Every so often my husband and I go on a Jane Austen binge. That’s what we’ve done for the last three weekends. We started by watching Emma, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam. Then we watched Sense and Sensibility, with Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant, and finished out the weekend with Persuasion, with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds. Last weekend, we watched all six episodes of the Jennifer Ehle/Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice. And this weekend, we watched Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightly and Matthew MacFadyen.
It’s a lovely thing to do on a weekend, or even three weekends! And now we hear that there are new TV mini-series versions of Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion all coming out in November, and a new version of Sense and Sensibility is due out soon, also. So the next time we are hit with a Jane Austen craving, it could take months to satisfy it!
A Fondness For Reading 
I, too, have a husband who indulges my Austen movie habit. In fact, he loves it. We’ve seen them all, and own most. Even my sons will watch with us…they get more of the subtleties than I expect them to.
I really like the Emma Thompson Sense and Sensibility, wondering if whatever new version comes out can match it…
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It’s exciting to know more Jane Austen movies are coming out. What a wonderful way to spend a weekend…watching Jan Austen movies. Jane Austen movies cure colds, like Becky, when she came from a hard week teaching school, she wrapped up warm, drank orange juice, and watched five hours of Pride and Predjudice and claims that cured her cold. I’m ready to do the same. Back to P&P
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I have Jane Austen binges every so often too. A couple of months ago I, like you, watched all of the Firth/Ehle Pride and Prejudice. Then the Knightley/MacFayden one, and Sense and Sensibility. I also noticed recently about those new versions of Mansfield Park etc. I think they’re out soon on DVD in the UK. I may have to add them to an order soon.
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What a great way to spend the weekend. I haven’t seen many of the Jane Austen productions but I would like to see the latest Pride and Prejudice one with Keira Knightly.
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I haven’t seen the films, but I did enjoy the books, particularly Pride and Prejudice. You might visit Nessie at The Biblio Files (see my blog for the link, I can’t remember it exactly now) because she is hosting a challenge in which the readers read SEVEN of a certain author. One of the choices she proposes is the Bronte sisters. I just made a mental connection between them and the Austen books, but perhaps you’re not interested in reading them. Only a thought! I’m sure the films are much quicker than the books! (By the way, my husband and I rented Marie Antoinette the other week, and I loved it! Boy, I guess I’m quite random today, at the end of the first day back to work after Spring Break.)
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Gentle Reader, It was B that suggested we start this 3-weekend Austen binge this time. He enjoys them as much as I do, and we’re just not sure any of these new versions will measure up to the ones we love.
Mom, we’ve talked many times about the curative value of P & P! It will cure whatever ails you!
Tanabata, I’ve never ordered movies (only books) from the UK. I may have to put in an order soon, too!
Iliana, we’ve been devoted to the Firth/Ehle version of P & P, but we really like the Keira Knightly version now, too. B likes it because he’s enthralled with the filming and the long camera shots that give this version a very artistic look. He thinks the long camera sequences make up for the more abbreviated plot. I’d be interested in what you think when you see it.
Bellezza, I should have explained in my post that the reason we’re so stuck on the movies is because we love the books! I’m also a firm believer that one must reread Jane Austen many times because you see something different in her stories at each new stage of life! It’s time for me to reread her again.
I love the idea of the 7-book challenge! We haven’t seen Marie Antoinette, but will add it to the queue.
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Robin, the only thing you have to watch is the Region coding. The US and Canada are Region 1. The UK is Region 2. So if you have a multi-region player you’re fine. Japan is also Region 2 so I often get DVDs from the UK.
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Thanks for the info, Tanabata. I’ll check the paperwork on our DVD player and see if it will play multi-region DVDs.
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My wife, daughter and I do the same thing quite often. Ours isn’t completely a Jane Austen thing, we tend to include all the movies you mentioned in a fairly regular rotation and also include Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night with Helena Bonham Carter, Kenneth Branaugh’s Much Ado About Nothing, and the Oscar Wilde movie An Ideal Husband with Minnie Driver. All great films, even more perfect during spring when the weather is changing and thoughts of outdoors are in the air. We just watched Sense and Sensibility last weekend.
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Carl, what nice suggestions! I’ll put them on our queue.
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