(no subject)
I c what u did thar, putting Derek Jacobi in a movie about stammering. Heh.
Also: how grateful am I that they didn't do something awful like cast Gwyneth Paltrow as Queen Elizabeth? HOMG. But all the casting was perfect, so they were obviously paying a lot of attention to the script and none to O HAY BIG NAME WHO CAN DO A HALFWAY (emphasis on halfway) BELIEVABLE ENGLISH ACCENT. It was interesting hearing Educated Australian next to Actualfax RP, too. (Funny story: my favourite uni lecturer speaks Educated Australian, and my ear for accents is not the best without comparisons, so I was utterly gobsmacked when I found out he wasn't British.) And the authentic Oldentiems Beeb cracked me up.
Jennifer Ehle was completely unrecognisable, to the point where I saw her name in the credits and was like 'She was in this?' and was incredulous when the proper credits rolled up and I found out who she'd been. (In the course of my gobsmackery, I found out that
blademistress has never seen Pride and Prejudice, for which she is DEAD TO ME.)
Anyway, it was really good. Really good. I tend to like movies about royalty anyway, because my id is a dreadful feudal reactionary which LOVES emotionally constipated upper-class types in nice outfits, particularly if those outfits are military dress uniforms1, and it definitely delivered on that front, but quite apart from that it was excellent. Beautiful cinematography, excellent set and costume design (the coat runs a close second to Sherlock's for Best Performance in an Insulating Role), great writing and acting, and a wonderful moving climax, during which my phone naturally beeped. And I did not once think of Colin Firth as Mr Darcy or make a wet shirt joke to myself, which I think means the man deserves an Oscar.
I wonder what my chances are of finding some decent histories or biographies of the period? Without having to read the bad ones to find out which is which, that is.
We saw a trailer for True Grit beforehand and wow, it's really noticeable that the promotional materials are all JEFF BRIDGES! JOSH BROLIN! MATT DAMON! and preserve a marvellous silence on the subject of who plays the actual main character. >:/
1I would blame this on too much Heyer and Sayers at an impressionable age, but I didn't start reading either until uni. I think it's my feudal id that causes the Heyer-reading rather than vice versa. /o\
Also posted at Dreamwidth.
Also: how grateful am I that they didn't do something awful like cast Gwyneth Paltrow as Queen Elizabeth? HOMG. But all the casting was perfect, so they were obviously paying a lot of attention to the script and none to O HAY BIG NAME WHO CAN DO A HALFWAY (emphasis on halfway) BELIEVABLE ENGLISH ACCENT. It was interesting hearing Educated Australian next to Actualfax RP, too. (Funny story: my favourite uni lecturer speaks Educated Australian, and my ear for accents is not the best without comparisons, so I was utterly gobsmacked when I found out he wasn't British.) And the authentic Oldentiems Beeb cracked me up.
Jennifer Ehle was completely unrecognisable, to the point where I saw her name in the credits and was like 'She was in this?' and was incredulous when the proper credits rolled up and I found out who she'd been. (In the course of my gobsmackery, I found out that
blademistress has never seen Pride and Prejudice, for which she is DEAD TO ME.)
Anyway, it was really good. Really good. I tend to like movies about royalty anyway, because my id is a dreadful feudal reactionary which LOVES emotionally constipated upper-class types in nice outfits, particularly if those outfits are military dress uniforms1, and it definitely delivered on that front, but quite apart from that it was excellent. Beautiful cinematography, excellent set and costume design (the coat runs a close second to Sherlock's for Best Performance in an Insulating Role), great writing and acting, and a wonderful moving climax, during which my phone naturally beeped. And I did not once think of Colin Firth as Mr Darcy or make a wet shirt joke to myself, which I think means the man deserves an Oscar.
I wonder what my chances are of finding some decent histories or biographies of the period? Without having to read the bad ones to find out which is which, that is.
We saw a trailer for True Grit beforehand and wow, it's really noticeable that the promotional materials are all JEFF BRIDGES! JOSH BROLIN! MATT DAMON! and preserve a marvellous silence on the subject of who plays the actual main character. >:/
1I would blame this on too much Heyer and Sayers at an impressionable age, but I didn't start reading either until uni. I think it's my feudal id that causes the Heyer-reading rather than vice versa. /o\
Also posted at Dreamwidth.