A documentary I liked about the nitty-gritty of making a movie. DISCLAIMER: "Pride and Prejudice-The Lake Scene (Colin Firth Strips Off - at 18:31)", audiovisual content administered by BBC Worldwide.
Jennifer Ehle is the best! I hate all the other actresses that have played Lizzy: they make Lizzy quite bitchy, Ehle makes her kind with just enough witt and sass
This version of “Pride and Prejudice” is definitely the gold standard. It’s an absolute delight to watch. I have it on DVD and I have watched it several times. Wonderful actors, fabulous costumes, and beautiful locations.
This series had THE best casting of any version and that’s just one of the things that made the series great. I can’t imagine anyone else playing these roles... these actors did them to perfection. I fell in love with the depictions of the Bennett family’s daily lives and the space that each character occupied. This series was unhurried and allowed the viewer to really become a part of their lives, their home, their town, etc. They really brought this story to life. Every other version goes on to prove just how great THIS one is!
Also, the 2005 sets were abysmal~ almost squalid-looking. The costumes weren't right... I lasted about 15 minutes withthat version~ but get So Much Joy from watching the 1995 production Over and Over again. Just my opinion.
As a professor of English literature, I have taught this classic novel to my students many times. I lost count of the times I read this work. I have seen all the visual versions of this work including the movie, and I can say with certainty that the people who acted in this movie seemed a true reflection of the characters. This is the best version whichever way you look at. Needless to say, I watch these serials quite often
I also like this version the best. I will say that Charlotte here seems too pretty to really need to marry Mr Collins. She says she is not so attractive, but she seemed pretty attractive to me. And then I wondered why Mr Darcy would be so in love with Lizzie, when she was so insulting to him. With all his money and being such a good owner of his estate, he should have been able to find a woman who was much more polite and appreciative. Of course love is blind, but surely there were more fish in the sea for him. Mr Collins was a comical figure here, a bit pompous, but not so bad. Later on it was not so nice how he talked about Lydia and her marriage with Wickham, of course. There he is more sinister, as the actor said. I did not like the Mr Collins in the Keira Knightly film, he did not seem funny to me, and I would not want to have him as a brother-in-law.
@@jamesstuartbrice420 The problems with love is that, for a lot of people, being rejected is a bit of a turn on. Also the hating at first, then turning into love is a very common trope in literature, also in life.
@@charybdisontherocks I think it is called the meet cute. In the movie Holiday with Cameron Diaz the characters even use the term. They do not necessarily hate each other, they may just annoy each other. Like Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in It happened one night. The initial annoyance gradually morphs into love. And the initial affection of some characters may also reverse itself with more experience. Or some sort of compromise is worked out, as in the Taming of the Shrew.
@@jamesstuartbrice420 I think it is important to read a period novel in the context of time and place. Darcy felt a not unreasonable obligation to his status as master of a wealthy estate. Beyond physical attraction, Elizabeth was the perfect mate by her strength of character even while her circumstances were entirely unsuitable. Her integrity became more apparent to him as the story progressed. Miss Bingley fawned all over him but showed herself to be conniving and mean-spirited. Elizabeth challenged him to be a better person, an image of himself that he fervently desired. It makes sense to me that Darcy would love Elizabeth. What puzzles me is Elizabeth herself. She had no option but marriage and was facing destitution due to the entail. She turned down both Collins and Darcy. Collins was insufferable but with Darcy, Elizabeth could rescue all the women in her family. How many proposals could she expect to have? Charlotte was a pragmatist. For her, marriage to Collins brought her most of what she could reasonably hope for.
I'm sure our Ms. Austen is smiling in heaven. It is certainly my favorite English classic fiction ever. To most of our regrets that she died too young. 😪 It would have been great if she completed Sanditon. 😟
This version of Pride and Prejudice was the best thing I have ever seen on TV. My only disappointment in this insight into its making was that there was no mention of the actor who played Lizzie's father. He was one of my favorite characters.
