Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Older Pride and Prejudice documentaries

I'm probably about a decade behind, but I just discovered that there were several documentaries and study kit sort of things made in relation to Pride and Prejudice. Firstly, there's "Perspectives on Pride and Prejudice". It used to be for sale at Learner.org but unfortunately is no longer, though that link will lead you to a brief description of it. The catalogue entry at the NSW State Library (code: VB8882) reads:
Videocassette. Introduction (2 min.) -- The social setting (18 min.) -- Relationships in the novel (20 min.) -- Characterisation (15 min.) -- Use of irony (14 min.) -- Resources (17 min.) -- Sound cassette. Interview with Park Honan, Fay Weldon reading from her Letters to Alice on first reading Jane Austen, and extracts from Weldon and Andrew Davies discussing their adaptations of the novel for television -- Book. Provides a consideration of the novel's social background, an introduction to critical reviews, and extracts referred to on the cassettes.

There is also "Pride and Prejudice: from Page to Screen", which Pride and Prejudice Paradise describes like so:
The video is approx. 30 minutes long and contains interviews with Sue Birtwistle (producer), Simon Langton (director) and Andrew Davies (screenplay). It includes brief scenes of filming and rehearsals.

Finally, I've read on EhleNews that a "Making of" documentary was made, of which part is shown on the Special Edition DVD. The clip posted earlier is probably from this. As far as I know, this was never commercially available.

Your best bet in finding these would probably be a university library or large public library. However, someone who has seen both the "Making of" and "Perspectives" documentaries says that there's probably not much more from Ms Ehle than the brief snippet in the above clip.

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