Ok so I finally took the plunge while Paul was out of town to watch the long version of Pride and Prejudice and I Loved it. Equally as much as I loved the version with Matthew Macfadyen. The Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth had much more detail from the book expressed in it. That may completely explain why it is so long. In the book and in both movies I could not stand Mr. Collins. I found myself saying blah blah blah blah every-time he talked. Maybe everyone has those feeling about him, I can't say but for me I couldn't help but want to tell him to shut up! Good thing I wasn't born in those times, I would surely have been a disgrace. I like both of the ladies portrayal of Miss Elizabeth Bennet. I personally feel that they equally held the character in the given scripts. I was drawn more to the feisty personality that Kiara Knightly gave to her portrayal. It leant to a playful interaction between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. He didn't quite know what to think of her. He had never met a woman who treated him the way she did. I am sure that intrigued him and made her even more desirable. I was more moved by the chemistry between Miss Bennet and Mr. Darcy in the version with Matthew Macfadyen. Don't get me wrong I Loved Colin Firths portrayal of Mr. Darcy. I just didn't feel the chemistry or want between him and Elizabeth as in the other version. I felt that Elizabeth was holding back to much. Some of the scenes between Kiara Knightly and Matthew Macfadyen were very intense. I almost felt like I was experiencing it with them. You could feel the passion that they had for each other. Even when they weren't willing to admit it. You wanted to see what happened next. You felt their pain, you felt their agony and embarrassment when something happened. So to finally end this account of my thoughts and feelings on these movies, I would say they are both worth watching.
Everyone needs an encounter with Mr. Darcy!
I read this book right after I read Pride and Prejudice. I Loved this book! I Loved reading his thoughts and feelings. To get an inside view of who he was and the battle that he was fighting within himself. We all have had to make decisions that we have struggled with. But his struggle pulled you in. You felt for him and for the pain that he was feeling. The funny thing for me as I read it, I would sometimes picture him as Matthew Macfadyen and sometimes as Colin Firth. I felt it was a very good companion book to Pride and Prejudice. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who liked Pride and Prejudice.
