(no subject)
I had a fairly productive day today, homework wise - I am far from finished, but I've made a start, and that's good, and definatly better than nothing.
Hopefully I won't fail anything - because I really need to keep up my average to be allowed into this Reading Course thing the uni is offering next year - you basically get to choose your own topics, essays, books, the whole kit and kaboodle!
I would love to study children's literature - especially Narnia - and write about friendship and bravery and talking lions and a new religion for the disenchanted youths of today and actually have it count towards my degree! Joy! Speaking of Narnia - I saw the trailer for it today! Definately a new religion! Absoudamnlutely bloody brilliant! I can't wait!
Can you tell through my excessive use of exclamation marks just how excited I am? These books absolutely shaped my youth - they occupied my every waking thought for years and years - shaped every game I ever played as a child (until I discovered Indiana Jones - but that's a whole 'nother story) and as good as the BBC series was (at the time - and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is still good, but the others are, sadly, showing their age) this movie looks like it really will capture the magic and innocence and breath-stealing wonder of the books. Oh, please please live up to expectations! I half wish I hadn't seen the trailer... oh no I don't, but still, please be good! (And I think the Edmund crush is going to continue, uh huh, cradle-snatcher that I am!)
Anyway, the point of talking about about being productive was to lead onto my superficial discussion of the new Pride and Prejudice film (which I went to see tonight, and don't feel guilty about doing so, because even though I have a cartload of stuff left to do, I was fairly productive today - see the connection?) Anyway, Pride and Prejudice!
Somehow, beyond comprehension, Matthew Macfayden has managed to make me like him. The man irritated me beyond belief in Spooks - he was so, well, flaccid is the word that comes to mind. I can understand how that stunned-mullet kind of look/acting can really work in certain roles - but for Darcy? Fitzwilliam Darcy? No way!
But, despite my pre-disposition to loathe him, he won we over, somehow--
perhaps it was those delightful Regency-era trousers that seem to be impossible to wear with underwear - that he just loved posing in. Or perhaps it was the slightly long tousled hair. But no. I'm not that superficial...yet. I wouldn't call him smouldering (in the Colin Firth sense) but he did have something...
I had been wavering bewteen liking and disliking him throughout the beginning of the film, but the turning point to liking was - oh god, it's going to be way too hard to describe with any sense of justice, let me just say it involves rain falling upon an isolated huge towering pillared arbour - all carved white marble stone, epic and grand and beautiful, set upon a deserted lawn on a high hill overlooking a gigantic lake (everything here was grand - mirroring, dare I say it, the passion that burned within its pillared walls!) a lake with an island and trees and everything is so emerald green and lush and dangerous and misty and beautiful! The essence of Romance, truly. So, Darcy pursues Lizzie to this grand monument and proposes, in a hurried, clumsy, mean sort of a way - and she refuses him. It all turns rather heated, and they're both drenched with rain, but so flushed as well. They're shouting in each others faces, so close, and getting closer still-- simmering rage and lust (lust on Darcy's side at least) and oh god, it's intense. They're close enough to kiss - and they almost do - you can see Darcy leaning in, almost against his will, and you know, he knows, that if he kisses her she'll push him down the hill without a second thought. He manages to pull away, utter a hasty apology, and make his striding retreat - but, goodness! Turning Point!
There was another part, it was only a few seconds, but it was so poignant. Bingley is proposing (with Darcy's blessing) to Jane at Longbourne, Darcy is watching the house from a nearby hill (I'm seeing a theme: he likes his hills - looking down, superiority, all of that I suppose) Anyway, he turns and walks towards-ish the camera and out of shot. I don't know why I found it so special - but the lighting and music and colours all merged to produce and perfect moment.
Oh! The music in the film is brilliant! Understated and beautiful, subtly haunting. Lovely.
The film does lack the infamous White-Shirt-Lake-Jumping-Scene (I suspect Macfayden isn't as waxed as Firth) There is however, a very very satisfactory substitute scene involving Darcy on a damp misty morning, striding across a field with a half open white shirt, very tousled hair and a pained look of absolute longing. Lovely lovely lovely.
The whole film screams sensuality actually. Well, not screams, but whispers it in your ear everytime you are slightly distracted. There's a pervading aura of sensuality is what I'm trying to say. There are just so many beautiful moments in this film - like when two footmen are spreading a dust-cloth over a table in Netherfield Park (after Darcy has convinced Bingley to abandon Jane and go to London) It's in slight slow motion and there is just such tenderness emanating from the screen. Even though the film is very choppy (I heard they had to edit it like hell to get it down to 2 hours - I wouldn't like to see it without already knowing the story) it is still a beauty to watch. The stunning music, the sweeping dramatic shots of moors and mountains, of ancient gnarled trees and majestic family homes - are really, truly breathtaking.
