MovieChat Forums > Jennifer Ehle Discussion > Simply and forever Beautiful!

Simply and forever Beautiful!

posted 19 years ago by MagentaNo1
4 replies | jump to latest

I saw Pride and Prejudice when it was first broadcast in 1995, although I am shocked to realise it was 10 years ago already that this beautiful program gave pleasure to so many of us (Whatever has happened to quality in TV since then?).
I truely loved it then and since that first broadcast I have always been on the look out for repeats of it, of which I think I have only seen one. Finally, the anniversary edition having just recently been released on BBC dvd, I asked for it for a christmas present. Wonderful, absolutely beautiful!! Now I can watch it whenever and as often as I like without having to rely on it being repeated on TV. I have already watched it 5 times since christmas. Going back to work tomorrow, I will not have the 5+ whole hours to enable me to watch it again for a while but that is good because it is now on my shelf, at the ready whenever I feel like a cosy relaxing moment full of romance!! Anyway, I have actually just logged on the net to look up Jennifer Ehle who is and always will be the ONLY Lizzie next to Mr. Darcy, as I must admit I have never seen her in anything else and wanted to know more about her and what she's done/is doing now. I am so shocked to discover that she is american as to me, she is so totally the perfect picture of the English rose in P&P.
Finally, I have no inclinations to see the new cinema version of Pride and Prejudice. Would anyone ever dare remaking Gone with the Wind? Some things should just not be touched!!
For one, I think neither of the 2 actors they have casted for the parts of Lizzie and Darcy can ever match the presence, passion and all 'round talent to ever compare to Jennifer and Colin. I find Kiera Knightley to be way too pouty and skinny to be my idea of Lizzie as for the actor playing Darcy, he just doesn't look right either, too weedy + I have seen a picture of his "coming out of the lake in the wet shirt" scene and it's just not Colin! I will not dare comment on their ability to act the parts of Lizzie and Darcy, maybe they can do the book justice but I really can not see how the strength and passion of the book can be properly represented when concentrated in a 2 and something hours movie.
Don't need to see the new movie, I have my DVD now (thank you Santa!!!) and I can get my fix of the real thing whenever I want. MASTERPIECE!

[–] redqueen13 19 years ago

I must agree with you about preferring Colin Firth to, uh, the new guy... can't remember his name. He's quite forgetable, and NO match for Colin Firth as far as portraying prideful disdain and superiority. I did see the new P&P, and despite my initial misgivings, it's not a bad version. It takes half the time to tell the same story, so you have to allow for some of the more drawn-out details (ie. all the dancing, and walking to town!)of the original to be left out. Here is where I must disagree with you: the latest P&P's strength lies exactly in Kiera Knightly's ability to pefectly portray Elizabeth Bennett's less despicable, but equally present prejudice as well as a bit of pride that I feel Jennifer Ehle's performance lacked. Jennifer was just sweet and funny and cute all the time, rarely showing any stronger emotion. I find her more beautiful than Kiera Knightly, but then beauty wasn't the point of the story, was it? The photography of the new movie is simply breathtaking, with 3 or 4 unforgettable panoramic shots of the Lake District that, unfortunately, the original didn't have. The music, too, is different, fuller and lets us really feel and concentrate on the love/hate story being played out before us. I hope you chose to see the new version! It takes absolutely nothing away from the mini-series, if anything, it adds another dimension to the story. Definitely worth it!

[–] flamboyantflamingo 19 years ago

I dont agree at all that jennifer ehle was 'sweet, funny and cute all the time' i think she portrayed all the necessary emotiones of Lizzie superbly.

[–] jazzify 19 years ago

I don't think that JE showed less emotion than KK either. It was just more subtle, not stomping up stairs and spending a day staring at herself in the mirror (both of which are probably the director's or script's fault in the new P&P, admittedly).

If anyone wants to know what JE's been up to lately, look at the link below. Right now she's not doing anything as far as we know, but if you look in the index (http://jenniferehle.blogspot.com/1990/04/index.html) you'll find heaps on her recent stuff. She was in a play with Kevin Spacey, The Philadelphia Story, from May to September 2005, and her film The River King has been released in Canada. The DVD will be released on Jan 24th 2006 in the USA.

Visit the Jennifer Ehle blog: http://jenniferehle.blogspot.com

[–] steffi_nor 19 years ago

I think also that she's a really nice actress, with a beautiful smile as my brother says.
It's several months since I last saw her in "Pride and Prejudice" - and I really liked this TV series. A few days ago for the first time I watched "Possession" ( by chance , I didn't know the cast). In the scene when she first shows up ( and she lookes a bit different from the P&P) - the moment in which she is smiling - and I said to my family watching the movie with me - "I know this smile" - I thought it seems so familiar to me though at once I couldn't recognise the person. After a few seconds finally I shouted:
"Pride and Prejudice!!!".