A 'Prejudice' to be Proud Of by Ed Bark

BBC Turns Austen work into a sumptuous series

Luminous Lizzy Bennet has the oddest of notions for an early 19th-century English girl. She will resolutely go against the grain of monetary gain.

"I am determined that nothing but the deepest love will induce me into matrimony," she declares.

Her unwavering convictions are the heartbeat of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, adapted into a highly satisfying, sumptuous six-hour miniseries by the BBC. Lacking any action to speak of and flush with dinner parties and dances, it slowly gains momentum without ever appearing to pick up speed.

Stay the course and you may well wonder about the comparatively pedestrian nature of today's American-made TV movies and miniseries. The Brits can be a bit creaky at times, but they've always known better than to cast Jaclyn Smith in anything.

The premiere of Pride and Prejudice arrives in the midst of a Jane Austen boomlet. Sense and Sensibility, drawn from her first novel, is in theaters and looks like an Oscar contender. Clueless, Hollywood's Valley Girl take on Ms. Austen's Emma, was a surprise box-office hit and is now on video. The first film version of Persuasion, based on her sixth and last novel, opened in September to critical acclaim.

The most apt comparisons are between Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, both of which end in double ring ceremonies after thoroughly testing the mettle of their goodly heroines.

The esteemed Emma Thompson deservedly is receiving raves for her portrayal of Elinor Dashwood in Sense. But dare it be said that Jennifer Ehle's performance as Lizzy Bennet is the more galvanizing of the two ? She lights a fire under Pride and Prejudice, and then keeps the drama aglow. Her close-ups are suitable for framing. Her gumption is palpable.

"My courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me," she says in a bravura scene with the haughty frozen-countenanced Darcy (Colin Firth).

Darcy is a man of extreme wealth and therefore exalted position. Every bone in his privileged body rebels against his love for the common Lizzy, whose shrill, constantly "vexed" mother (Allison Steadman) wants her five daughters to marry only for money.

"Could you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your connections?" Darcy asks matter-of-factly before Lizzy wholeheartedly rebukes him in a pivotal scene that might cause many viewers to erupt into jumping jacks of joy.

Mr. Firth's portrayal of Darcy might seem almost comically brooding on occasion. But his characterization is better understood as the drama proceeds. Here at least is a man of steel.

Sense and Sensibility, on the other hand, is burdened by another of those stammering, little-boy performances by Hugh Grant, who plays Ms. Thompson's seemingly unattainable love.

Both films draw on strong sisterly relationships. But Pride and Prejudice has the stronger one, thanks to an appealing performance by Susannah Harker as Lizzy's older sibling, Jane.

Jane's would-be beau is the magnanimous Charles Bingley (Crispin Bonham-Carter), an agreeable polar opposite of Darcy. Their love is instant but initially unrequited. In a Jane Austen novel, these things take time. Lots of time.

Pride and Prejudice has an abundance of other sharply drawn characters.

Lizzy's father (Benjamin Whitrow) is an distant yet droll man who has battened his emotionaly hatches in the face of constant histrionics from his batty, high-strung wife.

Mr. Collins (David Bamber), a simpering clergyman with a wealthy patroness, takes toadyism to heights seldom scaled. He is married for money by Lizzy's best friend, who lives to regret her folly.

Lydia Bennet (Julia Sawalha), the youngest of five daughters, is a giggly gold digger whose behavior is at first infectious and later repulsive.

And the outwardly dashing Mr. Wickham (Adrian Lukas) is a man in uniform with a colored past.

Director Simon Langton glides through all this with a sure sense of where he's going and a determination not to rush things. Pride and Prejudice can be a little languid at times, but your patience will be handsomely rewarded.

Ms. Ehle, in the lead role of Lizzy, is a wonderfully beguiling heroine for those times, or any times. Watch her show an alleged "abominable sort of conceited independence" by walking three miles in the mud to the Bingley estate to visit her ill sister.

Those indeed were times that tried a woman's soul.

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