New PRIDE AND PREJUDICE to be a teen flick?
According to KeiraWeb.com, Lee Hall, one of the screenwriters of the upcoming film adaptation of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, said on BBC Radio 4 that the film is “a bit of a teen flick.”
DOROTHY! Our vinaigrette, and a pot of strong tea, DIRECTLY!
We don’t have Real Player at AustenBlog World Headquarters and are too lazy to download it, so we can’t listen to the whole thing. You can listen to the show for up to seven days after it was broadcast, which leaves about four or five more days. Go here to listen to the show. We would love a transcript of the pertinent parts of the broadcast if anyone is up to it–we won’t publish it on the site, just paraphrase for everyone’s information.
December 31st, 2004 at 2:30 am
But think the positive side: after this “teen flick” thousands of teens will rush to bookstore to buy p&p with Keira and Matthew in the cover. Maybe some of them will even read some other books as well. Pemberley.com will need help with bandwith I presume
December 31st, 2004 at 9:00 am
He merely notes that because the story is told from the perspective of young women - late teens and early twenties - he’d expect it to appeal to that kind of audience. There’s nothing to suggest that he set out to write a “teen flick”.
December 31st, 2004 at 6:23 pm
An administrative note: comments that include the word “T*E*E*N” get kicked into the moderation queue for approval, so that’s why they’re not appearing immediately. The word is on our spam list.
Fear not, they’ll be approved if they are a real comment on the thread, there just might be a bit of a time lapse.
Now, Mock Tudor: Thanks for your comment. As I said in the original post, I haven’t listened to the program (I don’t like Real Player, the free version is spyware) so I don’t know exactly what was said. But if he thinks P&P only appeals to a young audience, he obviously hasn’t been to a JASNA meeting lately. We’re being told flat-out to recruit young members–meaning younger than 50 years old! Every generation has “their” Darcy. I sat through a presentation given by the late Paula Schwartz (better known by her pen name, Elizabeth Mansfield) on which was the “best” Mr. Darcy, and the ladies of a certain generation were still swooning over Laurence Olivier’s “nice” Darcy.
Of course, that is typical Hollywood B.S., to think an utterly timeless story like P&P could only appeal to young people. I can’t help but think that attitude would cross over into his adaptation, which could prove unfortunate.
I think the appeal to teens and young people will be having Keira Knightley in the cast more than anything else. Witness the obsession with getting Orlando Bloom’s sister in the cast list, though she isn’t in the film.
January 1st, 2005 at 12:23 pm
I don’t think you should worry too much. At least not because of this interview.
He didn’t say anything about it “only” appealing to young people - and the observations he did make where about both the book and the movie.
When asked: “Has there been discussion of who the film will be marketed for?” he specifically said: “I didn’t think about who it would play to”.
January 1st, 2005 at 7:16 pm
Well, that sounds better then. They should market it to anyone who likes a good story!
January 1st, 2005 at 8:51 pm
The enduring appeal of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
With the kind assistance of an AustenBlog reader, we have been able to listen to the BBC Radio Four “Front Row” program about the enduring appeal of Pride and Prejudice, which makes it such a popular choice to adapt to film. The show included intervi…