Hi everyone! I just did a friends-cut. Pretty much the only people I cut are those who have not posted in their own journals for a really, really long time. If you think that applies to you, please check and see if you've been cut. If really you just liked lurking around here, feel free to leave a comment and I will add you back.

This post will be completely boring if you’re not a Jane Austen fan. But I’ve been meaning to review this since I watched it and I think I’d better do it now.

This was probably my favorite of the new adaptations. Mansfield Park was beyond awful, Persuasion had me cheering until they butchered The Letter, and Northanger Abbey was lovely if you ignore the random stuff Andrew Davies threw in. I’m giving you what I didn’t like first, and then winding up with what I did like.

DISLIKES

Naturally, the scene at the beginning, but that was such a tacked-on thing I managed to ignore it quite well. And I knew it was coming. Which doesn’t mean it should have been there—I don’t know what Andrew Davies was thinking.

Willoughby was far inferior to Greg Wise. Sorry, it’s true. I looked at him and did not swoon or understand why Marianne would be attracted to him at all. Greg Wise on the other hand, I understood perfectly.

Too much too soon on Willoughby. Where’s the surprise? The mystery?

Too much too soon on Elinor. I felt like I didn’t get enough of an evolution in her character.

They changed Eliza’s story which oddly enough, given Andrew Davies’ predilections for steamy Austen, made it less shocking and sensational. How weird.

Mrs. Dashwood and Fanny are too much like the characters in the 95 version, particularly Fanny. I know the minor characters are probably hard to act without calling on the older version but Fanny’s portrayal was too similar.

Sir John and Mrs. Jennings are just not funny. Although how they could beat Elizabeth Spriggs and Robert Hardy is beyond me.

The lack of Hugh Laurie was sadly felt. I think they should have just left out Mr. Palmer altogether.

Brandon = eeep! I’m sorry, but every time I looked at the actor I thought of Bradley Headstone (a particularly villainous role the actor played in Our Mutual Friend) which is not conducive to happiness and joy for Marianne. I kept expecting him to start bleeding or hit a tombstone.

Must we have a cliff scene? Is it a requirement for a period drama? At least this one makes some sense given the locale, but really.

Marianne’s hair—why is it down? It’s only down some of the time and I know she’s young but why is it down at all?

Ellie? Really? That seemed highly odd and out of place.

Marianne’s costumes seem oddly modern in some places. I’m thinking particularly of her pink headband which looked like something some young ladies of my acquaintance might wear, not something a Regency lady would have worn. Yes, they did wear headband-ish things, but not that sort!

They totally stole the smaller room idea for the ball scene! Heavens!

Also Marianne’s letter scene. Cribbed.


LIKES
I like Edward very much indeed. For one thing, he’s not Hugh Grant who always annoyed me terribly in that role. Hugh Grant annoys me to begin with, but as Edward he annoys me tenfold. And the actor is very nice and good in his own right. I also felt that his character development was really well thought out.

The music is lovely.

I like the shells—it’s a nice occupation and reminds us that they are in Devon.

The wood-splitting scene, oddly enough. I thought I was going to hate it, but for once I totally bought it. Very strange. My powers of discernment must be going.

Anne cracks me up and reminds me of Josie Pye. Glad they put her in.

Loved Elinor right after Mrs. Jennings comes to see Marianne. The way she drinks the wine…I don’t know, something about that scene just tickled my funny bone.

I liked Marianne a lot. I felt like she brought a very different energy to the part than Kate Winslet did, but I bought her interpretation. I also liked Elinor even though I felt like she cracked, if you want to put it that way, a bit too early. But I think that’s the director, not the actress. It was a bit odd to have a dark-haired Elinor after seeing her as light for so long. And I liked Edward. Did I mention that?

I loved the way they played the scene just after Edward reveals that he is in fact not married. Elinor trying to hold it all together and keep going was really nice and very much in character.

Margaret of this version and Margaret of the 95 version were equally nice, although somewhat different. The 95 Margaret was more prone to inappropriate remarks and was a little more tom-boyish.

All in all, I thought it was really lovely and one that I’ll enjoy watching in the future.

CHRIST IS RISEN!!!!

Sorry about this--I'm overly excited about the new adaptations and I've been in a very JA mood the last few days.

Anyway, Rupert Penry-Jones' comment about "Those Austen People" tickled me to death. So, being me, I made user pics. If any of you would like them, feel free to grab one, but do credit me. I'm not sure if I'll post them in my graphics journal at all. Possible, but not definite.









If you could care less about JA, you can't be my friend anymore ignore this. I'll actually post something of more interest to you soon.

This is an utterly shameless plug for my forum The Reader's Corner. If you are a Christian girl who likes to read you should join it. Because we have cyber chocolate and lots of discussions about books and we even read them together sometimes. (This last one has kind of died--I think we picked the wrong book. Anyway, enough admin ramblings.)

So join. *glares in everyone's direction*

Incidentally, love my user pic. :D And if you know what I'm talking about you get cyber chocolate.