Thinking only of the past as its remembrance gives me pleasure: P&P #20

Pride and Prejudice (1980)

It's my dad's birthday today. I miss him, especially as I've been doing this challenge because he was a huge Jane Austen fan. I'd love to discuss some of the books and movies I've been reviewing with him -- although he would be horrified at some of the more, shall we say, salacious offerings.

It seems appropriate to review this miniseries today, since it was my introduction to P&P when I was younger. It was on Masterpiece Theatre, my parents sat me down to watch it with them, and after the first episode, I was hooked. We had one of the first VCRs of the 80s (top-loader, chipped out of stone) and my mom taped it. I watched and rewatched it until it got grainy, fast-forwarding through the introductions and watching Alistair Cooke's head dance about. When my dad told me it was based on a book, I was all "There's a book?! " and thus began my love of the book and long discussions with Dad about it.^*

I hadn't watched it in years, and I wanted to review it as I see it now, not as I remembered it. Would it stand up to my childhood adoration?


I am, perhaps, biased, in that this is the production to which I have compared all other versions -- first impressions and all^** -- but I still feel this is a terrific adaptation. I think they got most the characterizations completely right. Elizabeth Garvie is wonderful as Elizabeth. She perfectly captures Elizabeth's archness in her delivery. David Rintoul is the quintessential Darcy. He's really handsome, and his face and voice show both the reserve and haughtiness Mr. Darcy need, and yet we can see his reaction every time Lizzy zings him. When we see him again at Pemberley the change in him is as surprising to us as it is to Elizabeth.

By the way, I used to think Darcy was shy. I am now convinced that he is not shy, but an introvert.

The secondary characters are also fabulous: we see a real relationship between Elizabeth and her father; Mrs. Bennet is awful without being strident; Jane is sweet and intelligent; Mr. Bingley is pleasant and yet not an idiot -- you can see why Darcy would be his friend and why Jane would fall for him; the Gardiners are stylish people you'd want to hang out with; Lady Catherine is elegant and comic at the same time; Lydia is young, impetuous, and vulgar without being crass; Charlotte is terrific; and finally, they got Mr. Collins absolutely right. He is foolish without being creepy. And his musical theme is great -- wonderful use of the bassoon.

I think the casting of Wickham was brilliant. He is handsome and charming and you can see why Elizabeth falls for him at first; this is still how I picture Wickham when I read about him. He is a very plausible villain.

I remember being surprised, when I read the book, by some of the differences. They've moved some of the lines to different places and to different characters, but not in any way that makes me seethe with my usual fury, even now. Colonel Fitzwilliam is, sadly, very boring, and Louisa Hurst is a much nicer character than she should be. I think the actor playing Kitty is a bit too old, but she's otherwise well done. Their take on Mary is interesting; they have all of her pomposity, but they also have her attempt to simper. It fails miserably, which is kind of hilarious, but I think they've made her far too interested in gossip and men. One change I did mind is Elizabeth going to Pemberley after learning of Lydia's elopement instead of Darcy coming to see her. It's a bit ridiculous -- how does she get there, especially since she's so upset -- and it's so much more interesting to speculate about why he was coming to see her.

These are fairly minor quibbles for me. I am quite disappointed that the version now available (which is the version I saw for this review) has cut a bunch of lines from the version I watched so much I practically had it memorized. For instance, one of my favourite bits is when Caroline Bingley, trying to curry favour with Darcy, says that balls would be so much more rational if conversation instead of dancing made up the evening. Bingley says "Much more rational, I dare say, but not so near like a ball." Which is a great line and kind of important in showing that Bingley wasn't a doormat when it came to his sisters. And they have since cut it out. Outrage!

This version does suffer from 1970s TV production values; the difference between interior shots on video and exterior film shots, both in lighting and sound quality, is striking. It's probably truer to how it actually looked by candlelight, but it's not especially fun to watch. Also, the voice-overs. Ugh. They're important to get a sense of the internal dialogue, but they just do a voice-over while very little else happens on the screen. It's deadly in a visual medium. The letter scene in particular is quite tedious: there are a few flashback sequences (one to the wrong ball scene), but mostly it's many, many minutes of Darcy walking away while Elizabeth sits and reads. Symbolic, perhaps, but I remember skipping that scene every time I re-watched it, and the fast-forwarding itself seemed to take forever. This time I was somewhat soothed by Rintoul's voice and inflection, but only somewhat.

If you can get past that, it's five hours very well spent. Enjoy Weldon's take on Collin's foolishness, Wickham's charm, Jane's sensible sweetness, Lydia's frivolity, Lady Catherine's officiousness, and Elizabeth's playfulness:

I hope Mr. Darcy does marry Anne de Bourgh, and has Lady Catherine for a mother-in-law.

And I do love the last line. Excellent place to end it.

^*Well, there weren't that long to begin with. I was only eight, after all.

^**Laurel Ann from Austenprose thinks so too.