The three editions of Pride and Prejudice each have their own strengths, and none of them has received unanimous praise. After all, it's still not perfect, otherwise, like "Gone with the Wind", who would dare to remake or adapt this "IP" again?
But for that era, the 1940 edition was very qualified! From the cast, the supporting roles, to persuade the way... They are all worthy of the audience, and its comedy atmosphere is the most suitable for the original! The appearance is also suitable! (Sorry, the following is my prejudice: this version of Elizabeth best fits the imagination of the original face control. The other two versions are cumbersome as if they are pregnant, and the other is as stupid as a hunched ostrich. That’s right. It’s Keira Knightley; not to mention Darcy, is the British sideburns really sloppy? Only Lawrence Oliver’s face can resist; and the other two supporting roles are lackluster)
It’s just because it’s too Hollywood and it’s so happy for everyone. There are always people taking the BBC version to trample on it. But in the final analysis, a movie is a commercial product that entertains the public. Can you ask its artistic performance to compete with literature? I think the quality of a movie should not be judged by the original, as long as it does not deviate from the theme plot and there are no bugs. 05 "Classic" version of the exquisite graphics and soundtrack, I can only say that it is really useless.
Of course, film critics are full of subjective prejudice. What we can do is not to be arrogant in the face of literature, film, and history. To be honest, the literary nature of "Pride and Prejudice" and "Gone with the Wind" seems to be ordinary now, but it was of epoch-making significance in that era. So, is it too harsh for us to evaluate the movies of the 1940s from our current perspective?
I think the biggest failure of this movie is not that it changed the plot in the second half of it. After all, because of the limited length of the movie, Joanna was taken over by a stroke, so her progressive and independent side was rigidly fixed to Mrs. Catherine. The most intolerable thing is that Miss Bentley and Mrs. Catherine, as aristocrats, have eliminated their arrogance and prejudice so quickly, and brought the two pairs of mandarin ducks together. In that era when women had no right to inherit the family property, how could they not prevent the only male in their family from humiliating the family honour and marrying sisters from a farming family! (Although based on their family status, they can only acquiesce in the end.) Even in the 21st century, when two people are not in the right place, some people will maliciously comment that girls "have means, not simple."
Pride and prejudice will not disappear because of the progress of the times and the increase in female awareness. Only love and trust can overcome arrogance and prejudice. Jane Austen gave us a fairy tale, and the 1940 version of the movie also gave us a more relaxed and seductive fairy tale.
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