New review of P&P3 at AICN
Alert Janeite Kendra sent us this link to a new, less than enthusiastic review of P&P at Ain’t It Cool News. We must include an Unladylike/Ungentlemanlike Language Warning. The review itself is not too bad, but the comments are not for the faint-hearted, though not being especially faint-hearted ourselves–especially after a bracing pot of Dorothy’s Orange Pekoe–we found it rather hilarious and fascinating to read what the other side thinks.
It’s no secret that cinematic adaptations seldom work. The screen is seductive, imperious—a deceptively intimate experience that, given the smelly, sweaty milieu of the modern movie theater, sometimes amounts to legalized voyeurism. The written word, however, requires a more proactive involvement, a level of intellectual commitment that rewards patience and devotion. They’re fundamentally dissimilar entities; what works in one medium seldom works in the other. That’s why those Star Wars adaptations are so mind-numbingly anemic. That’s also why no one—no one—will ever get Pride and Prejudice completely right.
We disagree slightly: it’s that, as Karen Joy Fowler wrote in The Jane Austen Book Club, everyone has their private Austen. We each have our own vision of Lizzy and Darcy and our own virtual mind-film of Pride and Prejudice and all of Jane Austen’s books. Enjoyment of a literary adaptation is a balance of how well that internal film is represented with how much we are willing to admit another’s vision along with the actual quality of the film.
That being said, we wonder if the rumored delay in the release date might have something to do with giving the editor and director extra tweaking time. Things that make you go hmmm…
Comments are closed.
If they didn’t cut any major parts of the story, it seems like it would be quite difficult to do anything but rush through P&P in 2 or so hours.
I agree with Julie B. If pacing is the only problem, I could live with that! And then again, the reviewer doesn’t seem to have made up his/her mind at all about the film, either. I don’t follow half of what the reviewer meant. For example: “Mr. Bennet’s a bada**”??? What is that supposed to mean? And where is Mr. Darcy? How could he/she not throw in any remark on Mr. Darcy after watching Pride and Prejudice??
I confess I’m most concerned by the implication of dumbing-down, which I suspected a bit after seeing the trailer (and, frankly, has concerned me since I first heard about this project). However, I guess I’ll wait and see.
(I agree the review was a trifle convoluted–what was that comment about the gelded heroine?
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I love J.A.’s work for many reasons, and her language is one of them. But she’s also a master or character development and plot. I also suspect the language has been watered-down for whatever reading level producers think is necessary to make a good profit, but I’m actually really interested to see how the story holds up after J.A.’s language (dialogue) has been stripped away.
What does “chewing the scenery” mean?
And how can this man (I assume man due to urinal reference) actually accuse the film of faux-intellectualism while using the words milieu, anemic, pseudo-erudite, inebriation, urbane and bathos? What’s that about trying to hard, Mr. Reviewer? I’m sorry, what colour did you call the kettle?
For a movie that doesn’t include explosions, superheroes, and gratuitous shots of Halle Berry’s breasts, that review is actually pretty positive. An AICN reviewer is never going to rave about what is essentially a chick flick, but he had a lot of good things to say. He won’t be prone to squealing over the male cast, especially, so to hear him say that the acting is solid all-around is heartening.
“Chewing the scenery” is like melodramatic acting, usually when an actor of vast talents and subtlety is called on to be do a small part where they hem, haw, and generally be menacing.
There is another review from a girl who apparently attended the same screening here. From the first line of the review, her feelings are quite different. It seems like she saw the very movie I’m dying to see. *sigh*
http://www.garbage-girl.net/mt/000320.php
Mr Reviewer,
You need to relax and save your dictionary words for essays and just go get laid , pahleeez!