Period Drama Week Tag: Part 3

Thursday, September 8, 2011

11. Which period drama which you haven't seen yet do you most want to watch?

There are a couple on my list of movies to watch. I'm not sure which ones I want to watch the most, but on the list (at least the ones which we own the DVD for) are...

Sense and Sensibility (1971)...

...Elizabeth: The Golden Age (My mom got it for Christmas, so we'll have to watch it eventually)...

...and Lost in Austen. I've heard that people either love this film or hate it, so I'll have to see what I think of it!

But they might have to wait for a little while: my mom and I started to watch The Duchess of Duke Street a little while ago (and we're enjoying it). It stars Gemma Jones, who was Mrs. Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility (1995) and Mrs. Fairfax in Jane Eyre (1997). When we're done watching Season 1 (out of 2), then I'll review it.

And, of course, I'm eagerly awaiting Season 2 of Downton Abbey (Which better be good! Season 1 left so many loose ends!).

12. Which period drama has the prettiest soundtrack or background music?
That's one of the things I love about period dramas -- the soundtracks. I'm not sure if I can pick just one soundtrack that has the prettiest, so I'll list a couple here.

The Pride and Prejudice (1995) soundtrack is very lovely. There are a number of very pretty pieces in there.

Another lovely soundtrack is the Sense and Sensibility (1995) soundtrack. Unfortunately, Kate Winslet's singing parts were left out, but the rest of the music is very lovely.

Unfortunately now on CD, there are a number of lovely background pieces in Little Dorrit (2008). The tone is a bit sad, but they are still pretty.

The main theme of Downton Abbey is amazing. Although there is one piece I swear is straight out of Little Dorrit, but overall, there are very lovely pieces in there. The soundtrack has not been released yet, so I haven't heard any of the songs outside of the series.

Lots of great pieces in The King's Speech Soundtrack. Love the rehearsal song!

13. Which period drama has your favorite screenplay/script? Why?

I love, love, love, love, love the screenplay for Pride and Prejudice (1995): it stays true to the original novel (in other words, I don't go through it thinking "You didn't say that! She did!") and it's very well written. The screenplay was written by Andrew Davies, who does make some really good scripts (though lately he's been adding some unnecessary scenes).

14. Do you like having multiple versions of some period dramas? Do some period dramas need a newer version? Or are the older versions better?

Sometimes I like multiple versions, other times not so much. For Pride and Prejudice, for example, I absolutely love the 1995 version, so if I watch another version of Pride and Prejudice, I'm usually disappointed (let's face it, Colin Firth is Mr. Darcy). I have seen the three latest versions of Emma, though. I love the 2009 version of Emma, but I did also like the Gwyneth Paltrow version (though it does seem to go by quickly!)

Mansfield Park (2007): What did you think of it?

As for new period dramas, there are a couple that I think need a better version. I've only started reading Mansfield Park not too long ago and never seen any of the movie versions, but from what I've heard, I think there needs to be a better version of it that most people can agree upon as the best version. There's at least one good version of each of Jane Austen's novels except Mansfield Park (though Northanger Abbey (2007) could have been improved by a lot script-wise, but it'll do for now). After Mansfield Park, there does need to be a better version of Northanger Abbey: from what I've heard about the 80's version, it's not good at all, and while the 2007 version had good actors and good acting, the script needed improvement (plus a great deal of it must have been invention).

As far as the older period dramas being better goes, it depends: there are some older versions of period dramas that can't be improved upon much more, so any future ones would be looked upon possibly as a disappointment (see what I said above about Pride and Prejudice). But if there really isn't a "good", older version of a period drama, then I think the newer ones tend to be better. Like I said, it depends.

15. "What is the longest period drama you've seen?"