Change Your Image
cupid947
Reviews
Pride and Prejudice (1995)
adaptation for the 1990's
I have watched this version of Pride & Prejudice many times, and afterwards I have read the book, which I also enjoyed.
The best thing about this movie was how all of the elements from the book (the scenarios, dialog, characters, etc) were interpreted to a mini-series, so that it is applicable and understandable by people like me, in the 1990's, who have a minimal understanding of English society 200 years ago.
I understand that for other movies, period pieces have been adapted by putting it in a modern setting (e.g. Clueless for Austen's Emma, or Baz Lurhman's Romeo + Juliet for Shakepeare's play of the same name). What this movie did well was that the characters and settings were kept in the period that it was written for, but the interpretation was kept flexible enough to provide understanding for modern audiences. For example, more emphasis was placed on some social niceties which were required to understand why the characters reacted the way they did, or the actors played the characters in a particular way to convey how they would have been perceived in our society (case in point, Mrs. Bennet). And all this while keeping as close to the original book as possible!
Thoroughly enjoyed this version, highly recommend it. Oh, and the actors playing the main characters were great! (as everyone else says hehehe)
Hotel Paradise (1995)
poetry
I didn't get a chance to watch the whole thing, as I had missed the beginning when it was being shown on SBS. However, the parts that I did see, I was quite impressed with.
The most striking aspect, was that it seemed like a poem which had been adapted to the screen. I got this impression from the strongly rhythmic nature of the dialog. Also, the dialog did not exactly match the scenario - it was more of an expression of feelings, and of unravelling a story. The scenes of the wedding party looking for the bride seemed incidental to the dialog, and was more of a device to indicate the passing of time and to give more of an urgency for the dialog to unravel.
I found it very intriguing and couldn't stop watching. And it was not just because it was an "EROTIC TALE"!