For a long while, I have been acquainted with the movies of 'Sense and Sensibility' and 'Emma'; from Alan Rickman being the gentleman who could melt any woman's heart and forgive him for every slimy line from his oiled hair to despicable attitude as Snape; to the proud Emma, who is the coolest and most accomplished of revolutionary woman of her time. Sadly, through it all, I failed to see the writer behind these stories and only the people playing the most seductive to whinney and intolerable of creatures. Never was the creator appreciated by me, myself and I.
However, I avoided 'Pride and Prejudice' like the black plague. I heard it was a romance, one of the first and turned my nose up at it.
(At this point I would like to inform you all that I was sucked into the world of romance novels while living with my grandparents for a short time during high school. My grandmother, having only read that particular theme from before the time I was born, bid me to pick one of the dozens up and give it a read before casting arrogant glares at the whole of the subject. So I did. And for a year following I was trapped, borrowing everything she had and going through a few books a week with little sleep due to my enrapture. I must admit, even when the storyline is abominable, even the smuttiest of novels grips you until the big, curly words of 'The End'. The problem is, once you reach the end, there is no feeling of satisfaction, your thirst is not quenched like most stories, and I found myself grasping, desperately, for the next read. I was in the clutches of obsession, hiding the books from friends, classmates and family like a drug habit within congress.
Going cold-turkey was the only and final solution.
Hi, my name is Rika, and I have been clean for almost eight years. *say hi to the wagon everyone*)
So there I am, killing time with my dear friend Stephany, trolling the ailes of, of all places, Target and low and behold in the book section there sits a paperback copy of 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies'.
(To comprehend this next part you must understand I have an affinity for zombies that is seldom seen amoungst my own gender and can take on the best of the opposite. My old roommate Greg (a six+ foot tall Japanese lad) and I had contingency plans for what to do at our apartment complex, just incase an epidemic of that proportion should come about. That's right, we rocked it.)
I squeeled like a child being unleashed into a candy store with no budget, which may, or may not have drawn the attention of literally EveryOne around us. They all looked a bit worried to be honest... My friend, knowing my passion for the subject, bought me the book as a late Christmas present (this all happened two weeks ago) and I finished it a day later at 4am. Hence, my first, quasi-introduction to the written writings of Jane Austin began.
I followed it in the following week with the BBC's six episode version of the story with the alluring Colin Firth and then, tonight watched the Keira Knightly version.
I must rest-you-assured that this will not be a litany on why books should not be turned into movies or a Roger Ebert evaluation of the films; but I do hope to voice my sorrows and happinesses on the subject, in my own way.
It is MY blog after all.
The book, although very obviously changed from its original, keeps almost every single bit of dialog and sequence of events the same, only with a slight twist. It even strives to make the characters Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy exemplary from the societal norm, as they are in the first tale. So when I saw the British series, I followed it quite accurately in it's content.
The refreshing thing about Jane Austin's writing is the eloquent flow in which the tale is told. Every word is important and, unlike so many authors these day, not filled with a bunch of blarney and drama which is inconsequential to the plot, for hopes of making the story longer and more 'profound'. Characters come off as less in-depth and more cantankerous and annoying as ever. I appreciated the authors letting us fill in the gaps of the mundane activities of everyday life and move her plot forward so that we may be tickled with their goings on.
Unfortunately, with the newest version of this story, released in 2005, they (of course) do not have five or so hours to tell the full length of the book like the BBC production and condense everything into 2 hours, which hardly seems fair. An already quick-to-the-point romp is clipped so much that one's head is spinning and left with the feeling of being cheated a proper tale. One can not tell what just happened or if the characters have evolved at all and before they don't know it, important plot points have been passed with nothing more than a lingering word that they were there in the first place. Granted, there are some touching moments that make one feel giddy and hopeful which weren't in the 1995 version and their scenery is much improved with a richness in the cinematography which couldn't be achieved in that earlier time... If only the two could mate, it would make a perfect film.
So if you, dear reader, grow tired of reading this over-reaching refrain, pick up this classic. I promise, there's satisfaction at the end.
(And in other versions, at least there's zombies... did I forget to mention ninjas?)
No comments:
Post a Comment