@Maina FridmanBen Whitrow is a fine actor and portrays a rather endearing Mr. Bennet. However, we must remember that Mr. Bennet was a fairly negligent father. He isolated himself to escape the noise and silliness of his wife and younger daughters, but avoided parental responsibility when it was most needed. It was easier for him to rationalize allowing Lydia to go off to Brighton, rather than put his foot down. He regrets not putting money aside for his daughters, but is pleased that everything worked out with very little inconvenience to himself.
Only thing I regretted was they rushed the end. They never showed Mrs Bennett being told Lizzie was engaged and Austen’s description of this was just so good
It was very rushed. The proposal scene at the end left out so much of Austen's dialogue which demonstrated the growing honesty and deepening of Darcy and Lizzy's relationship.
Yes and no. He was hilarious and I thoroughly enjoyed his performance but if you look in the book itself he was not well cast at all. He is supposed to be like 25 years old and quite handsome...Nope.
It's hard to win over book fans but this one makes me happy to live after 1995! BBC is a blessing to us all! Sherlock is also a good interpretation (albeit slowly declining as the episodes progress).
Totally agree - anytime I pick up P & P to read for the 100th time - I always follow with this version of P & P. Epitome of the book true to the period & characters as it was written by JA...Beauty was differently judged in the Regency period...just as we view the 70's bell bottoms & Abba fashion quirky now.
This production is by far my favourite version of Pride & Prejudice. Colin Firth was suitably aristocratic & Jennifer Eyle was superb - she looked the part
I think the scene that is captured best is the duel of words between Elizabeth and Lady Catherine. It’s a masterclass of acting and source material truly feeling something akin to being fully realized. Seeing Elizabeth’s restraint give way to obstinance in the face of what most symbolizes the obstacle standing in her and Darcy’s way (Society) is a beautiful thing.
I agree...I watched the original television debut in 1995 then bought the two video set when it became available...that important scene between Lizzy and Lady Catherine was very well thought out and portrayed...Lady Catherine finally takes her gloves off and Lizzy stands her ground...when many years later I bought P&P on two dvd set, I was VERY DISAPPOINTED by the insensitive editing...that scene, which is one of my favourites, has been butchered along with much more missing from the final scenes...no doubt in an effort to squeeze the whole production onto just two disks...without those scenes being given their full weight the storyline is not properly tied together...so I have not been able to watch it for many years as I simply cringe...for me it is unbearable...come on BBC...please restore those scenes to their original lengths even if it means adding an extra disk!
@@suenolan3086 I think one of the most remarkable things about Elizabeth is that she was _never_ intimidated by Lady Catherine, even when she was in her "dislike of Darcy" period. For Charlotte's sake, she probably held her tongue a bit at Rosings, but she just wasn't intimidated as the rest of them were. A bit of clever foreshadowing by Austen there.
"When we first auditioned David Bamber as Mr. Collins...." we we rolling around on the floor in a pool of our tears of mirth! :-DDDD The only question remains how on earth he managed to stay serious himself! He is the shiniest pearl in this unbelievable casting, if only Jane Austen could have seen him!
My wife made me watch this and I have watched it many times. My favorite character is the mother, she is excellent. Everytime I watch it I hold my breath every time.
The beauty of the love between Darcy and Elizabeth is that it is psychological, intellectual as well as physical. She is intelligent and independent and he falls in love with that. That is why women love this novel. It's about psychological tension between two equal lovers. I have read the book and I think this adaptation was superb.
Except that they are not equal. Lizzie is an extremely selfish person. She knows that her family will be literally starving in the street if someone can not secure a marriage, but she treats that like a joke. She refuses Mr Collins because he isn't cool, and she wants to marry a tall hunky guy. In the end, Lizzie isn't independent, just arrogant. She doesn't have a pot to piss in, she isn't well educated, and all she can offer someone is disdain to "prove" her "worth".
