I love Pride and Prejudice, my most favorite of all Jane Austen's books. I have seen a dozen versions of this novel on film, but the casting of our heroine and hero in this movie has got to be the ugliest pair ever shown in film history, LOL.
For this generation of performers, Dan Stevens would be my favorite actor for Mr. Darcy, and Romola Garai or Aisling Loftus for Elizabeth Bennet.
I am intrigued. You claim to have seen a dozen P&P adaptations? Which ones are they? Because, according to my calculations, even if you count movies like Bride & Prejudice, Bridget Jones's Diary and Pride & Prejudice - A Latter-Day Comedy, there still haven't been a dozen versions made on film.
if we count just the period adaptations, we get:
1938 (not on DVD)
1940
1952 (not on DVD)
1967 (not on DVD)
1980
1995
2005
That's only 7 right there, with 3 of them unavailable for home viewing. And, if you add in the modern versions, that's still only a grand total of 10, with 3 still unavailable for viewing.
I'd love to know where you got a dozen from because I'd watch them in a heartbeat.
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I thought Anna Maxwell Martin's Elizabeth was a revelation, and very nearly exactly as described in the novel. Both she and Matthew Rhys carried it off perfectly.
Wow...I thought Matthew Rhys was one of the closest to Austen Darcys I've ever seen. Ugly? Uh, not in my eyes.
And while I did not like Anna Maxwell Martin's Lizzy, I blame that entirely on PD James, whose book Lizzy was without sparkle, wit, etc. But ugly? Not in the least.
Matthew would never, ever be ugly in my eyes either.
Though, as much as I love him as an actor, for me personally, the Darcy that comes closest to how I see Austen's Darcy is David Rintoul in 1980s version.
I didn't like Rintoul or Rhys; something about Rintoul's jawline always puts me off. As for Rhys, he is much too dour. I wouldn't call him ugly but he doesn't make an appealing Darcy.
I did like Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, and Laurence Olivier.
Agree with you there, although Matthew Rhys isn't too bad.
But Anna Maxwell Martin was a dog, no smile or sparkling eyes.
And somebody please get her to a dentist c
And somebody please get her to a dentist
That underbite! It affects her speech and sometimes I find it difficult to understand her.
As for dentition, I don't care about snowy white, but again, if misalignment affects speech, then I think they need to get fixed.
that's all.
"Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops."
I think it gives her a rather charming lisp.
If there aren't any skeletons in a man's closet, there's probably a Bertha in his attic.
At the very least Lizzie is supposed to be prettier than Lydia. In the original book Lydia is big boned (granted she is never cast that way).
But the personality transfer bothered me the most. You could never see this Lizzie ever having said:
"Till I have your disposition, your goodness, I never can have your happiness. No, no, let me shift for myself; and, perhaps, if I have very good luck, I may meet with another Mr. Collins in time.''
This version of Lizzie might have married Mr. Collins rather than joke about him and had, if possible, too much goodness.
Where does the book say that Lydia is plain?
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In the original book Lydia is big boned and plain
Point taken. Been a while since I read it. Guess I just mentally added in plain.
shareThe problem was the casting of Anna Maxwell Martin as Elizabeth.
She is a talented actress but she does not work in the role of a "beauty".
- The rest of the cast, including Matthew Rhys as Darcy, was fine.
As I was watching "Death Comes to Pemberly" Maxwell Martin's face became so distracting that I could barely tolerate it.
It was sad because this was a fine production with a decent story.
- My way to deal with this was to imagine that Michelle Dockery from Downton Abbey was playing the role.
Dockery would have been perfect.
BB ;-)
it is just in my opinion - imo - 🌈
I liked Rhys as Darcy. As for Lizzy I think women tend to be most critical of other women in appearance. We are the worst to our own kind. I myself was guilty in thinking "she's not 'pretty'" but I also followed that thinking they casted Her because she's a wonderful actress, which I think is far more important in a film adaptation.
She was however, by no means ugly.
I think the 2 actors had nice chemistry as well.
One thing I appreciate about so many British productions is they cast actors who look like real people; they don't seem to kneel to the Hollywood system that dictates every person must be breathtakingly beautiful/hot/sexy (unless the part specifies a less-attractive actor).
I think Matthew Rhys as Darcy was okay, but I did not like the casting of Elizabeth. Elizabeth Darcy is supposed to have a physical attractiveness and sparking personality that enticed Darcy to look past her lack of dowry & connections and embarrassing mother and younger sisters. This actress portrayed neither. It's too bad they made no effect to make her look attractive. A little subtle make-up, nice hairstyle and better wardrobe would have helped.
That said, I did enjoy watching this; it is a lot better than the PD James book it is based on.
I have to confess at first I did think this Elizabeth was a bit plain, but she gave a great performance and I liked her. Matthew Rhys made a terrific Darcy, for me.
Calling any woman a "dog" because of her looks is disgusting.
I have to confess at first I did think this Elizabeth was a bit plain, but she gave a great performance and I liked her. Matthew Rhys made a terrific Darcy, for me.
Calling any woman a "dog" because of her looks is disgusting.
My problem with Maxwell Martin, was not so much her looks, though she did look too old, as her lack of charm and sparkle, which every lover of P & P, remembers vividly! I don't know who this actress knows, but I've seen her in four different British TV series, and her acting is the same in each one: lifeless, emotionless, humourless.
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