Summerfolk, and the living is easy

Er, moving on. A couple of Summerfolk reviews, both (slightly) nasty and nice:

The transition from laughter to tears in seconds by the beautiful Varya played to the T by Jennifer Ehle

There are also some audience opinions at the National Theatre's talkback pages. Some rather lovely comments there:

I must admit my main reason for seeing the play was the fact that Jennifer Ehle was in it. She is a consummate actress with a style very much her own, and It's always a pleasure to witness her performances, especially in the theatre, where her considerable talent can be displayed to the full. She gave a superb performance in The Real Thing where she was able to show her emotional range much more than in Summerfolk. Let's just hope that Trevor Nunn can persuade her to become a regular player at the National. Could we ever be that lucky? I certainly hope so.

"Indelible"

For a true Austenophile, however, the gold standard is the 1995 BBC miniseries featuring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle in the leading roles.

Their chemistry together was positively combustible; Firth remains a superstar sex symbol to a certain fan base to this day (and will, I suspect, remain so even into his advanced years) thanks to his smoldering turn as Darcy. Ehle, too, created an indelible character; her Elizabeth is taut, focused and beautifully mannered when it comes to her own place in the world.

From Dunro Munro's review of the new Pride and Prejudice movie in the Fresno Bee.

There's a tiny little lead about Alpha Male at Box Office Prophets - it's said that the film will be given a limited release sometime in 2006.

Regal Rosemary

Here's a photo of Rosemary Harris from 1968.

No news about The Other Side yet, though it's early days. But if you've seen it, we'd love to hear your impressions of it! E-mail to jenniferehle@gmail.com.

Charity auction of Philadelphia Story program

Haven't had an eBay roundup lately. The most notable item is this Philadelphia Story program signed by the entire cast and hand-delivered by Ms Ehle to Broadway Cares, the AIDS charity that is holding the auction.

Printed on expensive heavy paper stock, it's as elegant as the play's Philadelphia mainline setting and features scholarly articles on Barry, the tabloid press of the 1930s, and detailed accounts of all of the Old Vic's 2004-2005 Season. Jennifer Ehle took on the patrician Tracy Lord and received rave reviews for her brave and daring portrayal -- no small feat considering Katherine Hepburn's iconic rendering of this character in the play's original Broadway run and subsequent 1940 film adaptation...Ms. Ehle, a longtime friend and supporter of BC/EFA since her Tony-Award-winning turn in THE REAL THING, personally hand delivered this rare theatrical keepsake from "across-the-pond" specifically for auction here.

Can't afford the USD $127+ pricetag but still want to contribute? You can donate by credit card through the Broadway Cares site, which explains the difference a single dollar can make. If you want more than positive karma, have a look at their other auctions too.

Other eBay items include:

The Tempest CD audio recording.

Pride and Prejudice keyring with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.

Add it to your bunch of keys, attach it to your bag, or use it as body jewellery - whichever you choose, you'll be the envy of your mates!

Jane Austen's World, featuring photos from the Pride and Prejudice mini and other Austen adaptations as well.

Telegraph magazine with a 3-page interview, from April 2005.

Culture magazine with a 1.5-page interview, from Setember 2002.

Empire magazine with full-page photo and profile, from November 1997.

The Look

By Jhana/Mary: The Look on loop. [edit: embedding removed because Mary says the file is 1.3mb]

In other news, a wistful collective sigh is heard across the globe.

Froggy style

You'd think that Pride and Prejudice's popularity would be limited to Anglophone countries where Jane Austen's work is well known, but it appears that the series has made an impact worldwide. Here's a sample of the French take on it - a review from Le Monde in 2003, with high praise for Ms Ehle:

Le jeu raffiné de Jennifer Ehle est à la hauteur de celui d'Emma Thompson, dans Raison et sentiments. Avec plus de retenue que la seconde, la première manifeste une grâce et un charme qui n'ont d'égal que son talent, déjà éprouvé dans d'autres productions de la télévision britannique. A l'image de celle d'Emma Thompson, la beauté de Jennifer Ehle ne correspond guère aux canons hollywoodiens, mais elle s'impose. L'éclat modulé de ses yeux sombres reflète toutes les nuances de l'âme de son personnage.