@@mariasmith2198 Many people do not share your shallow opinion of Elizabeth. If that were true, Pride and Prejudice would not have become the classic it is today. She is a wonderful character with many layers who is unusually independent for a woman of her time and values love based on mutual respect.
Maria Smith Wow! That’s all you were able to glean from the story? If what you say is true, Lizzie would have accepted Darcy’s proposal the first time he asked her. She would have been perfectly happy to be on her own, even during that era and despite the fact that society would have been quite hard on her. She refused Mr. Collins b/c he wasn’t her intellectual equal, among other things. In addition, Lizzie explicitly states that she WILL NOT marry unless she finds the deepest love & she holds to that. Does Lizzie really desire a “tall, hunky guy” as you put it? I don’t recall the book describing Darcy as drop-dead gorgeous.
This entire piece was WONDERFUL. It is the very best version done of this book. I thought Mr. Collins was perfectly cast. Mrs. Bennett was too. I loved this and still do. It does not grow old no matter how many times I have seen it
There can never, ever, be another Mrs Bennett after Alison Steadman's incredible tour de force! And I would probably say the same for the character of Lady Catherine de Burgh. Judy Dench, for all her brilliance and unquestioned talent just didn't cut it after Barbara Leigh-Hunt.
Agreed on Dench. That was the fault of Joe Wright. I've not re-read the book in ages but each time I watch this version I find Alison's performance of Mrs. Bennet over the top and exceedingly irritating. If that is in fact how Austen wrote her then Brava! But I think not. I'll have to read P&P again.
To me all actors were perfect, except for one. I know it was her first real acting job, but Emilia Fox played Georgiana af is the poor girl was not just young and timid, but mentally retarded instaid.
This has got to be THE BEST adaptation of Pride & Prejudice ever made! ....hats off to the cast and crew for bringing out such authenticity ! 👏👏👏 I cannot bring myself to watch a different adaptation to this 1995 one.....I have lost count of the number of times I have watched this....🙂
I believe the people who have actually read (and love) Austen's masterpiece would always consider 1995 BBC series THE definitive adaptation of the story. I made a brave effort to watch the 2005 movie, but simply couldn't bear it beyond the first 20 minutes. Forget Keira's tomboy-ish Lizzy, they even made the Bennet family live in a pig farm. Shocking!
It just moves too fast for me, you barely get a chance to know who any of the characters are, so it's like watching a bunch of random people do random things.
The dialogue was delivered too fast and often surrounded by noise...and they seemed to rely on visual effects more than the actual story~ for me, it seemed like a big, noisy Mess, not the gracious, yet well-paced, textured presentation of 1995's production.
I've watched this series so many times and I never get tired of it, it's just so wonderfully done. Pride and Prejudice in one of my favorite books, and this is absolutely the best adaptation ever
There could NEVER be a better adaptation of this wonderful book. I bought it as soon as I could get my hands on it and never tire of watching. Absolute perfection in every area. Thank you for this very informative upload on this wonderful movie.
I'm a die hard fan of the book (read it repeatedly). It's very hard to win over a book fan but BBC has accomplished that wonderfully! This adaptation is my favourite, staying delightfully faithful to the book with tremendous execution with charms to die for! BBC's Lizzy and Darcy are the best!
I'm watching it for the third time in a row. I've seriously considered asking the library if I can buy it from them. (I'm sure I can find it for sale, but NOW is so much sooner.) -- I so identify with Darcy: I have not that talent which some possess of easily conversing with strangers. What a beautiful way of expressing shyness.
It was one of the first DVD sets I ever bought. I still watch it about once per year. I agree that Jennifer Eyle was a perfect Lizzie. Colin Firth will always be Mr. D'Arcy no matter how good any other actor is in remakes. This was so well done with a fantastic cast and scenery. You lived in the show.
Magnificent production, so true to the book. I saw this production first and then read the book. The actors in this production embodied Ms Austin's characters perfectly. When I saw the Keira Knightly version it did not ring true at all.
