Friday, February 25, 2011

My Favorite Darcy

Jane Austen's classic novel Pride and Prejudice has been turned into a film numerous times, but I think the best is the A&E adaptation made in the 1990's. That production, as much as the novel on which it is based, served as inspiration for Helen Fielding's novel Bridget Jones's Diary, also made into a movie. I am sure that I am not alone in feeling that one of the best things about both films was the casting of Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy -- Fitzwilliam Darcy in the former, Mark Darcy in the latter. Rumor has it that it was Firth's portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the A&E production that shaped the character of Mark Darcy in Fielding's novel, and led to him being cast in the film adaptation. Now that the Academy Awards are upon us, Mr. Darcy, er -- I mean Mr. Firth, is back in the news, as he has been nominated as Best Actor for an outstanding performance in The King's Speech. However, for many of us he will always be our beloved one and only Fitzwilliam Darcy, and this little clip from YouTube is just one of the reasons why:

No comments: