Alison Steadman as Mrs Bennet was so damn annoying. The acting was awful! It seemed so fake and once again it was just so damn annoying. I couldn't bare to watch anymore because of her!
That sucks because I really wanted to watch it. She made it unbearable watch though.
Rodents of Unusual Size?...I don't think they exist.
Your loss.
shareYour loss.Well duh...What an insightful reply.
It IS an annoying performance, but I would urge you to just to grit your teeth and get past it. There is much to enjoy in this version. Not perfect, by any means. But still very enjoyable.
Many of the performances were quite OTT and "theatrical". It was part of the style this adaptation was aiming for.
If there aren't any skeletons in a man's closet, there's probably a Bertha in his attic.
It IS an annoying performance, but I would urge you to just to grit your teeth and get past it. There is much to enjoy in this version. Not perfect, by any means. But still very enjoyable.I hear it is, but her performance is excruciating to hear. It's unbearable.
I hear it is, but her performance is excruciating to hear. It's unbearable.
Turn the sound down when she's on and read the subtitles?Too much work.
I reach for the mute button when she's in screen. Positively painful.
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You could always mute her scenes (that's what I do when I watch "Downton Abbey", until it comes to a character I like), with the captions on so you can see the words on the screen.
shareMany of the performances were quite OTT and "theatrical". It was part of the style this adaptation was aiming for.
You're the one coming on here and complaining about one actress out of an entire slate of performers on a very highly regarded production. This is a woman who is supposed to be embarrassing and who makes her daughters wince. Still, the sheer amount of time Mrs. Bennett is on screen pales in comparison with Lizzie's screen time. I've watched shows that had characters I didn't like but it didn't prevent me from finishing the program. That's why it's your loss, to disregard a production because of the handful of times one actor appears on screen.
You're the one coming on here and complaining about one actress out of an entire slate of performers on a very highly regarded production. This is a woman who is supposed to be embarrassing and who makes her daughters wince. Still, the sheer amount of time Mrs. Bennett is on screen pales in comparison with Lizzie's screen time. I've watched shows that had characters I didn't like but it didn't prevent me from finishing the program. That's why it's your loss, to disregard a production because of the handful of times one actor appears on screen.You are taking this so very seriously.
Just a reminder that Mrs Bennet is meant to be annoying, embarrassing, silly and a trial to her family. Part of what annoys you, I'm sure, is Ms Steadman fully articulating the reasons Mrs Bennet was so hard to bear for anyone of sensibility -- Elizabeth and her father especially. A high-pitched, carrying voice was just part of it.
shareJust a reminder that Mrs Bennet is meant to be annoying, embarrassing, silly and a trial to her family.I know, but it should seem real like it was in the movie version with Keira Knightley, but it wasn't even close.
The two versions are very different in style and spirit. The Keira Knightly version was meant to be more naturalistic, and as such had some lovely performances and gorgeous moments (I especially liked Mr Bennet's consoling Mary at the Netherfield ball, presumably after he stopped her performing any further on the piano.) The farmyard animals and beautiful countryside were part of the setting of a rural comedy, whereas the 1995 version had more of the stage and drawing room comedy about it.
shareThe two versions are very different in style and spirit whereas the 1995 version had more of the stage and drawing room comedy about it.Well the woman's performance was unbearable.
Seriously - check out the 1980 version. Priscilla Morgan's Mrs. Bennet is silly and ignorant (as the book says she is), but she's not unbearable. I've never once needed to hit the mute button for her.
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Seriously - check out the 1980 version. Priscilla Morgan's Mrs. Bennet is silly and ignorant (as the book says she is), but she's not unbearable. I've never once needed to hit the mute button for her.Might check it out. Thank you.
Here's a passage from the book itself that may help you understand Alison Steadman's interpretation of Mrs. Bennet's character. Elizabeth has accepted Darcy's proposal and has gone to her mother's room to inform her:
"When her mother went up to her dressing-room at night, she followed her, and made the important communication. Its effect was most extraordinary; for on first hearing it, Mrs. Bennet sat quite still, and unable to utter a syllable. Nor was it under many, many minutes that she could comprehend what she heard; though not in general backward to credit what was for the advantage of her family, or that came in the shape of a lover to any of them. She began at length to recover, to fidget about in her chair, get up, sit down again, wonder, and bless herself.
'Good gracious! Lord bless me! only think! dear me! Mr. Darcy! Who would have thought it! And is it really true? Oh! my sweetest Lizzy! how rich and how great you will be! What pin money, what jewels, what carriages you will have! Jane's is nothing to it - nothing at all. I am so peaked - so happy. Such a charming man! - so handsome! so tall! ......
..... "this was enough to prove that her approbation need not be doubted and Elizabeth, rejoicing that such an effusion was heard only by herself, soon went away. But before she had been three minutes in her own room, her mother followed her. 'My dearest child,' she cried, 'I can think of nothing else! Ten thousand a year, and very likely more!....."
And this was regarding a man Mrs. B did nothing but trash earlier that day!
I'm only sorry we didn't get to see Alison Steadman do the scene you reference.
shareUnfortunately, none of the available adaptations shows us that scene.
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I wonder why? In a way the scene encapsulates Mrs. Bennet's character more than any other scene in the book does.
shareThat is my big complaint about the 1995 production. Why did they not include the scene! It would have been Alison Steadman at her best (in that production). Doing a full 180 from trashing Darcy earlier (and for weeks beforehand) to being ecstatic and thrilled without missing a beat in between.
As I said, none of the available adaptations (1940, 1980, 1995 and 2005) shows us that scene. 1980 does show us the dinner party where Elizabeth tries to speak with Darcy but is thwarted by another woman. Neither 1995 nor 2005 shows that scene.
I've only seen clips of 1967 -- I would dearly love to watch that in its entirety!
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I think it's the character. Mary Boland played the character in the 1940 film, the same way.
shareShe was a schreecing shrew!! And Collins was a combo of the hunchback of Notre Dame and the vampire Barnabas Collins from the tv show Dark Shadows with a little of Pee Wee Herman thrown in!! I totally agree! I was trying to rewatch it but had to stop at the end of episode 3. If it wasn't so late I would watch the 2005 version again just to get the bad taste out of my mouth!! Maybe I'll feel differently tomorrow!
shareHer histrionics bothered me, too, at first but I eventually came to enjoy them as comic relief. I agree with others who have suggested that Steadman’s over-the-top portrayal was probably the director’s idea or at least s/he approved.
share