"Lost in Austen"
I'm still working my way through The Sound of Wings -- only 100 pages left to go! -- so in the meantime, I'd like to post my thoughts about "Lost in Austen," a short miniseries that aired on the BBC a couple of years ago (in 2008, I believe), although I didn't watch it until a few days ago!
The premise caught my attention: Amanda Price is a modern girl who nevertheless loves to spend an evening curled up with her favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. She gets swept up in the love story and the time period, and she can't help contrasting the noble Mr. Darcy with her own oafish boyfriend. Then one day she discovers a portal in the bathroom of her apartment, and suddenly she's face to face with Elizabeth Bennet! The two girls switch places; Lizzy eagerly explores the modern world, and Amanda is transported into the pages of Pride and Prejudice.
I'm honestly not sure what I think about this miniseries...I'm still kind of digesting it. First of all, with Amanda's entry into the world of P&P, everything runs amok! Anyone expecting fidelity to the original novel will be woefully disappointed. I was expecting that, to an extent, and I mostly enjoyed the random plot twists: due to a misunderstanding with Bingley, Jane ends up marrying Mr. Collins to save Longbourn; Charlotte Lucas runs off to Africa to become a missionary; Georgiana is a nymphomaniac/sociopath; and Caroline Bingley is a lesbian! For the most part, I was able to keep my sense of humor about these developments.
I was much less pleased with the main character of Amanda. First of all, once she was able to borrow some appropriate clothes from the Bennet girls, she should have put up her damn hair! I assume that leaving her hair down, especially with the straight styling and bangs, was supposed to show us all that she's the modern girl in a sea of Regency females; but it REALLY bothered me! More importantly, I also thought she was a terrible substitute for Elizabeth Bennet. Clearly, she was supposed to take on the role of Lizzy somewhat, but in my opinion she failed miserably. Where Elizabeth is witty and clever, Amanda is loudmouthed, vulgar, and bumbling; I was strongly reminded of Bridget Jones, except Amanda was much less likable.
As for Mr. Darcy, my feelings about him in this miniseries are mixed. I think Elliot Cowan was well cast and did a good job; he brought out a certain shyness and vulnerability in the character. There was a nice mixture of solemnity, protectiveness of his friends (especially Bingley), and a bit of social awkwardness. I also enjoyed much of his dialogue, especially his banter with Amanda. However, I absolutely could not stomach the fact that he falls in love with Amanda. The Mr. Darcy of Pride and Prejudice would certainly never do so! I kept wanting to point my finger and shout, "You're not the real Mr. Darcy!"
But my biggest disappointment of the series was the ending. As previously mentioned, there are many deviations from the plot of the original novel, and several of them are quite fun. But as the movie goes on, events get crazier and crazier so that Austen's original characters are hardly recognizable! Bingley, distraught over Jane's marriage to Collins, becomes a raving drunk, and HE eventually elopes with Lydia instead of Wickham! Mr. Bennet catches up with them in a rage and challenges Bingley to a duel, whereupon Bingley nearly kills him! That was the point at which I stopped laughing and started feeling rather enraged.
I also didn't like the resolution of Amanda's love life. Throughout the series, several men show an interest in her: Bingley initially prefers her to Jane, Mr. Collins makes smarmy advances to her, Wickham flirts with her, and Mr. Darcy has erotically charged arguments with her. In the end, of course, she falls in love with Mr. Darcy and has a stirring reunion with him at Pemberley. That got an eyeroll from me; I mean, sure, many women secretly fantasize about finding their own Mr. Darcy, but this was just way too cheesy. Plus, I still had unresolved questions -- are Amanda and Mr. Darcy getting married? Will they stay at Pemberley or go back through the portal to Amanda's world? I really could not picture Amanda staying in Austen's England forever, especially given how outrageously she behaves.
Oddly enough, my favorite character in the series was probably Wickham; although he's the villain in the original P&P, it turns out he's just misunderstood. He didn't actually seduce Georgiana; rather, she threw herself at him, but he resisted. However, in order to save her reputation and protect Darcy's feelings, he allows everyone to believe that he tried to seduce her. In this series, as in the original novel, Wickham is charming and flirtatious, treating life as a grand adventure. Were I in Amanda's position, I most likely would have chosen him!