Standard caveat - rough translation only:

The refined acting of Jennifer Ehle is of the same calibre as Emma Thompson's in Sense and Sensibility. With more restraint than the latter, the former shows a grace and charm that have no equal but her talent, as already proven in other British TV productions. Like Emma Thompson's, Jennifer Ehle's beauty hardly corresponds with the Hollywood ideal, but she makes an impression. The controlled flash of her dark eyes reflects all the nuances of her character's soul. [more]

Speaking of Pride and Prejudice, I've heard of people using the series as a cure for exam blues and as a sort of comfort food when ill, but never this...

It’s not an easy life, at all, admitting to being a “Janeite,” as Rudyard Kipling would say. As one of them, I am herded together with an illusive cabal of old ladies whose books rest near scented candles on nightstands, rather than the other fans I actually know, who spend five hours on Sunday watching the BBC version of the P&P miniseries because it’s their hangover cure.

From Detroit's Metro Times.

"Brightest star"

Photo from Dispatch Online's preview of Melissa. There's also a tiny photo at iafrica.com.

If you're hungry for some text though, check out this episode guide from Action TV. Note that there are spoilers galore. The main body outlines each episode with some critics' reviews (be warned, the Times one is very negative), while the sidebar on the right recaps the impact of the series:

An undeniable success which, whilst drawing its detractors, was also greatly appreciated by contemporary audiences, Melissa was the longest version of the tale, the most luxuriant and the best testament to the powers of Durbridge as a thriller writer (viewed as a celebration of the man, his work, and the thriller genre as a whole).

And on Ms Ehle in the title role written particularly for her:

Jennifer Ehle's performance as Melissa Foster (nee Mackenzie) was the brightest star in the series, as she reinstated the mystery and allure that Durbridge had always implied in his two previous variations on the theme.

There's a comprehensive bunch of reviews at the fansite.

The Interview in HTML

Due to Google's function whereby PDFs are translated into HTML text, you can now read the interview without downloading the files. There's some strange formatting problem though; for some reason "Th" is transformed into a blank space. The originals are easier to read, but this is handy for anyone who doesn't have Adobe Reader or similar. Note that the Creative Commons licence still holds.

Part I

Part II

Parts III-V

Parts VI-VII

"Ironic intelligence and self-assurance"

Semester is over; education begins. A. Sue Parill's article "Pride and Prejudice on A & E: Visions and revisions" in the Literature / Film Quarterly (Volume 27, Issue 2, January 1999) analyses how the mini-series translates the book's theme of "clarity of vision" into the visual medium.

The viewer's insight into character and character relationships also owes much to the physical appearance of the actors. to their interpretations of their roles, and to the staging of particular scenes. Jennifer Ehle is pretty without being a conventional beauty. Jane Austen's heroines are never described as beautiful; they are, however, usually presented as superior to more beautiful female characters. They win their men through their intelligence, probity of character, and persistence. Ehle in the role of Elizabeth Bennet communicates well both the independence and the vulnerability of the novel's main character. Ehle's Elizabeth radiates ironic intelligence and self-assurance. When Elizabeth purses her lips in disapproval at the behavior of Lydia (Julia Sawalha) or attempts to check her mother's rash speech, the viewer can believe that she has principles. Both at Rosings and at Longbourn, she refuses to allow Lady Catherine de Bourg (Barbara Leigh-Hunt) to intimidate her. The contrast between Ehle's manner and appearance and those of Suzannah Harker, in the role of sister Jane, helps to emphasize the opposite qualities of the two sisters. Harker conveys Jane's tranquility and passivity well. Jane almost always appears calm, is reticent to show her feelings, and can be depended upon to think the best of everyone. Elizabeth is more likely to say what she thinks and to make hasty judgements about people. Yet when Elizabeth is brought to doubt her judgements of Darcy and Wickham, she is chastened and subdued by her new knowledge-of herself and of others. She sees with regret that she may be responsible for losing her best chance for happiness with a man she can truly love and respect. [from page 2]

Bedrooms and Hallways review

SPLICEDwire reviews Bedroom and Hallways.