I also really enjoyed the realism of it all (sure, some of the behaviour - ahem, said very enjoyed Arbour and Mist-Striding scenes - would have gotten the characters shot at the time, but I can forgive them) Hair wasn't perfectly curled all the time. Fringes did get straggely in the fog or wind. The clothing wasn't perfect - it was slightly rough and homespun - and all the more impressive for that. I expect those who go for the costumes will be disappointed - it's more bawdy tavern than genteel tea-party, but I really enjoyed that. These guys weren't afraid to walk around in the mud with the ducks in the yard (not to mention letting the pig into the house because it was cold outside - brilliant!) Someone said they missed the bonnets - I have to say, I absolutely didn't miss nor notice their absence!
I probably should mention some characters other than Darcy... Elizabeth was alright, I liked that they were all young and more true to Austen's ages, but I feel like Jennifer Ehle (?) really delivered Lizzies lines with much more snap (for lack of a better word) and force and passion. Kiera sometimes seemed a little washed out. And she looked disturbingly like Winona Rider. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing.
Mr. Collins (who I am very fond of - I know people don't understand why I prefer him to Wickham - especially in the BBC version, but I do, and I can't explain it, so please, leave me alone) was great. He was like a schoolboy who got caught with his finger in the pie (Not in a creepy teen movie way either!) He was clumsy and arrogant and utterly foolish. The scene where he introduced Lizzie to Lady Catherine was a gem! A gem I say!
Mr Wickham was fairly unimpressive. He had cool hair though and I'm also fairly sure he was gay. I think he's going to beat on Lydia until she comes home one day and catches him with a rent boy - she'll then shoot him in a fit of jealous rage and inherit a meagre fortune.
Mr Bingley was fantastic! The red hair was an unexpected and interesting touch (though Jane - as the beautiful daughter - will always be blonde, won't she?) He was fumbling and sweet and had a constant look like he was about to burst into tears - whether because he was happy or confused, I'm not really sure. I'm find I'm really very fond of the boy - he was just so eager and so cute at the Ball - dancing and clapping and not being able to take his eyes off Jane. They are a perfect couple :)
Donald Sutherland was good as the father - though some of his lines were dumbed down, and he didn't quite have as many lines as he should have. He was beautifully sympathetic though (and suitably hen-pecked) he was gentle and kind and eccentric. Great casting.
Hmm, that's all I can think of right now. It wasn't a perfect film on first impressions, but I think any lover of Pride and Prejudice will find something to smile at. I know I was grinning like a loon for a lot of it. A most enjoyable evening, yes indeed.
Hopefully I won't fail anything - because I really need to keep up my average to be allowed into this Reading Course thing the uni is offering next year - you basically get to choose your own topics, essays, books, the whole kit and kaboodle!
I would love to study children's literature - especially Narnia - and write about friendship and bravery and talking lions and a new religion for the disenchanted youths of today and actually have it count towards my degree! Joy! Speaking of Narnia - I saw the trailer for it today! Definately a new religion! Absoudamnlutely bloody brilliant! I can't wait!
Can you tell through my excessive use of exclamation marks just how excited I am? These books absolutely shaped my youth - they occupied my every waking thought for years and years - shaped every game I ever played as a child (until I discovered Indiana Jones - but that's a whole 'nother story) and as good as the BBC series was (at the time - and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is still good, but the others are, sadly, showing their age) this movie looks like it really will capture the magic and innocence and breath-stealing wonder of the books. Oh, please please live up to expectations! I half wish I hadn't seen the trailer... oh no I don't, but still, please be good! (And I think the Edmund crush is going to continue, uh huh, cradle-snatcher that I am!)
Anyway, the point of talking about about being productive was to lead onto my superficial discussion of the new Pride and Prejudice film (which I went to see tonight, and don't feel guilty about doing so, because even though I have a cartload of stuff left to do, I was fairly productive today - see the connection?) Anyway, Pride and Prejudice!
Somehow, beyond comprehension, Matthew Macfayden has managed to make me like him. The man irritated me beyond belief in Spooks - he was so, well, flaccid is the word that comes to mind. I can understand how that stunned-mullet kind of look/acting can really work in certain roles - but for Darcy? Fitzwilliam Darcy? No way!
But, despite my pre-disposition to loathe him, he won we over, somehow--
perhaps it was those delightful Regency-era trousers that seem to be impossible to wear with underwear - that he just loved posing in. Or perhaps it was the slightly long tousled hair. But no. I'm not that superficial...yet. I wouldn't call him smouldering (in the Colin Firth sense) but he did have something...
