PBS Masterpiece Theatre - The Complete Jane Austen

[jazzzbaby]

2008 ~ Looks fantastic!

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/austen/index.html

 

[Doctor Strange]

Heads up!

Bump!

This starts this weekend with Persuasion. The full schedule is now up at:

http://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/masterpiece_classic_schedule.pdf

 

[AmateisGal]

Ah...I love these movies. I'll have to drag out the ol' rabbit ears so I can watch them.

 

[BeBopBaby]

I can't wait until tomorrow night! The tivo is set.

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This Sunday, MASTERPIECE unveils:
* A vibrant new look
* New scheduling, breaking the year into three "seasons"
MASTERPIECE CLASSIC (winter and spring)
MASTERPIECE MYSTERY! (summer)
MASTERPIECE CONTEMPORARY (fall)
* The first of three new hosts
Gillian Anderson presents MASTERPIECE CLASSIC
* A redesigned website

...and, for the first time on US television, MASTERPIECE presents
adaptations of all of the Jane Austen novels, and a new biopic of her
life.


Schedule: The Complete Jane Austen
January 13-April 6, 2008

PERSUASION
January 13, 2008 on PBS
(Check your local listings; dates and times may vary)

"All around great casting...Cold colours, unhelpful gossip and
perpetual driving rain can't quite extinguish Anne's passion, while
Rupert Penry-Jones smoulders as convincingly as if steam was rising
from within his frock coat...excellent dramatization..."
-- Daily Telegraph (London)

"I would never suppose that true constancy is known only by women, but
the one claim I shall make for my own sex is that we love longest,
when all hope is gone."
-- Anne Elliot in Persuasion

Unhappily unmarried at age 27, and dealing with family financial
peril, hope is fading from Anne Elliot's (Sally Hawkins, Little
Britain) life. Circumstances bring Captain Frederick Wentworth (Rupert
Penry Jones, Casanova), a dashing naval officer she once deeply loved,
back into her life eight years after Anne was persuaded by her family
to reject his marriage proposal. Having returned from sea with a new
fortune, Wentworth is surrounded by swooning women while Anne broods
at the periphery, longing to be in Wentworth's favor. Now Anne comes
face-to-face with the deep regret of her old decision, and her abiding
love for Wentworth, as she wonders if a long ago love can be
rekindled.

Launching Sunday, catch up with THE COMPLETE JANE AUSTEN at
MASTERPIECE Online!=20

Features include:
* Video and image slideshows from all the Austen adaptations
* Men of Austen Gallery
* Q + A with Persuasion star Sally Hawkins
* Video interview with screenwriter Andrew Davies
* Characters feature
* Cast + Credits
* Story Synopsis
* Links + Bibliography
* And more!


THE COMPLETE JANE AUSTEN AT MASTERPIECE ONLINE
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/austen/index.html

 

[Harp]

 

[Lauren]

Vanessa and Neecerie and I watched Persuasion last night (or rather, they did as I was asleep within the first bit) but for what I was awake for, I can say that the camera was way too wobbly and way too close up for my taste. I didn't care for the acting so much. The version with Amanda Root is still the best in my opinion.

 

[Paisley]

I saw it last night and really enjoyed it. Anne's married sister seemed more off her rocker than I remembered her in the book, though.

Anne's father's constant primping was pretty funny.

 

[The Shirt]

The primping father was the Librarian from Buffy right? I have told myself I have a date with my TV every Sunday night this month. VEry excited to see these all.

 

[Paisley]

Yes, I knew I'd seen him before--I just didn't know where.

He was in a coffee commercial, too.

 

[MissHuff]

I DVR'd Persuasion but I've yet to watch it.

I was very excited last week when I saw the commercial about the complete Jane Austen. I was already excited to catch Jane Eyre thanks to my insomnia so I flipped when I saw the Jane Austen thing. I remember why I loved Masterpiece theater so much.

 

[Harp]

I lost my literary thought...

 

[Lotus Leroux]

I am really enjoying this series so far. Looking forward to Northanger Abbey tonight!

 

[Doctor Strange]

I watched Northanger Abbey with my daughter last night and we both loved it. I've never read that one, so I can't speak to the quality of the adaptation, but it came across as somewhat lighter and more fun than the other Austen stories.

 

[Lotus Leroux]

I agree with you Doctor Strange. I enjoyed it more than last week's
showing of Persuasion. I had not been familiar with the story until
last night, and I found it interesting to learn that this book was not
published until after Jane Austen's death.

 

[CherryRed]

Dang! I heard about his on NPR the other day and now I have missed the 1st 3! I am looking forward to the rest. I will definitely be getting my Mom to DVR Pride and Prejudice for me. That is the best version!!

 

[Doctor Strange]

Fear not - the great thing about PBS is that everything is eventually rerun... multiple times!

 

[Doctor Strange]

Mansfield Park

While this new production was pretty good, I have to admit that I much prefer the 1999 film version with Frances O'Connor as Fanny Price.

I was not especially impressed with Billie Piper's acting, and I thought she was far too conventionally pretty to be "simple, overlooked" Fanny. And leaving out the sequences showing Fanny at home with her poor family lost the whole rich vs. poor, love vs. money angle.

I know that Austen purists don't like the material that was interpolated into the 1999 film (extracts from Austen's letters, bringing forward the fact that the Bertrams' fortune was built on brutal slavery on their Carribean plantations), but I think it had a lot more juice than this version. (Not having read the novel myself, I can only compare the films on their own merits, not as to their accuracy as adaptations.)

What did you folks think?

 

[Paisley]

I watched Jane Austen Regrets last night. She was portrayed a little flintier than I pictured her.