Much of how Joe Wright went about P&P was off base. He was going for the Romance, as shown by his splendid, nay gorgeous cinematography, and equally gorgeous music; but P&P is not just about Romance. Darcy and Lizzie are much deeper subjects, just as Jane Austen so wonderfully created them; whereas Wright's versions of them are way too shallow. Some of the problem lay in having to do the book in a 2 hour movie rather than the luxuriously unhurried time given to the BBC production. But still Wright's choices of how to portray Mrs. Bennet AND Mr. Bennet are WAY off the mark! His Jane however was quite right whereas the BBC Jane was really not very pretty.
No adaptation compares to this one. They have taken a great deal of consideration of every detail and delivered the drama, comedy and true insight into the time period emphasizing and uncovering the values and beliefs of each and every character. Extremely well done! An adaptation for the history books as the greatest ever made.
This is the best Pride and Prejudice ever. You stuck to the book which usually never happens. I’ve watched it so many times and will watch it again and again. The actors were perfect for the parts they played. I really can’t see anyone else in those roles. Simply perfect!
Priceless performance of Lady Catherine De Burgh. How wonderful, yo stayed in character right up until the tittle at the end. I loved this. "I must know of what you are planning next, I insist to know of it, I will not be dissuaded".
Nothing compares to this great work depicting Jane Austen’s masterpiece. I’m sure she’d be over the moon if she could see her work, each character come to life. This is by far the greatest work I’ve ever seen, my absolute favorite and it never gets old.
I agree just listening to the opening theme brings such joy of what is to come. Every year my 3 daughters and I get together to have a Pride and Prejudice marathon. It is long past due. This is by far my favorite movie, and book. Thank you for posting this.
Thank you for posting this! I love all things “Pride and Prejudice”. How interesting to see what the writers and producers were thinking as they staged this incredible miniseries.
I just had a rewatch yesterday for the 20th time and this makes me want to watch again! You just want to live in this series. I know Mrs. Bennet gets a lot of praise, but can I just say I adore Mr. Bennet? His lines always make me laugh the most, and I love his affection for Lizzie.
every time I watch this version of pride and prejudice I am bereft when it has finished. it is like a good friend has left the room on a long journey. I wish there was a sequel of Lizzy and her Fitzwilliam Darcy together and seeing how their characters come alive to each other.
A classic book ,filmed in a classical way . The cast was pin point ,editnig sound,well a great film. The 1995 version with Jennifer Eyle and Colin Firth ,cannot surpassed by any remake. I read the book as a teenager,Englih second language,since then purchased all of Jane Austen 's books.Thank you !
I cannot believe that anybody actually preferred the Version with Keira Knightly. That was so bad and nothing like the characters in the book... Colin Firth is so much better as Darcy.. Perfectly done
Toni sumblin You are in for a treat. The knightly version was entertaining but fell down in so many ways....but this version is amazing. Watch Mr. Darcy’s oh so subtle facial expressions.
I feel like the people that prefer the 2005 version are mostly the very young or very into pop culture- who are used to fast paced dramatic cinema that doesn't last more than a couple of hours. And many are probably are fans of Kiera Knightly. When you've grown up with that it's hard to appreciate 5-6 hours of subtle and reserved acting.
It's not really fair to compare the two, as you can obviously keep closer to the book in 6 hours of TV than you can in a 2hr theatrical release. I was very impressed with what the 2005 version managed considering the time constraints and actually i'd contend that the second proposal/acceptance and end of the film was far more satisfying than 1995. I had always missed the 'father's approval' scene from the books from the final part of 1995. It didn't make sense that it was missing, considering the amount of time they had to play with. The fact that 2005 included it, made the movie for me. They are separate beasts though and i love them each as the best of what they are (TV or Film version). It's the same with Sense & Sensibility. The '96 film is of course great as a film but the 2008 BBC version is far closer to the book and does much more justice to the full story & all characters.
