Lydia Bennet's melodrama, Darcy's mandrama, Bingley's overwhelming perkiness, and Mr. Collins mortifyingly earnest smugness (and that's just the people who share a screen with her; Catherine de Borough eats scenery almost as well as Mrs. Bennet).

To put it succinctly: Jane Bennet is boring. And the thing is, she's pretty much supposed to be.

Most of more engaging Jane Bennets had actresses who made her much more animated, which yes is more interesting to watch, but is also just not Jane Bennet. Jane is quiet, sedate, not one to show her feelings, reserved: when Darcy the Repressed is commenting on someone being Too Reserved, that's like, wow. And Elizabeth acknowledges that as true (as does Charlotte early on). That's a fairly important characteristic, since that sets up a major plot point.

The 1995 version also benefits from being five hours long, granted. Like, a lot. And not just to capture all the major and minor plotlines; if you're an Austen fan, you're aware how a two hour Austen movie butchers Austen's humor and slaughters every joke before it gets a chance to gasp the punchline.

Note: I'm about to engage in a Mansfield Park re-reading and once again be baffled how different it is from literally everything else Austen wrote. I mean, I would take the argument that it shares some characteristics with Sense and Sensibility, but only very superficially. There is no goddamn way it exists in the same Regency universe as Pride and Prejudice or Emma or Persuasion (and oh God not Northanger Abbey).

And I say this as someone who loves the book and has at one time or another loved and hated every character in it by turn depending on my mood during re-reading (I can write a condemnation and defense of every single character except Mrs. Norris who I always hate). Honestly, it's the one I re-read the most because there's so much in it, which makes no sense since there's actually only one real major plot (yes, there are a lot of subplots, but they all literally are offshoots of the major plot).

(Last read, I was eighty percent sure the ending was supposed to convey the good luck of the Crawfords in escaping matrimony with anyone in that family. I continue not to get how anyone, anywhere, ever, would be attracted to Edmund Bertram. He has no sense of humor. Sure, neither did Fanny, but as he was her primary influence growing up, she never really had a chance. With Crawford, I don't say she expressed the possibility of having one, but the potential was definitely there.)

Comments

[hypertwink]

I actually love the 1995 version but I used to love P&P but it's not my fave Austen now - that would be Persuasion.

[seperis]

I love Persuasion. The only thing that gets to me about it is that like Northanger Abbey, the secondary characters aren't nearly as fully drawn (and the tertiary are forgettable for the most part) and I like a stronger background cast.

Not that it didn't have some, just some parts felt a little more like sketches.

OTOH, Anne was utterly delightful and would love life onboard a ship. But man, Austen's last paragraph made me nervous.

[owl]

I wonder what Persuasion we would have if Austen hadn't been dying when she was writing it :(

[annezo]

Persuasion has long been my favorite Austen novel. It continually frustrates me that there's never been a really good screen adaptation of it.

[hypertwink]

They were totally too old for it but I really liked the Root-Hinds version. At least, it was better than the one with Sally Hawkins. I'm kinda excited for the upcoming film with Sarah Snook as Anne.

[annezo]

I'm looking forward to the new attempt. :)

All the MP feels I didn't know I had

[torch]

Augh, I was writing up a comment and hit the wrong key combo by accident and then I was two pages back and my Immortal Words were lost forever... well, tbh it was mostly a lot of bitching about Edmund Bertram, who I can only assume is staggeringly good-looking to make up for his Edmund-ness, although perhaps he could have been Seriously Improved by Mary Crawford, and Fanny by Henry -- yes, over the years and re-readings I've come to land in the camp of those who wish the plot had turned left instead of right before Henry and Maria ran off, although now I come to think of it, maybe this would be asking too much of poor Mary, because Edmund... well, because Edmund.

Okay, yes, in the space of this new paragraph I've talked myself back around to the idea you propose that Mary, at least, had a lucky escape and that should be our takeaway here. Henry went off and made bad relationship decisions in another direction instead.

Re: All the MP feels I didn't know I had

[seperis]

well, tbh it was mostly a lot of bitching about Edmund Bertram, who I can only assume is staggeringly good-looking to make up for his Edmund-ness

That's honestly all I got too. I mean, unreal levels of hot or something.

although perhaps he could have been Seriously Improved by Mary Crawford and Fanny by Henry -- yes, over the years and re-readings I've come to land in the camp of those who wish the plot had turned left instead of right before Henry and Maria ran off, although now I come to think of it, maybe this would be asking too much of poor Mary, because Edmund... well, because Edmund.

Okay, yes, in the space of this new paragraph I've talked myself back around to the idea you propose that Mary, at least, had a lucky escape and that should be our takeaway here. Henry went off and made bad relationship decisions in another direction instead.

I go back and forth on both those.

Its like Narnia's Susan and lipstick debates: the problem isn't liking boys and makeup and flirting and parties; the problem is if that's all and everything you care about and make that all you are. Henry and Mary's biggest problem wasn't being Londonish and into society and fun and gossip and everything; it's that they thought that was everything and didn't even seem to realize--at least until Mansfield--that there could be so much more to life.

Edmund and Mary could go either way, but the strongest thing in Mary's favor is that Edmund is committed when he commits. I don't think he could live with Mary being unhappy once they were married and he could bend for her, especially since there's every indication she can and will bend for him. I think it would be bumpy, but a lot of Edmund's strictness is he's still very young and fairly sheltered with no real opportunity to soften black and white thinking; marriage and work with the parish and dealing with his parishioners' problems would have done wonders for him to lose the stick up his ass. He is genuinely kind and empathetic so he'd realize fairly quickly when he applied his opinion to real people that life was greyer.