And the great cast doesn't hurt. McKidd is ideal as the slightly insecure, sexually confused everyman and Purefoy brings some depth to his hunky plot catalyst, but it's the scene-stealing supporting cast that you'll remember most from this movie -- especially the luminous and magnetic Jennifer Ehle ("Wilde," "Pride and Prejudice"), as the girl who comes between Leo and his beau (or did Leo come between them?) and Simon Callow ("Four Weddings and a Funeral") as the oh-so-sincere leader of the men's group, a great goof on the kind of lost idiots that wrap themselves in a blanket of New Age b.s.

Linkage

Reciprolinks for a couple of other sites that have linked us:

MrsDarcy.com

A tribute site to Jennifer Ehle

The River King screencaps

There's no need for commentary. Just click away!

Taking photo

Darkroom

Hanging stuff

More darkroom

Kiss

Looking concerned

What's that?

Shuteye

Holding camera

Umbrella

In doorway

Looking sideways

With Ed Burns at party

Ed Burns

Woman in black

Looking at Ed Burns

Get a room

A car will do

The claw

Sort of unrelated but funny: Pride and Prejudice goes txt (ta Mary):

5Sistrs WntngHsbnds. NwMeninTwn-Bingly&Darcy. Fit&Loadd.BigSis Jane Fals 4B,2ndSisLiz H8s D Coz Hes Proud. Slimy Soljr Wikam Sys DHs Shady Past.Trns Out Hes Actuly ARlyNysGuy &RlyFancysLiz. She Decyds She Lyks Him.Evry1 Gts Maryd.

Birthday project

[update: the deadline has been moved forwards to December 22nd, not 12th as said earlier]

We’re going forwards with Operation Enduring Gratitude.

So, Jennifer Ehle’s birthday is on December 29th. We’re planning a project to wish her happy birthday and thank her for her superhuman generosity in doing the fan interview for all of us fans. And because she’s a fabulous actress and all-round cool cat too. She gave us hours of her time; we thought it'd be nice to show her our gratitude by a collective effort.

The project is an electronic collage consisting of messages from fans around the world. Basically, you e-mail in a graphic file to us, we assemble all the submissions into a collage, then send the file to Ms Ehle.

1. Why should I participate? this is your chance to personally express your appreciation of Ms Ehle's work to her.
   
2. When is the deadline? December 12th. 12/12. Easy to remember. The deadline is now December 22nd.
   
3. How do I submit my message? Send the file as an attachment in an e-mail to jenniferehle@gmail.com.
   
4. What sort of messages can I send? The choice is yours. Any sort of thank-you, birthday/holiday wishes, or "you rock" sort of message is ok, as long as it contains some graphic elements. A collage is visual, after all. Here's one I prepared earlier. Some other ideas:
   
   
   
   • Handwritten message, scanned in.
     
   • Sketch or some other graphic, scanned in or done on the computer.
     
   • Digital photo of yourself, some artwork, the scene outside your window, your dog, your shrine to her (or maybe not), whatever.
     
   
   
5. What format do you prefer? .jpg is best, but if you don’t know how to convert to that format, just send us what you’ve got and we’ll try to work it out. So far we've accepted an e-card, Powerpoint file, Word files, PDFs. File sizes below 1mb are also preferred, have pity on our poor dialup.
   
6. Will my message be published publicly? Yes, we'll publish the collage so everyone can see the final result. Therefore, take this into account if you include your contact details or full name on your message.
   

The success of this project depends on just a little effort from a lot of people. We Need You!

But if you'd rather go solo, have a look at the FAQ for contact details (her agents', that is).

More Tonys action

There's a link off the site Chelsea posted below with reactions of the Tony winners. Silly question of the year goes to...

Chat Moderator: How does it feel to compete against your mother for an award and are there any hard feelings?

Jennifer Ehle: As far as I'm aware, there are no hard feelings whatsoever. I would be utterly stunned if there ever were to be.

It never felt like a competition. It would be impossible for five actresses in five different plays by different playwrights in different theatres to compete.

This is a great honor and I saw nothing but happiness and warmth coming from my parents when I accepted the award.

