Pride and prejudice

1995 UK Color 300 Minutes

Photo of Alison SteadmanPhoto of Anna Chancellor + Lucy Robinson + Christopher BenjaminPhoto of Adrian Lukis + Julia Sawalha

Review

I have to dance at least the first two dances with Mr. Collins.
Oh, Lord, yes. He's threatened to dance with us all.
Photo of Jennifer Ehle

The five Bennet sisters have been raised well aware of their mother's fixation on finding them husbands and securing set futures. Elizabeth Bennet (Jennifer Ehle) is a 20-year-old woman possessed of a quick mind and a quicker tongue. When a new neighbor, Mr. Bingley (Crispin Bonham-Carter ) arrives, with an income of five thousand pounds a year, Mrs. Bennet (Alison Steadman) has her sights on him. She ensures they are introduced at a ball. There they meet Mr. Bingley's brooding friend, Mr. Darcy (Colin Firth), a scowling, dark man.

Photo of Colin FirthBingley becomes instantly attracted to Jane Bennet (Susannah Harker), but outspoken Elizabeth dismisses Darcy. Yet, over the course of a year, as the sisters embark on their separate adventures in love and marriage, Darcy continually finds himself in Elizabeth’s company, forcing the two to confront powerful feelings inside. But a series of complications and family opposition, threatens to unravel whatever progress Lizzie and Darcy have made toward mutual understanding.

Cast

Directed by Simon Langton

Links and more

Listen to: Famous local beauty (Small mp3 file, 31kb) Famous local beauty
Listen to: Good fortune (Small mp3 file, 45kb) Good fortune
Listen to: Good opinion (Small mp3 file, 43kb) Good opinion
Listen to: She’s tolerable (Small mp3 file, 27kb) She’s tolerable
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Photo of David Bamber + Barbara Leigh-Hunt

Trivia

Famous Scottish novelist sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) after reading Pride and prejudice: “That young lady had a talent for decribing the involvement and feelings and characters of ordinary life which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with”. Source / More (Book)

The story was made into a film or television series 9 Times:
In 1938 / 1940 / 1952 / 1958 / 1967 / 1980 / 1995 / 1996 / 2005.

The book Pride and prejudice was written by the Englisch novelist Jane Austen and was published in 1813. Source / More (Book)


It was difficult in the beginning of the 19th century to find a young gentleman available for marriage because more than 10 percent of all man were under arms. Source / More (Book)

Mr. Bingley gets 5000 pounds a year. Here are some figures of expenses in those days (1818) for comparison:
A maid-of-all-work -> 10 pounds a year.
A coachman and a groom -> 40 pounds a year.
A modest house -> 20 pounds a year.
Source / More (Book)

In 1796-1797 Jane Austen wrote the story First Impressions. It was rejected by her publisher. She revised the novel in 1811 and changed the title to Pride and prejudice.

The first sentence of the book is among the most quoted in literature: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”