Pride and Prejudice 1995 and 2005 Comparison...

I'm back! I've been enjoying my post-Christmas vacation...and deep cleaning the house! But now with almost a foot of snow dumped all over, I've gotten a chance to sit down and post!

I first saw P&P05 in...2006, I believe. And I really enjoyed it. And then...oh...two years ago now I saw P&P95. For the second time. The first time I was...six, I think...and I fell asleep. The only thing I remember was that I thought it was weird that the guy jumped in the lake. :-)

Back in 2008 I posted a review comparing the two different versions. I was going to repost it today, until I read it and realized that my feelings had...quite changed on the subject after many more viewings of the 95 version.

So. A new and revised comparison!!!

Let me say here that P&P is not my favorite Austen story or film. That honor goes to Sense and Sensibility (and the 95 film version). Just so we're on the same page. :-)
Ooookay. As usual, let's start with the characters.

Elizabeth Bennet-

Jennifer Ehle

vs.

Keira Knightley

Um. This one is soooo a no brainer. My brother Nick calls Kiera Knightley the scourge of the costume dramas, and I so agree. :-) Ok, so she wasn't horrible as in gag me horrible, but she was pretty bad. Jennifer Ehle was a bit old for the part, but she was a lot better than Kiera Knightley! Kiera just sometimes comes across as way too 21st century in her actions and the way she talks and everything.

Mr. Darcy-

Colin Firth

vs.

Matthew McFayden

Now, I am about to make The Great Darcy Sacrilege move and say that Mr. Darcy, IMO, is not the most amazing, the most wonderful, the most spectacular, in short, my favorite literary hero. No. Gasp, I know.

No, the title of the most amazing, the most wonderful, the most spectacular, in short, my favorite literary hero goes to this gentleman right here...

Sir Percy Blakeney!!!

 As portrayed by the equally amazing, wonderful, etc. Anthony Andrews, of course.

(insert wild applause)

All right, just so that's clarified. Because it's a very important detail.

Because I am not biased when it comes to Mr. Darcy.

So now I am going to commit Mr. Darcy Sacrilege number two when I admit that I do not have a Colin Firth bias. Up in arms, everyone!

Apparently, I am the only female in my home that isn't. At the ripe old age of eleven, my sister Belle is past the point of no return in the grip of complete Colin Firth Darcyism, spending the entire viewing of P&P sighing, "He's so sweet!" My mother, while of course not as rabid as Belle, is quite sure he is the most dashing Darcy of the bunch. The little girls agree.

Not that I don't like Colin Firth - he's one of my favorite actors, because I think he is an amazing actor. I am just not a squealing, swooning Darcy fan. As I said, that's reserved for Anthony Andrews Sir Percy Blakeney.

With all that said. I am just explaining myself - that I am not biased - before I say that Colin Firth is the better of the two Darcys.

(All that wasted time, right? Hahaha. This is my blog.)

I just thought that of the two, Colin Firth captured the character best (now, I did really like Laurence Olivier's Darcy...but let's not go there right now). I don't hate Matthew McFayden at all, don't get me wrong! :-) But he seemed to not quite have the pride thing down. He was just super-shy. Which so is Colin. But his proud exterior (hiding the shy interior) was better that Matthew's.

Overall, while I do really like Matthew McFayden and really did like his Darcy, Colin Firth wins. Just because he did a fantastic job in all the different facets of Darcy's character (and I loved how he acted when Elizabeth visits Pemberly. Just saying.) and portrayed him the best.

Not because he's...you know...Colin Firth. :-)

(Oh, and as a side note...after keeping up with the progress of the film and reading some great reviews, I so want to see The King's Speech when it comes out on DVD. I mean...it has Colin Firth and Anthony Andrews! Pretty much amazing right there. Plus it just looks like a pretty great film. That's just a side note there.)

Edit: I forgot to mention another thing...Mr. Darcy, in addition to not being my favorite literary hero, is also  not my favorite Austen hero. That honor belongs to Mr. Knightley (Jeremy Northam's version, thank-you-very-much). Just to clarify. :-)

Jane Bennet-

Susannah Harker vs. Rosamund Pike

Here it's a draw. I think that Rosamund Pike is a little prettier, but they were both sweet. I really enjoyed both of them. Although Rosamund is totally my 10-year-old sister Addy...she even looks like her. ;-) Addy has her facial expressions, her personality, everything. But back to the subject. Rosamund Pike's Jane seemed a bit more realistic, as far as her super-sweet personality goes, but I liked Susannah, too. Although...this is just a stickler thing here, but why was everyone always insisting that Jane was the prettiest? Personally I thought Elizabeth was. But anyway! I can't choose between the two.

Charles Bingley

Crispin Bonham Carter vs. Simon Woods

While I absolutely, totally fell in love with Simon Woods' Dr. Harrison in Cranford, his rooster-crest hairstyle as Charles Bingley turned me off the first time I saw him. ;-) And that giggle in the "accomplished woman" scene. Ahem. Anyway. But once I got past that, I thought he was sweet. So was Crispin. I thought that he and Susannah's Jane were really cute together. Soooo...I'm not sure here, either. Draw. This isn't going very well. ;-)

Mr. Bennet--

Benjamin Whitrow vs. Donald Sutherland

Ok. Not much competition here. Definately Benjamin Whitrow. Donald Sutherland was all right, but he was not at all how I believe Mr. Bennet was intended to be (my brothers think that he acts like he's dead the whole time). While the 1995 Mr. Bennet was off by himself most of the time, he had a good relationship with Lizzie, and a sharp wit, none of which Donald Sutherland has. When Donald Sutherland says that he doesn't know how he'll part with Lizzie, I'm scratching my head. Huh? I don't know. I just didn't lie him. So Benjamin Whitrow definitely wins.

