Pride and Prejudice (1995)


I'm not writing a synopsis for this one. You know what this is.

What's different


Not much, really. This adaptation follows the book very closely. There were only a few differences that really stuck out to me. Firstly and most importantly, this version has a secondary theme that was not even hinted at in the book, and that is Mr. Darcy being wet. He gets wet constantly! To start, we see him taking a bath and then watching Lizzie play in the yard. And while he did put on a robe before going to the window, I would like to point out that the robe was clearly hanging open in the front. Later on, we see Darcy all hot and sweaty from fencing practice, which is a very in-your-face metaphor for his internal battle against his emotions. And finally, we have the famous pond scene. And by the way, that pond is NASTY.

"Oh damn, I haven't been wet in over 30 minutes. Better jump in this disgusting pond!" — Darcy, probably

I can't believe they passed up the opportunity for him to take yet another bath because he would clearly need one after diving into pond scum. Regardless of his hygiene, though, one is forced to conclude that the overarching theme of this miniseries is Darcy being wet.

But who's complaining?

Pride and Prejudice (1980)


The 1980 BBC miniseries adaptation of Pride and Prejudice was adapted by Fay Wheldon and directed by Cyril Coke. It stars Elizabeth Garvie as Elizabeth Bennet and David Rintoul as Fitzwilliam Darcy. It was the fifth BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, but it's the earliest one that survives in its entirety.

What's different


This is a fairly accurate adaptation, and I can tell it laid a lot of the groundwork for the BBC's more successful attempt in 1995. There are some added scenes that aren't in the book, to make this version unique. The most striking difference, though, is the seemingly arbitrary rearranging of particular lines from the book. A few examples: Charlotte's line about happiness in marriage is like the third line of the show, spoken before the Bingleys ever arrive at Netherfield; the line to Mary about having "delighted us long enough" comes from Mrs. Bennet, not Mr., and is spoken at a different party; and Elizabeth's observation that "young men must have something to live on" comes from Mary now.

It feels very odd to hear Mary say anything reasonable. Thankfully, she doesn't do it much.

Actually, Mary gets a lot more attention in this miniseries than she has any right to. She's the Bennet daughter most likely to be cut from any adaptation, but this one goes completely in the other direction by ramping up her part. She speaks and is spoken to quite often, sometimes poaching other characters' lines and sometimes making entirely new pronouncements.

De vier dochters Bennet


De vier dochters Bennet (The Four Bennet Daughters) is a Dutch adaptation of Pride and Prejudice that was originally televised in the Netherlands from 1961-1962. It's a six-part miniseries, and each episode is about 45 minutes long. The entire series is available with subtitles on YouTube.

What's different


You may have noticed that this adaptation is called The Four Bennet Daughters, not the five. Poor Kitty is gone, and Mary has assumed many of her lines and personality traits. It's a bit weird to see Mary annoying everyone with her harpsichord playing one minute and traipsing after Lydia the next, but this adaptation is otherwise very faithful to the book. Pretty much every major plot point and event is included, and the story progresses at just a slightly quicker pace.

Of the changes that are present, many are just different ways of conveying the same information. For example, this adaptation is very against letters for some reason. Almost everything that was conveyed by a letter in the book is acted out in this miniseries. Caroline tells Jane to her face that Charles is hot for Georgiana; we witness Caroline visiting Jane and being super fucking rude in London; and there is no post-proposal letter from Darcy.

"CHARLES IS TAKEN! I REPEAT, CHARLES IS TAKEN!"

Pride and Prejudice (1940)


This black and white MGM film stars Greer Garson as Elizabeth and Laurence Olivier as Darcy. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard and written by Aldous Huxley (yes, that Aldous Huxley) and Jane Murfin. It was adapted from a stage play by Helen Jerome. This is the earliest surviving film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice that I could find; an earlier BBC adaptation directed by Campbell Logan is believed to be lost.

What's different


QUITE a bit. Since this is the earliest existing screen adaptation, I expected it to follow the book closely. Then again, it is a movie based on a play based on a book, so plenty was probably lost in translation. Some of it can be chalked up needing a shorter timeline. For example, Wickham has already arrived in Meryton when the movie opens, and Lizzy's entire vacation with the Gardiners (including the visit to Pemberley) is omitted. Some of these for-the-sake-of-time changes are more forgivable than others.

Several scenes from the book are smushed together haphazardly, presumably still in the interest of saving time. At the Meryton ball, where Darcy first gets a reputation as a snob, he asks Lizzy to dance very soon after she overhears him insulting her, and she turns him down. In the book, this happens at a party held later at Lucas Lodge, after Darcy has started to crush on her a little. This means that in this movie, Darcy goes from dissing Lizzy to asking her to dance in a matter of minutes, which is way too fast.

"How is this possible? It surely can't be because I spent the last ten minutes insulting you, your family, and your entire way of life."

Pride and Prejudice: The Book


Of course I've read this one before. Like Sense and Sensibility, I read Pride and Prejudice first in high school, but I think I may have reread it at some point in college. I've seen several adaptations, including the 1995 and 2005 versions. Those two are the ones I'm most dreading reviewing because Austen fans tend to choose sides. I have two close friends who are on opposing sides of the 1995 v. 2005 debate, so I'm sure to offend someone at some point!

There can be only one.

My main impression after this reread was that Pride and Prejudice is not as funny as Sense and Sensibility. There is humor, for sure, just not as much and it's not as in your face. Because of this, I wouldn't mind a P&P adaptation that is all drama and no comedy. I noticed plenty of scenes in the book that could be played up very comically, and if any adaptations decided to do that, they had better do a good job of it. It could easily become obnoxious. An adaptation that achieves a perfect balance of humor and drama would really amaze me; I think Austen herself falls on the side of more drama than comedy, at least from the perspective of a modern reader, so finding that balance would be a real coup.