Austen in August – Pride & Prejudice DVD Comparison

I admit this was not the post I had hoped to be doing today I had intended reviewing the first of the books I have picked to read for Austen in August however, yesterday morning I awoke to some upsetting news, an online friend is in a medically induced coma following a car accident.  this is someone I have never met in real life nor realistically am ever likely to.  I know Danny only through playing a game, we talk sporadically but it does not ease the shock friendships and aquaintances we make on line are sometimes more real than the ones in day to day life, we can hide behind a screen but sometimes that very anonimity allows us to be ourselves more fully without worry of letting anyone down.  Danny is a hero but I am not allowed to call him that, he says he was only doing doing his job, but I hope it will be the same strength of character that he showed during the rescues during 9/11 when he spent hours trapped in the rubble that will pull him through this.

So back to subject I decided following last weeks Cranford review to have a quick look at the BBC version of Pride & Prejudice and the hollywood block buster.

Having been lucky enough to have visited the locations used for Pemberly in both versions, and I have to say they both have their own appeal much like the two versions themselves

The BBC version was a tv series therefore longer and including much more of the original words that Austen wrote.  As personal preference this is by far my favourite version the charcters are portrayed far more closer to those Austen described or maybe I am bias as it is the version I saw first.

The views at Lyme Park are spectacular although the interiors were shot else where and I have to say it is not the most impressive of the big houses i have visited inside.  But wandering round the gardens, wood and parks all that is forgetton and you find yourself transported to the very place where Elizabeth encounters Darcy while visiting Pemeberly

And I think this is why the BBC version does translate so well on screen.  The detail of the costumes, props and locations is unrivalled by any other makers of costume drama.  The amount of research done for every adaptation is outstanding as most of their DVDs testify to with bonus behind the scenes footage.  They are also responsible for one of the most iconic Austen images ever to have graced the scene, yes ladies this one is for you….

And for me this is the crux of the problem with the Hollywood version..Mr Darcy! I can accept Kiera Knightly as Elizabeth, I can accept the rest of the cast but sadly the choice of Darcy leaves me uninspired.  It is nothing against Matthew Macfayden he is a talented actor but for me he is just not Darcy.  The locations they chose were good, although slightly different to the places I envisioned in some cases most particularly Longborn but they did go with what is suspected to be the original inspiration for Pemberley which is of course Chatsworth house.

Chatsworth is breath taking inside and out and you really can believe that Austen would have been inspired as she walked along the very same corridors that I walked along.   There is a granduer at Chatsworth which fits with the hollywood image but the film did disappoint in one aspect which I did not know until I bought the DVD and that was they added to the ending for the american version.  I read an article about why, I wish I could remember where, and I was offended for my fellow Austen lovers in the states as the suggestion was the american people  in general were not well enough aquainted with the novel to understand the ending without having it added to.  They felt that a US audience would not accept the story ending at the altar and needed to add a marital kiss, it seems a travesty that they do not give the viewers credit for having any imagaination.

Anyway it is only far to compare Darcy’s so I managed to find the same part in 2005 film version

this is the added american ending for those who haven’t seen it

Of course there have been other versions

But the BBC version will always be my favourite though the films a a good way to watch if you only have a couple of hours spare.