Movies for Austen Lovers

Jane Austen has inspired millions of writers around the world, and those include screen writers. In addition to all the Austen-prequels and sequels, not to mention the whole "Regency" genre, there are some remarkably entertaining movie spin-offs. Here are some of the best:

1. Bride and Prejudice
Austen goes Bollywood! This seems a perfect match, considering most Bollywood movies are centered around family life and marriage. Mr. Collins becomes Mr. Kohli, the Americanized business man, and while Elizabeth/Lalita (played by Aishwarya Rai) has one less sister, the details are quite true to the novel.



2. The Jane Austen Book Club
For each of the women in the Jane Austen Book Club, there is a parallel in one of Austen's books. The fun part is figuring out which character is which. And for a film dealing with the modern problems of relationships, it has a true Austenesque happy ending, so stick with it! Also the screenplay contains numerous pieces of Austen trivia which fans will enjoy. Based on the book by Karen Joy Fowler


3. Scents and Sensibility
The Dashwood sisters must survive after their father is arrested and they lose their family money. Flowers are the answer!



4. Bridget Jones's Diary
Misunderstandings abound in this hilarious version of Pride and Prejudice. Bridget (Renée Zellweger) is a modern-day Elizabeth Bennett with both silly parents and friends, and while she desperately seeks female empowerment in her life, she still manages to fall for a her Wickham-like boss, Hugh Grant. Meanwhile, her Mr. Darcy (Colin Firth, in a hat-tip to his role in the BBC version of P&P) is left wondering why she doesn't like him. A treat for all Austen-lovers. Based on the book by Helen Fielding.



5. Austenland
A woman obsessed with all-things Austen visits and English resort where she can immerse herself in her fantasy world while longing for her Mr. Darcy.



6. You've Got Mail
Writer Norah Ephron penned the script as an homage to Pride and Prejudice, as well as honoring previous movies dealing with the theme, such as "The Shop Around the Corner" and the remake "In the Good Old Summertime" (see below). Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks and a great cast of character actors bring the story to life, as well as the literary life of New York City. And while the movie is already dated - AOL's "you've got mail" with cyber-honking is a thing of the past, and ebooks are replacing actual bookstores - we are still in the digital age of online matchmaking, where misunderstandings (or understandings) abound.



7-8. In the Good Old Summertime is the 1949 musical version of the earlier black-and-white 1940 movie The Shop Around the Corner. And while not specific adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, they both have the same theme of bad first impressions being resolved through growth and love letters.

Jane Austen Graces the British 10 Pound Note

NBC News: Pounds and Prejudice

The writer of classics such as "Sense and Sensibility" and "Emma" will replace naturalist Charles Darwin on the reverse of Britain's most popular banknote.

Britain's central bank sparked an outcry in April when it announced former prime minister Winston Churchill would replace social reformer Elizabeth Fry on the reverse side of the five pound note, depriving the currency of its only female historical figure.

Mark Carney, the first foreigner to head the bank in its 319-year history, praised Austen as "one of the greatest writers in English literature" and said the choice of future banknote characters would be reviewed to ensure a row of this sort did not erupt again.

"We believe that our notes should celebrate the full diversity of great British historical figures and their contributions in a wide range of fields," he told a gathering at the Jane Austen House Museum in Chawton, the 17th century house where the author wrote some of her best-known novels.

The Austen notes are likely to come into circulation in 2017 and will feature a portrait adapted from an original sketch by Jane's sister together with the quote 'I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!' from Pride and Prejudice. ('A thousand times yes' does not appear in the book. That's a Keira Knightley special from the 2005 film based on the book.)
MORE AT LINK . . .

New BBC Series: Death Comes to Pemberly by P.D. James

The BBC is making a mini-series from the P.D. James Pride and Prejudice sequel Death Comes to Pemberley. Pemberly, of course, is the vast estate owned by the Darcy family.

WETA Blog: Watch Out Jane Austen Fans

The BBC has ordered a three-part adaptation of the novel Death Comes to Pemberley, a Pride and Prejudice sequel written by P.D. James, which tells the story of Austen’s famous couple six years into their marriage. But the question everyone wants to know is – who’s playing Mr. Darcy this time?

Answer: It’s Matthew Rhys. You may have seen him on ABC’s Brother’s and Sisters, the Masterpiece adaptation of The Mystery of Edwin Drood or FX’s The Americans. And he’s aware of the inevitable Firth comparisons headed his way.

“Exciting as it is, one of the challenges of a part such as Darcy are the comparisons that will be drawn to those who've institutionalised him in the past,” Rhys said. "The beauty of 'Pemberley' is that it is an entirely new and different Darcy 6 years on. And also, I don't have to appear from a lake in a white shirt and breeches.”