Mrs. Bennet--

Alison Steadman vs. Brenda Blethyn

Ok. Mrs. Bennet is supposed to be terribly annoying and embarrassing. Which Alison Steadman's is. So she portrays Mrs. Bennet better. Brenda Blethyn...to be honest, I really understood her Mrs. Bennet. While she still is annoying and embarrassing, you get the idea that she really loves her daughters and in her own annoying way wants the best for them. And I don't know if that's what you're supposed to feel for the character. You're not supposed to like - or at least empathise with - Mrs. Bennet. So is that something against Brenda's Mrs. Bennet? I can't decide. So as far as characterization goes, Alison is closest.


Lydia Bennet-

Julia Sawalha vs. Jena Malone

When I first saw it, I went with Jena Malone. It's just that with her, you really get the idea how young Lydia was and what a ridiculous thing the whole thing was. She's more of a silly little girl. But the more of Julia's Lydia I see, the more I like hers, too. So I really can't decide.



Kitty Bennet-

Polly Maberly vs. Carey Mulligan

As anyone who's been around here for a while knows, I really like Carey Mulligan. I think she's a great actress. So naturally I really liked her as Kitty. But Polly's was good as well. In the end just since I like Carey I'm going towards her end of the scale, but it's not a "she's better than Polly" thing.


Charlotte Lucas-

Lucy Scott vs. Claudie Blackley

Hmm. Here's another difficult one. Lucy was great because for the first time in a P&P film adaption, she looked quite a bit older (and plainer) than Elizabeth. In the 2005 version, Claudie does not look twenty-...what was it, eight? and she was not plain at all. But Claudie was very well at her role. I guess I'd have to pick Lucy, since she really gets to develop on you. And her dislike of Mr. Collins is a lot more evident.



Mr. Collins

David Bamber vs. Tom Hollander

This one was not too tough. David Bamber was every inch the perfect Mr. Collins. I guess what I didn't like about Tom Hollander was that he made me feel bad for Mr. Collins, which had never happened to me before. ;-) Plus, ever since I saw Wives and Daughters, Tom is...well, Osbourne! Which is a character that I love (I do so ball in his scenes). So now when I see his Mr. Collins, I'm thinking, "Osbourne!" So, yeah. David's facial expressions really reminded me of Goober off of The Andy Griffith Show, which was funny. And he had his nasty side. Hmm. I think I'll have to go with David.



Lady Catherine de Bourogh

Barbara Leigh-Hunt vs. Judi Dench

This was tough. I think that Dame Judi is one of the greatest actresses ever, so naturally I was excited to see her in the role. And she did an admirable job. But I think that Barbara ended up being the best in the role. Plus the scene of her screaming her head off at Elizabeth at the idea of her marrying Mr. Darcy was chilling. So, I choose Barbara.


Georgiana Darcy

Emelia Fox vs. Tamzin Merchant

There wasn't enough Georgiana Darcy in the 2005 one, so this wasn't a biggie. You got to know Emelia's Georgiana better. I pick Emelia.


George Wickham

Adrian Lukis vs. Rupert Friend

NO competition here. I did not care for Rupert Friend's Wickham at all. Nada. Which is what made me leery when I heard that he was in The Young Victoria. As I said in the review of the film, my fears were entirely wrong...I absolutely. Completely. LOVE. Rupert's Albert. I just don't care for his Wickham.

Adrian's was perfection. In all the other versions I have seen you know right away that there's something wrong with that fella. Adrian's Wickham is so convincing that if you didn't know the storyline all ready, you would think there was nothing wrong with Wickham at all. I pick Adrian.

So there's the low-down on the characters. Now here's the movies overall.

1995's was definitely Regency. Lovely (if not a little low in the neckline...eek) costumes, gorgeous landscape, ahhhhh.

2005--didn't care for the fact that it wasn't Regency. Apparently the director didn't care for the Regency era fashion (what was his problem???) so he moved it back about a decade. The thing I liked about the 2005 version was that the Bennet family seemed so real. They really seemed like a true family. It was hard to explain. I also loved the fact that the house was a mess and how they were all dragging themselves in to breakfast, all mussed up, the morning after being out all night at the ball. BUT. It was unrealistic in the sense that they had servants who kept the house up and all of that. So I guess that was also a disadvantage.

I loved how the 1995 version was so long--they were really able to show everything. Scenes that would take maybe five minutes in a feature-length film were given twenty minutes, giving the story time to really develop. By the time the wedding party left the church in the last scene, Mom and I were sorry it was over.

The only thing I was unhappy about was the second proposal scene in the 1995 version. I thought it was a bit anti-climatic (although it has grown on me in subsequent viewings). What can beat Matthew's "I love...I love...I love you"??? The 2005 second proposal was so romantic (ok, so the 'knight in shining pajamas' as the boys call it was a bit strange), and the 1995 version just didn't quite match up.

And for the record...I did like the first proposal scene in the rain. But the 95 version's was just so...I don't know...good. :-) It's when you first start whacking Elizabeth over the head.

In the end, yes, I must admit that I prefer the 95 to the 05 version. After many viewings, my opinion has turned in its favor.

So! Which is your favorite?

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man, in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.