I am part of a monthly movie exchange group where we recommend movies to a randomly chosen member. This month I was recommended Pride and Prejudice… the long version…. I mean really long…. 6 episodes long…. I could have been tracking down the Golden Globe nominees, but no, I had to watch Colin Firth sexily dive into a pond so he could show off his well formed body for the ladies. And all of this is so weird because towards the start of this year, I was tasked with watching the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice. So it’s Déjà vu all over again.
I will say that this miniseries is fine. Equally as good as the feature. But it’s odd, because I don’t know what exactly the feature cut out. Which that leads me to question why the did this need to span over 6 hours. The mini series and the movie start off the same way, where we aren’t given proper introductions to the family. A box full of young horny Bennet sisters is thrown at us and we are left to our own devices to sort them out. I’m curious if the book starts out in such chaos. But the Bennet’s of this version don’t seem as friendly with one another as in the feature. Which is a shame, since I liked that heart warming broken family dynamic. Plus the mother in the mini series is so loud, so annoying, she is my least favorite character. I hate her. But maybe that’s the point.
After the opening, I started to realize the one big difference. And that is in the production design. Now, I do believe that the mini series and the feature are set in slightly different time periods. But the aesthetics in the feature along with the lighting looks super crips and interesting, while the miniseries has this hue of dull green kinda washed over it. It just didn’t feel as alive. In fact, it felt very British. And the quality of the episodes were hit and miss. The chaos in the first episode made it feel like the pacing was going too fast. But then episode two hit, with the introduction of preacher/cousin, who is my favorite character as he adds some much needed laughs to all the Britishness.
The acting is basically on par with the acting in the feature. Jennifer Ehle has a slightly more subtle take on Liz Bennet, which is much welcome considering that she gets 6 hours to have an arc. Firth though, as Mr. Darcy, is leagues better than Matthew Macfadyen. Macfadyen had the charisma of a piece of white bread. Firth on the other had is charming and arrogant and curious and so on and so on. He really brings out the range of emotions going on in Darcy’s head. May I say, that even I might would have fallen for this version of Mr. Darcy.
Like I said, everything is fine, the pacing is a bit odd as the choices for commercial breaks seemed forced at times. The acting is good, the scene is nice, and the story is alright, except the ending, which still bothers me. Mr Wickham never really gets his just desserts. And I think that really rubbed me the wrong way in this version as he stands out as even more of a wicked pedophilic money grabber. Does anything bad happen to him in the book? God I hope so.
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