Rhys will be joined by The Bletchley Circle’s Anna Maxwell as Lizzie, and Birdsong’s Matthew Goode is set to play the nefarious Wickham. The official synopsis says that the series will “combine classic period drama with a highly suspenseful and brilliantly crafted murder mystery plot,” apparently involving the murder of a friend of Wickham’s. Casting for the rest of the novel's major characters hasn't been announced yet, so we'll have to wait and see if any more recognizable faces will be part of this project.

Six Quotes from Bridget Jones's Diary

Some of my favorite quotes from Bridget Jones's Diary: A Novel
by Helen Fielding, in no particular order.
And I love the movie, too! :)

~~~~~~~~~~
It is a truth universally acknowledged that as soon as one part of your life starts looking up, another falls to pieces.

~~~~~~~~~~
As women glide from their twenties to thirties, Shazzer argues, the balance of power subtly shifts. Even the most outrageous minxes lose their nerve, wrestling with the first twinges of existential angst: fears of dying alone and being found three weeks later half-eaten by an Alsatian.

~~~~~~~~~~
“It struck me as pretty ridiculous to be called Mr. Darcy and to stand on your own looking snooty at a party. It's like being called Heathcliff and insisting on spending the entire evening in the garden, shouting "Cathy" and banging your head against a tree.”

~~~~~~~~~~
Resolution number one: Obviously will lose twenty pounds. Number two: Always put last night's panties in the laundry basket. Equally important, will find sensible boyfriend to go out with and not continue to form romantic attachments to any of the following: alcoholics, workaholics, commitment phobic's, peeping toms, megalomaniacs, emotional fuckwits or perverts. And especially will not fantasize about a particular person who embodies all these things”

~~~~~~~~~~
Being a woman is worse than being a farmer there is so much harvesting and crop spraying to be done: legs to be waxed, underarms shaved, eyebrows plucked, feet pumiced, skin exfoliated and moisturised, spots cleansed, roots dyed, eyelashes tinted, nails filed, cellulite massaged, stomach muscles exercised.


~~~~~~~~~~

Oh God. valentine's Day tomorrow. Why? Why? Why is (the) entire world geared to make people not involved in romance feel stupid when everyone knows romance does not work anyway. Look at (the) royal family. Look at Mum and Dad.”

~~~~~~~~~~

200 Years of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice has been a bestseller now for 200 years as of this week. The book stands the test of time because it is enriched with motifs enough for ten such novels: likable characters, humorous or irritating caricatures, a villainous wolf in sheep's clothing, a good man who seems unforgivably rude and snobby, a heroine who comes of age as she falls in love, class differences, family devotion, rags to riches, despair turning to hope, a wealth of witty puns, and that old standby, the happy ending.



It has been the inspiration of countless other books, plays and movies, including You've Got Mail (author Nora Ephron was a Jane-ite) and Bridget Jones Diary.

From the BBC

As well as the BBC's 1995 TV version, starring Colin Firth as Darcy and Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth, Pride and Prejudice was rejuvenated on the big screen in 2005 in Joe Wright's film starring Matthew McFadyen and Keira Knightley. It took more than £76 million at the global box office.

Firth revisited the Darcy persona in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), which was loosely based on the Austen story. Meanwhile, Gurinder Chadha's 2004 film Bride And Prejudice gave it a Bollywood-style spin.

. . . "Adaptation is interesting because it is always responding to the original novel and the way that we understand things now," she adds. When Colin Firth's Mr Darcy emerged from the lake in the BBC TV adaptation it was a moment that highlighted the way that adaptation was made for female viewers, says Dr Cobb.

"It's a moment that's become so well known. Colin Firth as Darcy is clearly meant to be looked at and admired by female viewers, and that is played out in Bridget Jones. It's become a post-modern joke by the time of the ITV series Lost in Austen."

If you finish the books and wear out the DVDs, you can move on to sequels and prequels.
Check out the fantastic fansite Republic of Pemberly.
Jane Austen Information Page
Everything about Pride and Prejudice Bits of Ivory Fan Fiction

Hmmm, I think I need to watch Mr. Darcy jumping into the lake again. :)

Bookish Pics: Hodgepodge

source: forthe_loveofbooks



source: northernligths.tumblr


source: QuickMeme "Good Guy Colonel Brandon"


source: HaroldsPlanet.com


source: WeHeartIt

Bookish Pics ~ Books in Movies

Some of my favorite book scenes in movies! Above is Severus Snape's (Alan Rickman) Beautiful Library at Spinner's End. From the movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince


Meg Ryan as Children's Bookstore Proprietress Kathleen Kelly
in You've Got Mail (with Parker Posey)




The hidden tower library in Name of the Rose


Chatsworth House Library Used as Set
For Mr. Darcy's Pemberly in Pride and Prejudice (1995)
(from sammel on Flickr)

Marian the Librarian (Shirley Jones)
Dancing in the River City Library
In The Music Man


Gandalf Researching the Ring of Power
at the Minas Tirith Library
In The Fellowship of the Ring