My overall opinion of this miniseries is mixed; I still can't decide whether the pros outweigh the cons. In general, I'm getting pretty sick of all these re-workings and spinoffs of Austen's work. After all, nothing can beat the originals! Why mess with excellence?
The premise caught my attention: Amanda Price is a modern girl who nevertheless loves to spend an evening curled up with her favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. She gets swept up in the love story and the time period, and she can't help contrasting the noble Mr. Darcy with her own oafish boyfriend. Then one day she discovers a portal in the bathroom of her apartment, and suddenly she's face to face with Elizabeth Bennet! The two girls switch places; Lizzy eagerly explores the modern world, and Amanda is transported into the pages of Pride and Prejudice.
I'm honestly not sure what I think about this miniseries...I'm still kind of digesting it. First of all, with Amanda's entry into the world of P&P, everything runs amok! Anyone expecting fidelity to the original novel will be woefully disappointed. I was expecting that, to an extent, and I mostly enjoyed the random plot twists: due to a misunderstanding with Bingley, Jane ends up marrying Mr. Collins to save Longbourn; Charlotte Lucas runs off to Africa to become a missionary; Georgiana is a nymphomaniac/sociopath; and Caroline Bingley is a lesbian! For the most part, I was able to keep my sense of humor about these developments.
I was much less pleased with the main character of Amanda. First of all, once she was able to borrow some appropriate clothes from the Bennet girls, she should have put up her damn hair! I assume that leaving her hair down, especially with the straight styling and bangs, was supposed to show us all that she's the modern girl in a sea of Regency females; but it REALLY bothered me! More importantly, I also thought she was a terrible substitute for Elizabeth Bennet. Clearly, she was supposed to take on the role of Lizzy somewhat, but in my opinion she failed miserably. Where Elizabeth is witty and clever, Amanda is loudmouthed, vulgar, and bumbling; I was strongly reminded of Bridget Jones, except Amanda was much less likable.
As for Mr. Darcy, my feelings about him in this miniseries are mixed. I think Elliot Cowan was well cast and did a good job; he brought out a certain shyness and vulnerability in the character. There was a nice mixture of solemnity, protectiveness of his friends (especially Bingley), and a bit of social awkwardness. I also enjoyed much of his dialogue, especially his banter with Amanda. However, I absolutely could not stomach the fact that he falls in love with Amanda. The Mr. Darcy of Pride and Prejudice would certainly never do so! I kept wanting to point my finger and shout, "You're not the real Mr. Darcy!"
But my biggest disappointment of the series was the ending. As previously mentioned, there are many deviations from the plot of the original novel, and several of them are quite fun. But as the movie goes on, events get crazier and crazier so that Austen's original characters are hardly recognizable! Bingley, distraught over Jane's marriage to Collins, becomes a raving drunk, and HE eventually elopes with Lydia instead of Wickham! Mr. Bennet catches up with them in a rage and challenges Bingley to a duel, whereupon Bingley nearly kills him! That was the point at which I stopped laughing and started feeling rather enraged.
I also didn't like the resolution of Amanda's love life. Throughout the series, several men show an interest in her: Bingley initially prefers her to Jane, Mr. Collins makes smarmy advances to her, Wickham flirts with her, and Mr. Darcy has erotically charged arguments with her. In the end, of course, she falls in love with Mr. Darcy and has a stirring reunion with him at Pemberley. That got an eyeroll from me; I mean, sure, many women secretly fantasize about finding their own Mr. Darcy, but this was just way too cheesy. Plus, I still had unresolved questions -- are Amanda and Mr. Darcy getting married? Will they stay at Pemberley or go back through the portal to Amanda's world? I really could not picture Amanda staying in Austen's England forever, especially given how outrageously she behaves.
Oddly enough, my favorite character in the series was probably Wickham; although he's the villain in the original P&P, it turns out he's just misunderstood. He didn't actually seduce Georgiana; rather, she threw herself at him, but he resisted. However, in order to save her reputation and protect Darcy's feelings, he allows everyone to believe that he tried to seduce her. In this series, as in the original novel, Wickham is charming and flirtatious, treating life as a grand adventure. Were I in Amanda's position, I most likely would have chosen him!
My overall opinion of this miniseries is mixed; I still can't decide whether the pros outweigh the cons. In general, I'm getting pretty sick of all these re-workings and spinoffs of Austen's work. After all, nothing can beat the originals! Why mess with excellence?