“It would be most inconvenient since I swore to loathe him for all eternity”
Wednesday, 07 December, 2005
On my third try and despite 2 am insomnia, I dragged myself out of bed to the bus stop to go see Pride and Prejudice, fearing that, if I waited any longer, I would see it fly out of the cinema for good. Unfortunately I had underestimated the heat and had left the house hat-less and water bottle-less. The bus was also incredibly late (or perhaps the 9:10 simply hadn't come at all?) Nevertheless, walking very fast, I just managed to slip in as the trailers (which are an essential part of the movie-going experience) were about to finish.
And what can I say? It is a very different sort of P&P from the BBC production, which is a relief for it simply would not do to just rehash the whole thing again with different actors. Whereas the BBC production was very crisp, clean and elegant, this P&P retained the dirt and smudges of rustic English country life. Every frame looked like something out of a John Constable painting, complete with barnyard animals, muddy boots, Roman architectural relics and spectacular wild landscapes steeped in lashings of the sublime (the philosophical 18th century kind). I approved of the Bennett sisters looking closer in age to what they really were (Jennifer Ehle barely passes for 21 but Keira Knightley, only 20 herself, certainly looks it). Julia Sawalha makes for a more lively and interesting Lydia but I guess certain things had to be sacrificed when you are confined to the span of a 2-hour movie instead of a 6-hour miniseries. Certainly, the plot was rushed but the transitions did work smoothly, despite the haste, and I felt the script hit all the right points. (IMDB says that Emma Thompson did an uncredited and unpaid re-write of the script which explains why she gets a “Special Thanks” in the credits. I wonder how much of its workability is owed to her; she did win an Oscar for Sense and Sensibility in 1996. Oh, and also have a look at that IMDB for the amusing bit of trivia about the letter scene). Colin Firth is a better Darcy but Matthew MacFadyen (whose name no one seems to know how to spell correctly) did a wonderful job as the smouldering hero). The movie actually felt more like a Brontë film rather than an Austen film (think of the scene of Elizabeth on the cliffs with the wind ruffling her skirts. Interestingly, MacFadyen starred in Wuthering Heights in 1998) and the soundtrack reflected this—unabashedly romantic but still extremely moody, lacking the light breezy pianoforte of Melvyn Tan, but it's far more suitable. (You'll think me foolish but I've been visiting the official website just so I can hear it again. I hope they one day publish the sheet music—I'd love to learn how to play it, though I will probably mangle it in the process). I thought it interesting that certain key scenes were performed outdoors rather than indoors—particularly Darcy's first and second proposal (in the rain, then at sunrise). And I thought it absolutely lovely how he intuitively understood Lizzie's love of walking, one of the few freedoms allowed to women of her status back in those days. There still were scenes which irritated me; Mr. Bennett is not supposed to know what Darcy has done for them and the ending was a little drawn out. But Donald Sutherland made a lovely father and Judi Dench was a scream (though really she just rehashed her role as Lady Braknell in The Importance of Being Earnest).
All right, all right, I'll stop gushing. Post-movie lunch was sushi again and it was still ridiculously hot outside and couple of hours until my Centrelink interview. They were sending me to Haymarket this time. I had a book (rereading The Blue Sword since I just finished rereading and re-enjoying The Hero and the Crown again) and I wondered if this Centrelink branch were merciful enough on their employees to have air conditioning. I was sick of window shopping (though I did find a basement second hand bookstore on George St. which was all right and made me excited about the promise of Stanislaw Lem, who is normally impossible to find, but unfortunately they had run out of his works). I caught the bus to Haymarket and walked to Centrelink, only to find that the office had just experienced a power failure so there was no airconditioning and all their computers weren't working. The receptionist asked me twice what my name was and when my appointment was and could I please fill in this other form for Newstart? I did it with feelings of intense dread—(I'm going to have to come back again, aren't I)—but fortunately the very nice man who took me for the verifying interview was efficient, friendly and said that there wouldn't be a problem with me getting Newstart since I'd already been on Austudy and that they'd backdate it to when Austudy finished. Hurray! So now I can stop fretting about it and start applying for jobs. Apparently, what I've done since college finished counts so I can put down that call I made to the library last week.
My appointment had been for 2:30 but he was able to see me early for some reason so I managed to get out of there by 2:15. What do you know, but a 412 bus came along on immediately and it had air conditioning! But it was really too good to be true; because of some sort of engine trouble and alarm that wouldn't shut up, the driver had to let us all off into the scorching sun at Sydney University where we all had to wait for the next one (which didn't have air conditioning). Nevertheless, I managed to get home without dying of heat exhaustion, I finally got membership at our local video store and picked up the drycleaning that I've been meaning to have drycleaned for at least six months.
And Ben is due back tonight! Yay!!
Blinks:
A way of funding writing in the future: pitch and idea and get people to support it.
Place where you can hire play equipment for parties, etc.
How to recalibrate the home button on your iPhone.
Unsolicited manuscripts accepted by Pan Macmillan with certain conditions.
Thought Balloon is a group blog in which the writers tackle a new theme every week? month? with one-page scripts. This URL is for their Phonogram ones.
How to sew a zipper on a knitted garment.
Issues organised by tale.
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I bought the DVD of 84 Charing Cross Road and it was not as good as the book. Or rather, it was the book presented on screen. But it has a much younger Judi Dench in it as Anthony Hopkin’s Irish wife.
Have you read 84?
And may I please have your postal address
No, haven’t read it. Is it good?
Address is an email.
Hrm. I never quite got Stanislaw Lem.