Jane Austen: You Rate 11 Adaptations

1

PRIDE & PREJUDICE (2005)
Starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfayden
Feature film

PRO: I love the 2005 version. Matthew Macfayden was awesome. The scene where he helps Elizabeth into the carriage when they are leaving Netherfield and he flexes his hand gets me every time. And it is shot so beautifully, Joe Wright did a wonderful job with the direction. All the long shots, and they way he captures the landscape — amazing! —DaniVT

CON: The Keira Knightley version was a tragedy. The 1995 [adaptation] with Colin Firth is perfect down to the smallest degree. And it doesn't end with some cloying ''I love YOU'' moment sitting cross-legged outside Chatsworth [the home used as a stand-in for Pemberley]. —D

2

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1995)
Starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth
Miniseries

PRO: I can't begin to describe how much my skin crawls whenever someone has the audacity to put the 2005 version on par with my beloved 1995 BBC version.... Jane Austen writes of a closeted society where reputation and reserve were of the utmost importance. The genius of her Pride and Prejudice (and the brilliance of the 1995 version) is that she still manages to tell a timeless romance without the story (or protagonists) ever stooping to be inelegant, coarse, or cliché. —Anne

CON: I know a lot of people swear by the BBC miniseries of Pride and Prejudice, but I don't really care for it. I don't think Colin Firth captures the essence of Mr. Darcy and why-oh-why is Lizzy so much prettier than Jane, when Jane is supposed to be the most beautiful woman around? Those are basic necessities for a good Pride and Prejudice. —Musica1

3

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1980)
Starring Elizabeth Garvie and David Rintoul
Miniseries

PRO: Maybe I'm just old, but does no one else remember and love the 1980 BBC P&P with David Rintoul and Elizabeth Garvie? That is my favorite one by far. They are both WAY more compelling (and better looking!) than in the Firth version, and I think the humor in it — Mr. Collins, the mother — is much better done than in the newer miniseries or the movies. —Emily

CON: Editor's note: Really? No cons? C'mon Austen fans, sound off in the comments section below

4

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1940)
Starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier
Feature film

PRO: The first interpretation of Pride and Prejudice that I ever saw was probably the first one made back in the 1940s with Greer Garson and Sir Laurence Olivier. I've read P&P 100 times and always imagine Olivier as the real Darcy. Love that version — really hated the Keira Knightley version. —Sparky

CON: Olivier was note-perfect as Darcy but screenwriter Aldous Huxley committed the unpardonable sin of turning Lady Catherine de Burgh into a positive character. This completely ruins the entire production for me. That, and the fact that Greer Garson is too queenly for the light, bright Lizzy Bennett. —libraryellen

5

SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (1995)
Starring Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet
Feature film

PRO: I fell in LOVE with Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon. Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility is a gem of a movie and a real treat for any Austen fan. —CarolAnne

CON: I have to say that the Masterpiece version of S&S from [2008] beats the Emma Thompson one hands down?. The PBS one had a compelling Col. Brandon, which made MUCH more sense for the ending, and again, actors who were actually appropriate in age to the characters they were playing. Emma Thompson, [though I] love her, was WAY too FREAKING OLD to play Elinor Dashwood. —welshgirl

6

PERSUASION (1995)
Starring Amanda Root and Ciarán Hinds
BBC TV movie (released as a Feature film in the U.S.)

PRO: Amanda Root was amazing in Persuasion — just about the best film interpretation of an Austen heroine, and that's really saying a lot considering the competition. —Jennifer

CON: I hated the '95 version of Persuasion. Anne was not 40 and Captain Wentworth was not 50. Horrible casting. Persuasion is my favorite novel, so I could not forgive the liberties that they took with this version. —Holly

7

PERSUASION (2007)
Starring Sally Hawkins and Rupert Penry-Jones
Made-for-TV movie

PRO: I absolutely loved the Sally Hawkins version of Persuasion, I thought it was absolutely brilliant and perfect. —hclane

CON: Not only did [the filmmakers have] Anne run around like a crazy person (Austen heroines may be passionate but I don't think they ever lose it), but they took out the pen-dropping scene, which is the climax of the whole book and symbolic of Wentworth giving up his ''authority,'' his version of events, to defer to Anne's wisdom. I couldn't believe they changed it. Also, the Wentworth dude did not look capable of being a sailor and Sally Hawkins is not really pretty enough to play Anne. —Denise

8

MANSFIELD PARK (1999)
Starring Frances O'Connor and Jonny Lee Miller
Feature film

PRO: I love, love, loved Jonny Lee Miller as Edmund in Mansfield Park. Loved Frances O'Connor's Fanny too. —V

CON: As for the WORST film version of Austen, hands down Mansfield Park in 1999 — completely off the mark, especially in the portrayal of Fanny Price. —Drus

9

MANSFIELD PARK (2007)
Starring Billie Piper and Blake Ritson
Miniseries

PRO: I liked Billie Piper and that dude from Harry Potter in the BBC's latest incarnation of Mansfield Park. Billie was flirty and vulnerable and made Fanny Price seem like the underdog Austen intended. I liked Frances O'Connor with Jonny Lee Miller, but she was too strong in her portrayal. —Daisy

CON: The version of Mansfield Park with Billie Piper had me trying to stifle giggles and making smart-arsed comments because it was so absurdly bad. What was with all of the running, her heaving bosoms, and badly dyed hair? Ugh! —Laura</p

10

EMMA (1996)
Starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam
Feature film

PRO: OMG!! Jeremy Northam as Mr. Knightley was AWESOME!!! I rented that Emma version on a whim and loved it. I think I've watched it a billion times. Sure, some of the actors cast didn't have the good looks that the characters they played supposedly possess (I'm looking at you Polly Walker and Alan Cumming — Mr. Elton is suppose to be ''dreamy'') but I did not mind at all. I just love, love, love this version. —Mari

CON: I prefer the modern Clueless over Gwyneth's Emma. I still watch Cher & Co. with a smile knowing that it's just Jane in '90s fashion. —Amanda

11

EMMA (2009)
Starring Romola Garai and Jonny Lee Miller
Miniseries

PRO: I've had the chance to see the new version of Emma [which aired in the U.K. last year and is just now coming to the U.S]. Beautifully written, directed and acted. One of my favorite Austen version ever. And the actors are actually to the age they are playing! Mr. Elton is exactly how I pictured him when reading the novel, and the romantic tension between Emma and Knightley is palpable when they argue. Well done! —Olivia

CON: Romola Garai is a wonderful actress, but I just don't find Jonny Lee Miller attractive. So I don't root for the relationship. —Anne