Pride and Prejudice 1995

“A collection of people in whom there is little beauty and no fashion. I do not feel the slightest interest in any of them and fail to see how you can possibly do so.”

— Mr Darcy ‘BBC Adaptation of Pride and Prejudice 1980’

Harsh? Possibly, but it was my overriding thought as I once again sat through the television version that followed it fifteen years later.  I have never liked the ‘95 version but it’s sometimes difficult to define why and I was also determined to be fair in my review and so I made a list of what I considered to be its good and bad points as I went through… I wish I could say that my opinion of it was changed by watching it again but unfortunately I found myself just as irritated as I was the first time.

I want to acknowledge up front that most of what follows is opinion, because I am very aware that it is a much loved adaptation and that most likely the people reading this will have watched this version many times and simply do not view it in the same way, but it’s an honest opinion and if there is any goal here, it is not to convince anyone of how bad it is, but to persuade you that it is not universally loved and hailed as the definitive version, as I have heard it referred to more than once.

I’ll start with some of the things I liked, it won’t take long. The length of the adaptation allowed them to keep in scenes that were missing, cut or amalgamated in others, including those with Maria Lucas. The sets, the scenery, the costumes, all seemed very much in keeping with the era and on some occasions were quite breath-taking. When you add to that the cast who, given some of their other screen credits, should have excelled in the roles, this adaptation was set up to be something that was beyond compare… and perhaps that is why it is ultimately so disappointing.

As I said I’m aware that the actors can, in fact, act, so their performances must be attributed to the direction. The whole production is plagued with over-acting and the inability to deliver lines with any depth of feeling. Their postures are terrible, they cannot walk with any degree of elegance, and in short, come over as far more vulgar than was ever suggested in the book. Lydia and Mrs Bennett were the clear winners in this category but at times the others came close. For example, I know Elizabeth loves to laugh but she doesn’t need to do it loudly and at everything, her manners were better than that. The first proposal between Elizabeth and Darcy as well, is flat. They seem barely able to struggle through the dialogue, which has been hacked about from the book – presumably so that the writers can claim it as their own, but what purposes that serves, I don’t know – and in any case the words are spat out with venom instead of the dignity of suppressed anger. The only actors I would exclude from this criticism are Benjamin Whitrow (Mr Bennett) and Emilia Fox (Georgiana Darcy) who stood out above the rest as portraying their characters the way they should have been.

One of the major reasons why it doesn’t feel like Pride and Prejudice to me is probably the script, the writer(s) were simply not Jane Austen, there was too much added, changed or missed out. What was left a lot of the time didn’t seem to match the promise of the setting, and lost some of the richness of the scenes.  Little touches like the dog howling during Mary’s singing would have been funny in another instance but is terrible in what is supposed to be Jane Austen. By omitting some of the key points in Elizabeth’s speeches they actually make her appear a little mercenary, and the humour and irony of some of the things that are left in does not exactly shine through to dispel this. In fact in the scene with her father where she is defending her betrothal to Darcy, she does not tell Mr Bennett of what he did for Lydia and is on the whole, not very convincing.

Then there are scenes that are closer in substance and dialogue to any other adaptation, but the lines are said with so little feeling that you are left believing that no one understood what they were saying. All the subtle humour is lost, which is a common failing with adaptations of Emma as well but in this it’s almost insulting to the audience as it makes me wonder if they thought their viewers incapable of understanding anything that isn’t spelled out in a completely over the top manner.

I saved the worst for last of course, the added scenes. Ok, I’ll admit some of them aren’t that bad but were they necessary? One part I can genuinely say I liked was Georgiana Darcy’s interaction with Elizabeth. Georgiana does not seem quite as shy as she is portrayed in the book but it does give you a nice idea of how their relationship might develop once they are sisters. The other end of the scale is the wet scenes, no it’s not just the epic horror of Darcy jumping in the lake, they get Colin Firth wet as often as possible. I don’t have anything against Colin Firth but Mr Darcy dripping wet in that scene makes a mockery of it. Is Lizzy pre-occupied with what he must think of her, coming across her at his home after so recently refusing his offer of marriage? Of course not, she’s wondering why he’s watering the lawn! Except that both of them carry on as if he isn’t wet at all and neither do her Aunt and Uncle or his staff seem at all disturbed by it… If someone thought Mr Darcy needed to be made more sexy I’m very afraid they didn’t understand the book in the first place.

The ’95 version of Pride and Prejudice will never be my favourite adaptation of this classic novel, although it is by no means the worst adaptation of a Jane Austen novel, but here’s hoping the next one will be better.