Sunday, March 27, 2011

Pride and Prejudice (1980 TV Mini-Series)

★★★★½

Another TV mini-series!

Despite being a period piece, this adaptation somehow betrays its 1980s origins. It's kind of slow and is rather much more like a play than a movie, with straightforward dialogue taking up much of the screen time. The acting lacks the subtlety and charm of the 1995 BBC version, and the adaptation as a whole lacks the dramatic flair of the 2005 Keira Knightley film. Still, like the other two adaptations, this one adheres faithfully to the book, and much of the dialogue is taken directly from it. I was pleased to find that this version includes even more of my favorite lines that were unfortunately omitted from both the other two versions.

This mini-series is about one hour shorter than the BBC version, and there is some condensing of scenes, though not much. Characters were true to the book, only a couple were missing, and I admit I rather prefer this version's portrayal of Lady Catherine. I would even call this version's Mr. Darcy on par with Colin Firth's in the BBC version; even though David Rintoul doesn't have the same presence as Colin Firth, his portrayal, I think, better showed Mr. Darcy's gradual change in attitude towards Elizabeth. This version also pleasantly includes Charlotte more than the other two.

2 comments:

  1. Just for posterity, I'm going to comment here, cuz I refer back to your reviews when I try to figure out which ones I liked and didn't and which ones I've seen or not. I liked this one better than the 1995 one with Colin Firth.

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  2. Oh, I'm so glad you liked this one better than the Colin Firth one! EVERYONE just LOVES the Colin Firth one, but I really thought the acting in this one was fantastic. I didn't give it 5 stars I'm pretty sure because of the low-quality production. The Colin Firth one was just so much nicer to watch in terms of costumes and setting. But I really do like this version a lot!

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