I had been wavering bewteen liking and disliking him throughout the beginning of the film, but the turning point to liking was - oh god, it's going to be way too hard to describe with any sense of justice, let me just say it involves rain falling upon an isolated huge towering pillared arbour - all carved white marble stone, epic and grand and beautiful, set upon a deserted lawn on a high hill overlooking a gigantic lake (everything here was grand - mirroring, dare I say it, the passion that burned within its pillared walls!) a lake with an island and trees and everything is so emerald green and lush and dangerous and misty and beautiful! The essence of Romance, truly. So, Darcy pursues Lizzie to this grand monument and proposes, in a hurried, clumsy, mean sort of a way - and she refuses him. It all turns rather heated, and they're both drenched with rain, but so flushed as well. They're shouting in each others faces, so close, and getting closer still-- simmering rage and lust (lust on Darcy's side at least) and oh god, it's intense. They're close enough to kiss - and they almost do - you can see Darcy leaning in, almost against his will, and you know, he knows, that if he kisses her she'll push him down the hill without a second thought. He manages to pull away, utter a hasty apology, and make his striding retreat - but, goodness! Turning Point!
There was another part, it was only a few seconds, but it was so poignant. Bingley is proposing (with Darcy's blessing) to Jane at Longbourne, Darcy is watching the house from a nearby hill (I'm seeing a theme: he likes his hills - looking down, superiority, all of that I suppose) Anyway, he turns and walks towards-ish the camera and out of shot. I don't know why I found it so special - but the lighting and music and colours all merged to produce and perfect moment.
Oh! The music in the film is brilliant! Understated and beautiful, subtly haunting. Lovely.
The film does lack the infamous White-Shirt-Lake-Jumping-Scene (I suspect Macfayden isn't as waxed as Firth) There is however, a very very satisfactory substitute scene involving Darcy on a damp misty morning, striding across a field with a half open white shirt, very tousled hair and a pained look of absolute longing. Lovely lovely lovely.
The whole film screams sensuality actually. Well, not screams, but whispers it in your ear everytime you are slightly distracted. There's a pervading aura of sensuality is what I'm trying to say. There are just so many beautiful moments in this film - like when two footmen are spreading a dust-cloth over a table in Netherfield Park (after Darcy has convinced Bingley to abandon Jane and go to London) It's in slight slow motion and there is just such tenderness emanating from the screen. Even though the film is very choppy (I heard they had to edit it like hell to get it down to 2 hours - I wouldn't like to see it without already knowing the story) it is still a beauty to watch. The stunning music, the sweeping dramatic shots of moors and mountains, of ancient gnarled trees and majestic family homes - are really, truly breathtaking.
I also really enjoyed the realism of it all (sure, some of the behaviour - ahem, said very enjoyed Arbour and Mist-Striding scenes - would have gotten the characters shot at the time, but I can forgive them) Hair wasn't perfectly curled all the time. Fringes did get straggely in the fog or wind. The clothing wasn't perfect - it was slightly rough and homespun - and all the more impressive for that. I expect those who go for the costumes will be disappointed - it's more bawdy tavern than genteel tea-party, but I really enjoyed that. These guys weren't afraid to walk around in the mud with the ducks in the yard (not to mention letting the pig into the house because it was cold outside - brilliant!) Someone said they missed the bonnets - I have to say, I absolutely didn't miss nor notice their absence!
I probably should mention some characters other than Darcy... Elizabeth was alright, I liked that they were all young and more true to Austen's ages, but I feel like Jennifer Ehle (?) really delivered Lizzies lines with much more snap (for lack of a better word) and force and passion. Kiera sometimes seemed a little washed out. And she looked disturbingly like Winona Rider. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing.
Mr. Collins (who I am very fond of - I know people don't understand why I prefer him to Wickham - especially in the BBC version, but I do, and I can't explain it, so please, leave me alone) was great. He was like a schoolboy who got caught with his finger in the pie (Not in a creepy teen movie way either!) He was clumsy and arrogant and utterly foolish. The scene where he introduced Lizzie to Lady Catherine was a gem! A gem I say!
Mr Wickham was fairly unimpressive. He had cool hair though and I'm also fairly sure he was gay. I think he's going to beat on Lydia until she comes home one day and catches him with a rent boy - she'll then shoot him in a fit of jealous rage and inherit a meagre fortune.
Mr Bingley was fantastic! The red hair was an unexpected and interesting touch (though Jane - as the beautiful daughter - will always be blonde, won't she?) He was fumbling and sweet and had a constant look like he was about to burst into tears - whether because he was happy or confused, I'm not really sure. I'm find I'm really very fond of the boy - he was just so eager and so cute at the Ball - dancing and clapping and not being able to take his eyes off Jane. They are a perfect couple :)
Donald Sutherland was good as the father - though some of his lines were dumbed down, and he didn't quite have as many lines as he should have. He was beautifully sympathetic though (and suitably hen-pecked) he was gentle and kind and eccentric. Great casting.
Hmm, that's all I can think of right now. It wasn't a perfect film on first impressions, but I think any lover of Pride and Prejudice will find something to smile at. I know I was grinning like a loon for a lot of it. A most enjoyable evening, yes indeed.