I rememner leaving the cinema absolutely disgusted after watching the 2005 version. It was horrible. Everything was horrible.I could write an essay about all the things that were wrong in that film
The absolute definitive P & P. Any further adaptations would pale next to it. It's long enough to contain most of the story and, thankfully, the creators did not aim to make the characters true to any other than the 18th Century behaviors and morals.
I've seen several adaptations of this wonderful novel. This is by far my favorite and the best!! The only one I watch since the first time I saw it. Bravo to all who worked on it!
Love this movie. I have gone from owning VHS to DVD. Read book as well. This is the best movie ever made in market. One never grow board each time you watch waiting hoping as if this was first time. It truly holds your attention with wonder excitement and joy. Thank You Very Much for making this adaption. And I have seen many . Love this one.
I would like to thank everyone involved in the production of my favorite place to be when I need a break from real life. I am usually a book fan and this is the first movie that surpasses what I Imagined in my head when reading. It is a Masterpiece like the book is.
I remember back in the day when the first VHS tapes came out of Pride and Prejudice. We had all been absolutely ravished by the TV series, and I was the first at work to score the tapes of it. When my boss's boss found out I had them she begged to borrow them. She didn't come back to work for two solid days, playing them all over and over again. It's a miracle that the part of the tape with "the look" was not worn to shreds by the number of times it was played, rewound, played, rewound over and over.
This cast was perfect. I have read the P & P novel at least twenty times in my long life. I write Variation novels of it -- about ten so far -- and what inspired me and still does every time I start one, is seeing this cast in my mind's eye as the characters I am writing about. Thank goodness the producer insisted Colin play Darcy. He is perfection, as is the whole cast.
While the draw was towards Mr Darcy and Lizzie I must admit that I was always left laughing at Mr Bennett and how he dealt with Mrs Bennett. That woman was an unbelievable fruit loop, you can see why the youngest carried on as she did, but he handled her so well. And his relationship with Lizzie was a joy to behold...
Agree with everyone that this is absolutely the best adaptation of my favorite book. Perfect cast, perfect locales, perfect production! I used to read along while I watched it and was thrilled how the dialog so matched the written word. I can’t count the number of times I’ve watched this series, very much more than I’ve read the book, which i reread often.
Lol... That scene when Lizzy tells Mr. Darcy that her feelings for him have changed into love instead of loathing, that LOOK on his face! 😂😂😂 I'm a mother of two boys, sister to three brothers, but that look has always puzzled me, so I had my husband watch it so he could translate. My husband said with great amusement, "He's pissed. He's saying, 'Is that ALL I had to do to get you to love me?"" Then he asked me, "Is this a romcom?"😂😂😂 I adore my husband.♥️
No death, disease or poverty? Of course not! This story was written in a day when people witnessed that every day, all day. This was, and is, escapist literature, which is what the people of the day needed.
I was very surprised to read that Jane Austen was the most popular author to be read by, of all people, soldiers on the Western Front during WW1. Then, once I thought about it, it made perfect sense. When you're surrounded by the death, squalor and degradation of that war then, of course, you will gravitate towards books evoking gentility and formality. For those soldiers it was escapism indeed! I did read sad tales of officers being found dead on the battlefield with a copy of the Illiad in one pocket and sometimes a teddy bear in the other; a reminder that once they had inhabited a childhood world of carefree innocence. Strange how the Illiad is seen as depicting the 'glory' of war even though Homer never sugars the pill but depicts it's horror in full grisly detail (excuse the digression away from Austen).
It's so weird to see people in normal clothing along with the characters' outfits because they made this adaption so well that I keep thinking it actually took place in the 1800s.
I read the book after viewing the series, the screenwriter seemed to copy the words straight out of the novel. The entire cast and crew did an unbelievable feat in making this a duplicate to Jane's book. This is perfect... no need for other silly attempts to profit off of the novel... this is the one that will stand in your mind as you read the novel. Lylian & Mr. Collins excellent choice in actors they just make you feel the discomfort they cause to those around them.
