Suzanne's 2 cents' worth: THE KISS

Or Confessions of a Hopeless Romantic/Pride and Prejudice Revisited

I'm an avid moviegoer, as the other Quills can attest to. In fact, I go to the movies once a week, sometimes twice. I'm also a romance writer, so it's no surprise that my favorite movies are those with a strong romantic theme.

Keeping in mind that I haven't seen King Kong (for reasons which have little to do with a really busy writing schedule and everything to do with a love triangle that includes a gigantic ape), my favorite romantic movie of the past year was Pride and Prejudice.

Yes, I saw Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Yes, the movie was funny and sexy. Yes, this one ran a close second in my book. Still, if I were exiled to a deserted island to live out the rest of my natural life and could take only one DVD, I'd pick Pride and Prejudice.

The question is: Which version of Pride and Prejudice would I take with me?

In chronological order they are:

1. Greer Garson/Laurence Olivier (1940) Original b/w movie. Wonderful actors, but a little long in the tooth to play Miss Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. And I couldn't get past the Victorian costumes. (I read somewhere they were left over from filming Gone With the Wind, which would explain why it felt and looked like the wrong time period.)

2. Elizabeth Garvie/David Rintoul (1980) First of the BBC mini-series versions. She's delightful as Elizabeth Bennett. He's a bit stiff as Darcy. The characters and dialogue, while faithful to Jane Austen's book, seem uncomfortably stilted at times.

3. Jennifer Ehle/Colin Firth (1995) Second BBC mini-series is considered the definitive version by many fans. It's certainly the most comprehensive with a running time of 300 minutes. Of course, my favorite scene is not from the book. (Those P&P aficionados among you will know exactly which scene I mean: the one where Colin/Darcy dives into the pond at Pemberley, his country estate.)

4. Keira Knightly/Matthew MacFayden (2005) The latest film version, which I was thrilled to see twice before the darned theaters pulled it to start showing a "slasher" movie.

Modern Updates:

5. Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) A kind-of retelling of P&P.

6. Pride and Prejudice (2003) Elizabeth is a college student. Darcy is a businessman. No, I haven't seen it.

7. Bride and Prejudice (2004) The Bollywood version starring Naveen Andrews of "Lost" fame.

Now about: THE KISS

I hope this isn't a "spoiler" for anyone, but Darcy and Elizabeth don't KISS at the end of Jane Austen's book. However, they do KISS in my two favorite film versions: the 1995 mini-series and this latest movie.

I can still hear the collective sigh that went up from the primarily young and female audience the night I went to see P&P, as Darcy, shirt open at the neck, collar missing, hair rumpled, breeches snug and coat flapping in the morning mist, strides across an open field toward Elizabeth. And when THE KISS comes, you could have heard a pin drop in that theater.

I'm not a Jane Austen purist. I am a hopeless romantic. So I was thrilled that we got THE KISS in this country. (Bowing to purist-power, they did not get THE KISS in the UK.)

I dug out my copy of Pride and Prejudice today a tattered and well-thumbed paperback. I've placed it on the top of my TBR stack to be reread during my next hiatus. I've decided it's time to revisit Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennett as they were written by Jane Austen.

And apparently I'm not the only one who has been inspired by the movie to reread the book. In this morning's newspaper, right there on the local best-sellers list at #10 is Pride and Prejudice.

So which version of the movie -- along with a copy of the book, of course -- would you pack for an extended stay on a deserted island?

--- Suzanne