Time for another JaneStock
Oct 29th, 2007 by Lynne
iTunes: If Everyone Cared, by Nickelback
John and I periodically do a Jane Austen movie marathon, affectionately nicknamed JaneStock. Last time around, we watched the Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle P&P (for about the millionth time), the 1999 Mansfield Park, and the 1986 Northanger Abbey.
The Northanger Abbey adaptation was seriously goofy. The highlight of the final scene is a long string of saliva which glistens in the center of the screen as the hero and heroine draw apart from a passionate kiss. We must’ve replayed that part a dozen times. It was late at night, we’d watched a couple hours of Austen already, and we were punchy. :-)
The Mansfield Park movie was better than the book — not saying much, to my way of thinking — and a massive improvement over the hideous 1983 BBC version, which I’ve renamed “Surveillance Cameras of the Regency Period.” The narrator of the movie trailer on the DVD says something to the effect that Austen believed Mansfield Park to be her best work — proof positive, in my opinion, that even a literary genius may have no CLUE whether she’s written a masterpiece or a steaming pile of poo.
Maybe this time around we’ll watch Emma, Persuasion, and the Emma Thompson Sense & Sensibility. If anyone has other recommendations, let us know!
The three you just listed are my favorites!
I love it that your husband sits down to watch these with you - willingly.
“In vain have I struggled.” It is completely against my will that I find that Ehle/Firth P&P the greatest thing ever to hit the small screen. It’s so unlike my usual fare. Oh, I enjoyed the book back in college, but to see it acted so doggone perfectly, without the usual Hollywood omissions, makes it vital. I’m the one who has to talk Lynne into sitting down for five hours of it, but the payoff is weeks of quoting it back to one another.
The Paltrow/Northam Emma is similarly fantastic, but there’s less of it to love.
Hi, Tessa! He’s usually the one who declares a JaneStock. Very unusual!
John, the movie version of P&P is so good that it has given me a new appreciation for the book.
And reading the book makes me appreciate modern prose. So much of Austen is telling without showing. Sure, it’s hilarious in all the right spots, but so much is tossed off in third-person retrospective that the book feels incomplete. I suppose it mirrors the isolated life of a Regency lady not allowed to go outdoors!
I think she would have approved of the Ehle/Firth production.
Austen believed Mansfield Park to be her best work — proof positive, in my opinion, that even a literary genius may have no CLUE whether she’s written a masterpiece or a steaming pile of poo.
LOL! I couldn’t agree more. Your Janestock sounds like tremendous fun. You know, I don’t think I’ve seen Northanger Abbey. I’m going to the library tomorrow to check out movies and books, I’ll have to look for it. Maybe stoke up the fireplace and have my own Janestock. :)
(My daughter and I do Harry Potter marathons from time to time, but I doubt she’d be up for a Janestock. Though she does like the Kiera Knightly version of P&P. Pfft. Kids. Give me Colin/Jennifer any day.)
I agree, John. I think she would’ve liked that production!
Hi, Kate! :-) Winter is a WONDERFUL time for a JaneStock. Hot tea is the drink of choice.
I think a Harry marathon sounds fab!