I love this adaptation and have watched it more times than I care to remember, but I'd never seen this Making Of before. Thank you so much for sharing.
This is my favorite version of" Pride and Prejudice" I think the choice of Colin Firth was as Darcy was just perfect, and the rest of the Cast as well. I bought the series, just had to have it.
I see Colin Firth in several other movies, but do not hear of Jennifer Ehle being in other films. Which is a great pity because I think she was wonderful as Elizabeth Bennet. Casting was superb. This is my favourite version!
Actually she and Colin Firth acted together again in 2010. Geoffrey Rush played Lionel Logue, the King's "speech therapist" in The King's Speech, and she played Myrtle, his spouse. There was a nice scene of the four of them together in the Logue's dining room, where Myrtle finds out for the first time the King of England is Lionel's client.
I read that Colin and Jennifer dated each other for a short period of time during and after the filming of P&P, and thought it was a lovely thing to happen, too bad it didn't last long.
My absolute favorite Pride and Prejudice. I couldn't imagine myself while reading the book (again) a better Lizzy, or her dad, sisters, Mr. Bingley, etc. Even the music transports you to the time with such a warm and upbeat feeling. I bought the series because is part of my "comfort food" for entertainment.
Can not count the number of times I’ve seen this Pride and Prejudice; as I have the CD!!! Fortunate lady that I am! So when life gives me a tumble or two, I find myself curled on my sofa with a cup of Darjeeling and furry dog, Troops, at my side and I settle in to refresh my spirits and bring hope to my horizon...that all will come well in the end.
I love this version. The movie a few years later was nothing but a travesty! Everything about it was stunning. Even characters I dislike are brilliant. The music was stunning and the feel it gives when you watch is incredible. Every detail was considered, even the glassware. I would have loved to have been an extra on set or a small role, like the girl who plays Mariah Lucas was. Just be part of it. Wear those beautifully stunning clothes!
The incredible depth of this version amazes me. When you watch it a second time you see that from the beginning Mr. Darcy is evaluating Lizzie as a future life partner. For example, when art breakfast before Lizzie enters the room, he ( with some force or anger ) comments on how her lack of fortune and poor connections " Is the material point! " . They were discussing Jane, but. Darcy was thinking about Elizabeth , already.
Wonderfully depicts the way I envisaged things when I read the book. Casting, props, location, music and all else so correct. The parson, Lady Catherine and Mr. Bennett and Lizzie superb performances. Mary trying to sing Ombra mai fun, and Lydia humming The oak the ash and the bonny Rowan tree at the casement. The musicians and dancing, beautiful! All involved in this marvellous production did themselves and Jane Austen proud! XXX
Adrian Lukis, who narrated this film 25 years ago, played Mr Wickham. He now performs a one man show as to what happened to Mr Wickham and the others in the subsequent quarter century!
@1:36 Jane Austin: "When engaging the services of a screenwriter, perspicacity and a ready wit are the foremost talents one requires. How meritorious then to find one with all such endowments, yet the sensibility of feeling to endeavour to match themselves to one's wallpaper".
This is by far the best adaptation of Pride and Prejudice just because it's an amazing adaptation from book to television. There's nothing that they added or changed. Almost all the words spoken in the series are spoken in the book as well. That shows how much work the screenwriter and directors put into this series.
I keep seeing people say that Mrs. Bennet is played too cartoonishly in this version, and that no one would really behave this dramatically, and to those people I would say this: You’ve clearly never met my grandmother.
We watched this when it first showed on A&E. Since then - watched several times - and shared with friends and family. It's now Feb, 2020 - time to watch again. It's been several years since the last time. I's comment on favorite scenes - but there are so many. And I'd hate to slight some I may not remember right now. It's all good ! Thanks much for posting this video. Impactful to hear from Sue Birtwistle and Andrew Davies.
