So I heard from my friend cec that he is a recent convert to Jane Austen appreciation. Since he's the only male (straight or otherwise) that I know who has ever professed to liking her work, I want to encourage the trend. I believe he's already watched the Masterpiece showings earlier this year, which is a great introduction to the film/tv works out there. But some of my favorites were not part of this series. What follows is a ranking of the works that I have seen.

1. Pride and Prejudice - BBC mini-series with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. It just doesn't get any better than this production. Every word and nuance is carefully thought out and portrayed to perfection. And Firth is yummy. :) No other version of Pride and Prejudice that I have seen even comes close. Certainly not the 2005 version, which I have ranted about before. The 1980 BBC version, like most of the rest of the late 70's / early 80's BBC Austen productions, was pretty good, if it didn't have to stand up to such competition. I have twice tried to sit through the 1940 Greer Garson / Laurence Olivier production without being able to get through it. It has too many trappings of that era, and Garson is frankly annoying.

2. Sense and Sensibility - with Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Kate Winslet, and Alan Rickman. Emma Thompson wrote the screenplay and did a superb job with it. The dark hour that Elinor spends at Marianne's bedside is not expressed verbally in the book, but I think is appropriately moving and a valid interpretation of the atmosphere of that moment as expressed in the book. Almost tied with this version is the new Masterpiece version, which I like different things about. I think that Winslet makes a better Marianne than does Charity Wakefield, but Hattie Morahan turns in a spot-on performance as Elinor. This version also is truer to the book.

3. Emma - BBC production with Kate Beckinsale. I think this a far superior production to the Gwyneth Paltrow version, and Beckinsale makes a very fetching and sympathetic Emma. The costuming is really excellent, as well. I like that Emma wears hats. :) The Paltrow version has one definite advantage in Jeremy Northam, who makes a more pleasing Knightly than does Mark Strong.

4. Mansfield Park - with Frances O'Connor and Johnny Lee Miller. The slavery depiction is a bit over the top, understandably, but the acting is excellent. This was a much more interesting and engaging depiction than the new Masterpiece version. I'm not sure how true it is to the novel, as I haven't read it in a while. Perhaps I should.

5. While not a novel but a fictional biography of Austen, I was very impressed with Miss Austen Regrets. Olivia Williams, who also turned in a very good performance as Jane Fairfax in the aforementioned BBC production of Emma, does a fantastic job as Jane, who as an aging spinster is still vibrant, witty, and even caustic. Although Austen's life was probably not as melodramatic as this story portrays, it's still feels true to her spirit. This is in contrast to the utter tripe that is Becoming Jane.

6. Persuasion - 1995 BBC production with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds. Both actors give strong performances, and the banter seems to flow better than the new Masterpiece version. The latter is a pretty good version as well.

I enjoyed well enough the other new Masterpiece production, Northanger Abbey. Since that's not my favorite Austen novel, my opinion of the production may suffer. In general, though, I was impressed with the new Masterpiece performances, and am glad they did not try to remake Pride & Prejudice or Emma - the existing BBC productions would be hard to top.

This coming Sunday, Masterpiece Theater kicks off it's newly-revamped season with The Complete Jane Austen, starting with Persuasion. It's even hosted by Gillian Anderson, who did a very nice job in the Bleak House series, which will be shown later in the season.

Fire up that TiVo!

Best quote from the first article:

Austen wrote the "Sex and the City" of her era, Eaton said, except that it was more like "Extensive Hand-holding in the Countryside."

I just re-watched the 2005 movie "Pride & Prejudice" based on Jane Austen's work starring Kiera Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. I think this movie is beautifully shot, well directed and decently acted. And I absolutely can't stand it.

I have to say that I have such love for the 1995 A&E mini-series version of this work that I may be highly biased. Jennifer Ehle gave an incomparable performance as Elizabeth Bennett, and Colin Firth was just way too drool-worthy as Mr. Darcy. All of the acting was fabulous, really, and the costuming and settings were equally as well done as the movie's. The cinematography was superior in the movie, although I think all the statuary in the interior shots of Pemberley was a bit much.

No, what really, really irks me about the movie is what they've done to Jane Austen's beautiful words. I can understand that the mini-series had an advantage in representing Austen's writing accurately since there was more time to explore it with an entire mini-series, and perhaps a good deal of chopping was needed to get it down to 127 minutes. I can understand that some non-essential characters were left out in order to keep the story flowing. I can even understand a small bit of the modernizing of the language - for instance, changing Lizzie's phrase "your ladyship can hardly expect me to own it" to "your ladyship can hardly expect me to own to it" seemed like an acceptable change to help modern audiences' comprehension.

But the screenwriter, Deborah Moggach, didn't stop there. There were changes throughout the script that were absolutely unnecessary and to me showed a complete lack of respect for Austen's mastery of the English language. What kind of hubris makes a writer think they can do better? One of the best scenes in the entire story is when Darcy proposes to Lizzy, and that was completely mangled. Lizzy's aunt and uncle were forced to have "no kids" so that it was justifiable that he shelled out 10,000 pounds to force Wickham to marry Lydia, when it's a very important plot / motivation point that Darcy was the one who bailed out this situation, not just that he purchased Wickham's commission as the movie has it. The whole "I should have been more open with my sisters" and Lizzy not sharing stuff with Jane was a complete fabrication very contrary to the nature of the characters as Austen established them. Finally, this incredibly tacky Hollywood mushy love stuff was tacked onto the end of the movie. Barfola.

Ms. Moggach has clearly not done anything else terribly noteworthy in her screenwriting career, and I'm sure this was her big chance. Well, she seriously blew it, and the next time I see her name associated with a film, I will avoid seeing it. Don't mess with my Austen!