And he'd be very good for Mary. Taken on the surface, her behavior wasn't really bad at all, no matter what Fanny thought; the problem was that she really didn't have any strong opinion of her own, just absorbed what she heard from others and just went with it without asking why.

Which comes back to Mary's problem; honestly, I don't think that before Edmund, anyone had ever treated her as other than a pretty ornament to entertain others, which even by Regency standards is a fucked up way to raise a girl. Edmund, on the other hand, not only had thoughts to share, he expected her to have some, too; I'm fairly sure no one in her entire life before this ever treated her like a person in her own right.

Henry Crawford is another story.

I can't help but think Henry would have done wonders for Fanny's self-esteem, and Fanny would have done for him what Edmund would do for Mary: live life fully instead of playing at it like a game He was already starting to think of having a real life.

The only way it could happen though is if he stopped his destructive flirting like, the moment he said his vows; otherwise, he'd lose Fanny. I don't mean she'd leave him or do anything; like Edmund, she commits all-in. She'd be a super dutiful wife and Henry--who is not stupid--would have a fairly miserable life shut out from her inner self. And worse, he'd know perfectly well that it's not Fanny punishing him or that she's deliberately doing anything like that; she just literally couldn't give him more than surface no matter how hard she tried.

OTOH, unlike Henry, Fanny's entire life to date was making her own happiness out of what she's got to work with; of prety much the entire cast, Fanny is the most resilient. Once the pain wore off and she'd accepted this was her life, she'd absorb herself with her household and kids and poetry and Susan and be pretty content. Which is comforting because....

...I don't think Henry actually could have stopped doing that shit without the fallout of Maria to make him realize he was actually doing something wrong. And frankly, even with the fallout, I'm not convinced he did fully realize that; he regretted it because it lost him Fanny, but there was no indication he regretted it because he realized what he was doing was shitty as fuck.

Which is my biggest problem with him, actually: it's not running off with Maria, it's that destructive flirting. This isn't the lighthearted shit you do at balls with a pretty girl; it's done with intent to get young women to fall in love with him and raise their expectations and on purpose. It's cold-blooded and cruel, he gets off on the power he's got over them, it's just a game to win.

(I do not in any way excuse Maria because holy shit she performed a breathtaking series of fuck-ups knowing she was fucking up and just not caring. But. She had help doing it; literally everyone in her life that could have--and morally, should have--intervened didn't, mostly because it wasn't convenient. It doesn't make her less responsible for her action, but responsibility isn't zero sum: Tom Bertram, Edmund Bertram, and especially Sir Thomas all failed her dramatically.)

Re: All the MP feels I didn't know I had

[torch]

I'm torn between "you can't go into a relationship hoping to change people" and "you can change people if they want to be changed and do their own share of the work." Which definitely argues more for Mary and Edmund, as you theorize here, than for Henry and Fanny -- before the Maria débâcle, Henry was just charmed by the idea, like it was a summer kitten or a two-week fandom for him, not something he would have made an effort at.

Re: people failing Maria, I so agree and this is another reason why I'm not fond of Edmund...

...bah, I just went to flip through the hardcover and realized I don't have a hardcover of MP. E-books are all well and good, but they fail when you want to look for something-in-general, as good as they are when it comes to looking for something specifically. I also miss the ability to hold a book open in two or three places at once to be able to compare scenes. That said, the last time I read a printed book I tried to turn the page by tapping it with my index finger. Unsurprisingly, nothing happened.

[kinetikatrue]

except Mrs. Norris who I always hate

If she should happen to be frozen by a basilisk, would she deserve to be un-frozen, tho?

(Why is this the thing my brain decided to have thoughts about, I sincerely could not tell you, haha!)

[aurumcalendula]

This reminds me I need to try the 1995 P&P miniseries again. I'm really fond of the 2005 P&P movie despite the changes that were made.

And now I kinda want to watch the various Persuasion adaptions (iirc I've seen the 1995 and 2007 films, although I don't actually remember what I thought of them, and I just found out there's a 1971 miniseries).

[pensnest]

I absolutely agree about the 1995 P&P being *the* version. One of the things I like very much about it is the physicality, particularly of Elizabeth. It really makes sense that Darcy begins to notice her, when he's spending so much time in the languid company of Bingley's sisters.

I can forgive Jane's boringness (you are quite right) although, when she tries so hard not to allow anybody to be the bad guy, I kinda wish Lizzie would give her a good shaking.

I can barely remember anything about Edmund Bertram. He seems to be devoid of personality. Even Edward Ferrars, whose only characteristic seems to be that he keeps his promises (badly), is more interesting. It's weird, when Darcy and Knightly and *especially* Captain Wentworth are such lovely romantic heroes, that some of the heroines get stuck with such dull chaps.

[venetia_sassy]

I've never seen the 2005 P&P largely because I can't imagine anyone but Ehle as Elizabeth. I think Jane's actress does well, in part because of those eyes. She stands out evens as she tries not to.

I like Mansfield Park but I'm always depressed by Fanny ending up with Edmund. He's so … yeah, no sense of humour. I've read a couple of fics where she marries Tom and I rather liked those.

Have you ever read Lady Susan? I only read it a couple of years ago and was torn between horror and amusement at the characters.

[princessofgeeks]

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I have watched the Ehle/Firth P&P so many times! So much to love about it.

And I enjoyed the 2005 movie too.

I am due for a reread of some of the books for sure. I think if you held me down and made me choose, my favorite would be Emma.