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Reviews
Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Sorry, I love the novel, but this film is wasting your time...
I read the novel many times, in different languages: English, Chinese and Dutch. I watched 2 versions of TV series (one is from BBC 1995, another is in 1980s). I have also watched the movie made by Hollywood in 1940s...
I have to say: this version in 2005 is the worst. I am actually quite surprised with the current point it received (7.6). I gave it 5 only because I still love this novel.
My comments: (1) I really dislike most of the actors/actresses in this film: Mr. Darcy looks so dumb, really no charm at all; Mr. Bingley looks like a gay (sorry for the actor, no offence); Mr. Bennet looks too cool, instead of with a little bit humor; Mrs. Bennet talked very nonsense (as novel describes), however, that actress looks too much like a gentle old lady; Lizzy, Keira Knightley is just OK, but she is too "lively" for Lizzy. After all, Lizzy is the lady from 17th century, Keira's acting is too modern for this Austen's character; and Jane, why cannot they find a prettier girl for that?...
(2) About the adaption: maybe I'm a little bit too picky, but I do have the feeling that they remove almost all the essential parts, and keep (and create) some stupid scenes. The novel is full of smart and ironic characters and talks, however, the film keeps very little:(.
(3) ... my advice to everybody is: don't watch this film if you have never read the novel. It is destroying Jane Austen's masterpiece. I normally dislike the taste of Hollywood on Britain classics, however, now I have to say even the Hollywood version in 1940s is much better than this one (although I don't like that one either)! If you do want to watch instead of reading novel, watch BBC's 6 episodes, that one won't waste your time!
Gone with the Wind (1939)
An almost perfect movie
I gave 9 out of 10 for some reasons: The greatnesses: (1) I have the unlimited appreciation to Margaret Mitchell for providing us with this masterpiece. The original novel is too good to be surpassed. I cannot deny this movie showed most great parts of the movie within 4 hours, that's quite difficult.
(2) Vivien Leigh should be credited for the success of this movie. Scarlett is no doubt the shining part in this movie, and Vivien is no doubt be perfect, both the looking and the performances.
The regrets: (3) I think the only regret in this movie is: sometimes, this movie made some characters be too perfect to be true. For example, Melanie. Melanie is of course a wonderful lady, perfect personalities, strong (although weak with health). Well, in the novel, Melanie is more like a human. In this movie, she became a "godness". She is a woman growing up in the south of Ameria, with good family education. In the movie, she became a "brave" lady that felt not shy when talking with a prostitute. While in the movie, she is very scared after encountering with that prostitute. I prefer the novel since that's more realistic.
Xi shi yan (2002)
Some true stories...
This movie is far from showing the beauties in China, therefore, I'm not so fancy about talking if the actresses are attractive or not.
The movie is talking about 3 women's different fates. They are coming from the small town in ZheJiang province, the hometown of Xi Shi (one of the four historical beauties in China). One of the women (acted by Yiqun Huang) is an yue opera actress, in her career, she is acting Xi Shi. As one of the best singers, she finally lost her part as Xi Shi in the theater since another opera actress has better background (the opera group can be sponsored if using her as the main actress)...
This movie shows some cruel realities. These are quite true somehow. Therefore, seeing this movie you can see what happened in some places of China. However, the whole movie fails to present a beautiful view. The stories are quite good, but the quality of the pictures can be improved.