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Most guys know the look. You walk into a movie theater with your significant other, look around and see a crowd of 99 percent women. You spot the one or two other dudes in the audience and then see, in their eyes:
“Thank God I’m not the only guy in here.”
I saw that look last Friday night, as Christina and I went to see Pride and Prejudice. I really wasn’t giving off the look that much, but I was sympathetic to those who were.
I actually volunteered to go. I figured that I deserved it- I had dragged Christina to enough Star Wars movies and it was time to pay up. Besides, what Star Wars is to me, Pride and Prejudice is to her. Except with a few changes:
-Instead of spaceships, people get around on horses.
-Instead of characters speaking in the language of the Wookies, Ewoks, Hutts, they speak old-timey English, complete with accents.
-Instead of Darth Vader, the main character fears her horny/pathetic cousin.
I’ve never read the book version of Pride and Prejudice, but Christina has. About ten years ago, the BBC made a six-hour miniseries out of the book. Christina owns the mini-series and I’ve seen that. Though not as many times as she has.
The plot of Pride and Prejudice is pretty famous- the first Bridget Jones ripped it off pretty shamelessly. Poor girl meets rich boy, they hate each other, but not really. They try reaching out to each other as drama goes on around their lives. Hijinks ensue. There is a lot of story- and the BBC version takes six hours for a reason.
This latest theatrical version actually does a great job of condensing the material down to two-something hours. This version keeps the story coherent, but there’s not much room for fluff. The resulting movie is pretty solid.
There’s some humor (particularly from Keifer’s father Donald Sutherland, who plays the main character’s father), which was for the most part, unexpected. They also did a great job with the settings- they look real and better than the ones used in the BBC version.
There are a few small problems I have with the movie. First of all the dialogue gets hard to follow with all the old-timey English, especially during the rapid back-and-forths.
Also, there’s a heavy class element behind the story. For some reason, the main character’s family could lose their house and all their money unless she gets married. I just didn’t get that.
Overall, though, it’s a solid movie- and they did a great job of condensing it. Makes me wonder how the Star Wars saga would turn out if it were condensed. Hmmm…that sounds like yet another Star Wars column idea.
Tom thinks Pride and Prejudice should have been about Mr. Bingley, not Mr. Darcy. Visit Tom’s blog at kingtom.thejamootz.com.
Items added to the Word dictionary: Wookies, Ewoks, Hutts, timey, Hijinks
Songs WinAmp played during the transcribing of this article:
-Let’s Get Known, The Unicorns
-Vienna Calling, Falco
-No One Else, Weezer
-Harriet’s Got a Song, Ben Kweller
-Headline News, ‘Weird’ Al Yankovic
-Dead, The Pixies
-Sorry, Nerf Herder
I am an avid reader but I cannot express enough how much I dislike Jane Austen. However, Tom, you did deserve being dragged to the movie. Brian gets dragged to movies every now and then…I’ll wait until the next Oscar Wilde piece is adapted to the big screen and make him go.
Makes me wonder how the Star Wars saga would turn out if it were condensed.
Well, you could pretty much eliminate 95% of Episodes 1 and 2 without losing anything.
I’m not sure I want to live in a world without Sebulba. I’m just sayin’…
Just imagine Star Wars spoken in old-timey English. It’s enough to make your head spin!
“Thy is-ith thou father!”
I’ve actually started watching the saga from the top. And Dan, I agree- most of one and chunks of two would go if it needed to be condensed.
And some of the political speak can get just as confusing as the old-timey English.
What actually would be the plot if the movie were about Bingley? He’s so jolly and compatable there would be absolutely no litterary tension.
In both Star Wars and P&P the main characters deal with issues of power and property. Also, they are concerned with maintaing integrity in the face of societal/galatical pressures. Ultimately, both movies underscore that love supercedes greed.
(Comparisons can be drawn to Jabba the Hutt and Mister Collins in their need for trophy women but we will safe that for another day.)
Let this be proof, blog writer tom, I do pay attention to your movies even in my sleep.
But when does greed overrule love, even if the love led to the greed? Ooo…zen like…but seriously, in Star Wars, Anakin says he wants power for love, but then he turns on that love due to greed for that power.
Even you ask me, a Star Wars nerd, if the (first half of) saga is about love or power, I’d say power. The last half would be more for love - trying to reach the inner humanity of a monster.
And I really don’t see how Jabba the Hutt compares to Phil Collins…really…hehehe…j/k
When you say first half of Star Wars does that refer to Episodes 1-3 and the second half being Episodes 4-6? I would say that both parts are a mixture of power and love. I am not sure one of those themes dominates the other. Much of Anakin’s desire for power is based on an erroneous notion that it is for love. Love can often be a source of greed. Are we comparing P&P to all 6 of the Star Wars films? If the movies are looked at independently, I do not think that love survives greed. After all, Mrs. Vader does end up dead. What specific parts of Episodes 1 & 2 do you guys think could have been eliminated while still maintaining the story?
Well, I had a horrific headache the one time I saw Episode One, but I recall the pod racing scene and the final battle just being almost comically long.
If you were looking to condense the films, you could probably kill an hour right there without losing plot. For example, they could have established Anakin as a great pod racer without showing the entire race. They start the race, Sebulba bites it, Anakin wins, the end.
It’s been years since I’ve seen either Episode One or Two, so that’s all I can come up with off the top of my head. But I’m sure there’s much more I’ve forgotten.
I hinted at this in that last post, but you could kill an awful lot of the Gungan battle at the end of Episode One without losing much plot. I recall an awful lot of unnecessary special effects filler, as if Lucas was saying to the world Look At Me! I Have Sweet Computer Technology! And I’m Going To Make You Sit Through An Example Of Every Feature It Has!!!!11oneoneone
Exactly! That is what I always tell Brian: George Lucas adds special effects just because he can, even if it does not enhance the plot. That really annoys me. It is very impressive and all but after awhile it is just pointless.
Well, I don’t deny that! You can totally watch Star Wars (all six) without dialog - just mute it - and still know who is who, what is going on, and what needs to happen.
Actually, Star Wars might even be better without the dialog. Sound and music, however, I think does not hurt.
I think Ep3 might have been better because there seemed to be less flash for flash sakes. Well, maybe not, but at least it seemed more consistant overall.
I’d say you could watch it without dialouge, but the sound effects and music are somewhat essential.
I’d also agree that you could get rid of most of Episode 1, and major parts of 2. And for the rest of the movies, you’d probably thin out some of the other action scenes- but a totally condensed Star Wars might result in an uneven balance of the action scene/conference scene cycle, which is one of the things that hurt Episode 1.
I can’t think of any off the top of my head, but I have seen DVDs where you can choose to watch the movie with just the score. That maybe should have been an option with the SW DVDs. But the bonus DVD on the Ep. 3 soundtrack does pretty much the same job.
Jen had a good point that future DVDs of Star Wars should allow you switch between original cut and Special Ed. cut. Which would be totally awesome.