BBC’s six hour presentation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was as accurate to the book as anyone could wish for. Unlike the dozens of movies based on books that only disappoint fans by altering half the plot, this presentation didn’t have that problem at all, for it reenacted all 300-something pages of the satire almost word for word. Although it was a relief to know that BBC would spend so much of their effort into making sure the accuracy of their version of Pride and Prejudice was spot on, what really stood out the most to me was the acting. To me, what made the presentation truly enjoyable was the effort that these actors put in to make the characters much more three dimensional and realtable to the viewer. By seeing these characters truly coming to life, I’ve come to understand and love the book even more than I did before.
Out of all the actors that made Pride and Prejudice what it is, the two actors that I commend the most for making this presentation remarkable are Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. They had the task of playing the main characters, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, which in itself makes their task the hardest to execute. On top of being the leads, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are the two most loved characters of the novel and to see these actors execute their roles inaccurately would be a huge disappointment. However, their performances were probably the best in the adaptation. Firth expressed Mr. Darcy’s lack of approachability in the beginning and his chivalry in the end–and all with attention to detail and expression. As for Jennifer Ehle and her performance as Elizabeth, it was just as remarkable as Colin Firth’s. She was able to bring out the whole “witty and vivacious yet polite and civil” facade that Elizabeth has, which is difficult in itself to pull off.
As for the other characters, they also contributed to the overall enjoyment of the adaptation. Caroline was a complete kiss up to Darcy; Mr. Bingley and Jane’s relationship was all “lollipops and rainbows”; Lydia was that annoying sister that doesn’t keep anything a secret; Mr. Collins was a complete creep; and Mrs. Bennet was just plain obnoxious and rude. Overall, the characters that these actors brought to life accurately portrayed Jane Austen’s intent to point out the ridiculousness of Regency England and mock it.
Besides the acting, the fact that this presentation was visual made the plot much easier to understand. One example of such a scenario was the part of the book when Mr. Darcy writes a letter to Elizabeth explaining his past with Wickham and his role in breaking up Bingely and Jane. When we read the letter, it’s rather two-dimensional, for it’s long, wordy, and honestly, a little boring, thus making it a drag to read, let alone fully comprehend. However, when we see the thoughts that Darcy has while he writes the letter and the thoughts Elizabeth has while reading it, we seem to understand the scenario much more. Now, we can literally see what Elizabeth and Darcy felt during that scene and thus the significance of the letter is much more understandable to us. After all, when reading the letter in the book, we fail to recognize that on the other side, there is Elizabeth reading it and her reactions to it.
In conclusion, this is probably the best version of Pride and Prejudice out there, for it’s the most accurate to the book. This version helps us understand the plot much more than we did before, for the BBC paid attention to all the little details in the characters, setting, and plot in order to make this presentation worthwhile. Overall, the six hours spent watching this miniseries is definitely worth it.
Feature Photo Credit: Originally uploaded by novelslettersofj03aust on Wikimedia Commons
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