The Cajun Cheesehead Critic loves 1980’s Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Here’s why.
By Jack Caldwell

Greetings, everyone. Jack Caldwell here.

I’m just gonna lay it on the line:

1980’s “Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice” is the best adaptation of Pride and Prejudice ever filmed to date. Period.

Oh, wait? You want proof? I got proof. So, here we go.

Script – Absolutely true to the novel. The humor, the pathos, the drama—it’s all there, particularly the humor. This is laugh-out-loud funny at times. Running 265 minutes (almost 4½ hours), hardly anything has been left out, and hardly anything has been added. Just about the only thing the director left out I wish they hadn’t was Elizabeth’s defense of her choice to marry Darcy in response to her father’s disbelief. But really, somehow, one forgets that the director did that.

There were a couple of wonderful insertions, particularly with life at the Hunsford parsonage. And my favorite line by Elizabeth: “I have a mind amazed at its own discomposure.” Yes, Miss Austen didn’t write it, but she should have. It’s wonderful.

It also moved some of the dialogue between characters. For example, the Hursts utter statements at Pemberley made in the novel by Mr. Bingley at Netherfield, but it does not take way from the plot or feel.

This version stands out by voicing the inner thoughts of Elizabeth. Like the novel, the mini-series’ POV is almost always hers. Having us hear what Elizabeth is thinking is a device that works very well with this production, just like it worked in the novel.

Cast – Almost perfect. Everyone looked like they do in the novel, except maybe Lady Catherine, and even that is forgivable. The stand-outs are Elizabeth Garvie as Elizabeth Bennet, David Rintoul as Fitzwilliam Darcy, Peter Settelen as George Wickham, Priscilla Morgan as Mrs. Bennet, Moray Watson as Mr. Bennet, and Malcolm Rennie as Mr. Collins.

Garvie gives the performance of her life—all fire and charm and youth and impertinence and puzzlement and courage and enchantment. Like Lizzy herself, her eyes light up the room. Her jabs are thrown with such sweetness, you can understand why Darcy misunderstands her. As for Rintoul, some call his acting wooden, but I saw nothing in it. Tall and handsome, he is reserved to a fault, like Darcy is supposed to be, yet you can feel emotions simmering in him. How? Just look at his eyes. It may take a second viewing, but Rintoul’s subtle glances, eye-rolls, and glares belie his stiffness, and when he smiles at the end, you can see why the director held him back. In my mind, they are Lizzy and Darcy.

Rennie is Mr. Collins, perfectly playing him as a tall, pompous clown. Morgan’s Mrs. Bennet is shrill and silly and funny, yet you believe she loves her girls, and you love her back. You are on the side of Watson’s Mr. Bennet at the beginning, but as the mini-series continues, you lose respect for him—just as Miss Austen intended. Settelen’s Wickham is all charm and good-looks, with nothing underneath. He is no villain—he is an empty suit always seeking the easy way.

There are other performances of note. While Judy Parfitt might be too young and too tall to play Lady Catherine de Bourgh, her performance is pitch-prefect—a mixture of foolishness and arrogance. Natalie Ogle was stupid and selfish and immature as Lydia. Desmond Adams was a great plain-yet-charming Colonel Fitzwilliam. The Gardners were exactly right, in age and character, particularly Barbara Shelley as Mrs. Gardiner.

Cinematography – This was 1980 television, and the quality is a bit like your average soap opera. But the interior shots are beautiful, and they do a decent-to-outstanding job out-of-doors, particularly during the Letter Scene at Rosings. The choices for the great houses were excellent.

Costumes – I guess the BBC’s budget was tight. None of the costumes will knock you out. But they were consistent with the period of the Early Regency.

Music and Sound – I include this together. There is very little music during the film. Mostly you hear ordinary natural sounds, such as the wind, birds, horses, shoes against the gravel, and the like. I enjoyed it.

Overall Impression – This is as close to having Miss Austen’s work on film as you’re going to get. It is funny, touching, and engrossing. You see Elizabeth grow and mature after The Hunsford Letter—something other adaptations leave out.

The small touches get me:

• Mrs. Bennet’s outrage at Darcy’s insult of Lizzy at the Assembly.
• Darcy grimacing at Lady Catherine.
• Darcy walking off into Rosings’ fields as Lizzy reads The Letter, the words in Darcy’s voice.
• Anne de Bough unexpectedly taking Lizzy’s hands in farewell at Rosings.
• The beautifully filmed fireplace scene at Longbourn, as Lizzy muses over the faults of her parents.
• Darcy and Georgiana rolling their eyes at Caroline’s latest idiocy at Pemberley.
• Lizzy, Jane, and Mrs. Bennet working together, convincing Mr. Bennet to allow the newly-married Wickhams to visit.

Did they make choices I question? Sure. For example, Lizzy’s confrontation with Lady Cat is held inside Longbourn, not outside. I guess they thought the camerawork would be better inside, and the ladies did a fabulous job, but one cannot help but wonder how great the scene would have been if it had been done as written. Having Elizabeth run from the Lambton inn to Pemberley after getting the letter from Jane about Lydia was, IMHO, stupid.The transitions between scenes could have been smoother.

However, the most glaring mistake in the film was the director’s  decision to have Rintoul play Darcy a bit too stiffly. His smile and relaxation after the Second Proposal shows what should have been more evident at the Pemberley scenes.

Bottom line: This is the standard by which all other adaptations must be judged. Period.

Get it. Watch it. And watch it again. You won’t be sorry.

Until next time, this has been the Cajun Cheesehead Chronicles. Happy New Year!

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