3/4

Tandem online magazine reviews The River King, giving it three stars of four. Not favourable to the film overall, but they say the "atmospherics are wonderful, and the performances interesting".

Reader question

Negar sent in this question, can anyone help?

i want to buy pride and prejudice's DVD and i thought i would be able to get help from you to find the best edition out in the U.S. I've read those comments on amazon.com about P&P DVDs and all of them were saying the VHS is better,but as long as i want to get the DVD, i thought maybe you know which edition is better.

Summerfolk review and photo

A bunch of reviews from a Roger Allam site.

Jennifer Ehle...is as near to a protagonist as the play offers... Like everyone else in this stunning revival, she wins your belief.

Photos from the National Theatre.

Commentary will return post-exam.

"Poderia ter sido um bom mistério policial..."

Brazilian blog Por um punhado de pixels has this mini-review of The River King:

Assisti em dvd Mistério em River King (The River King, Canadá-GB, 2005), do Nick Willing (que é filho da pintora portuguesa Paula Rego). Poderia ter sido um bom mistério policial se não enveredasse sutilmente pelo sobrenatural ou pelo realismo mágico (nunca chega a ficar claro do que se trata). Várias perguntas ficam sem resposta (por exemplo, os peixinhos na piscina ou o defeito nas fotos), nenhuma delas realmente importante para a trama, o que acaba funcionando somente como incômodo narrativo. Alice Hoffman, autora do livro no qual o filme se inspirou, escreveu também Practical Magic, que foi para as telas protagonizado pela Sandra Bullock e pela Nicole Kidman).

Babelise it here.

USA three days ago

USA Today rounds up a few Austen adapatations new to DVD.

Talk about ad-copy blurbs you won't see anywhere else: I once quit watching a Yankees-Indians game to sail happily through this five-hour, 10-minute BBC miniseries. Jennifer Ehle plays coolly intelligent but emotionally percolating Elizabeth Bennet, and she doesn't make a faulty move. Colin Firth, hamstrung at first by his character's rigidity, matches Ehle as the socially loftier Darcy — realizing before she does that they're soul mates.

One and only

In the context of an odious comparison of the many Pride and Prejudice adapatations...but too good not to post!

Knightley is charming in the new version from director Joe Wright and screenwriter Deborah Moggach (with a rumored assist from Sense and Sensibility's Emma Thompson), but her appeal is Keira's and not Lizzie's.

And that's why Jennifer Ehle, an unknown when she was cast in the 1995 BBC/A&E miniseries, remains the definitive Elizabeth of our time, and perhaps all time. It's because screenwriter Andrew Davies, working from Austen's incomparable template, wrote her that way, along with a Mr. Darcy whose emotions were manifest throughout instead of remaining a mystery until the final denouement. (And that, I contend, is also why Bridget and her contemporaries, both fictional and real-life, swooned over Colin Firth -- not because he's the hunkiest Brit to ever cast a smoldering gaze, but because this was a script that let us girls really see Mr. Darcy yearn and burn.)

The Real Thing review

A Curtain Up review of The Real Thing at the Ethel Barrymore theatre. The photo is by Ivan Kyncl and the review by Elyse Sommer.

Jennifer Ehle is a wonderfully sexy Annie, especially in the scene when, still married to Max (Nigel Lindsay) she playfully entices Henry with kisses and declares "I'm in the mood to push it" we know that she and Henry who loves "the insularity of passion" are not destined to live happily ever after.

This scene can be watched at this Stephen Dillane fansite - see "THE REAL THING - TOUCH ME 2".

NB. Elizabeth Bennet = fictional

Pride and Prejudice is going to be shown on the Biography Channel (!) from November 14th to November 25th. Each double episode is going to be screened four times over that period.

More Possession

A bit unoriginal with the headings lately, eh. Anyway, ratings, reviews, photos and production notes are available at this Possession site. The latter are taken from the official movie site but are in plain text, a good thing if you're a fellow Flash-phobe. Here's a bit from the casting notes:

Ehle muses, "Christabel is an image that helps the modern couple fall in love. Her story is quite tragic, but she did love and I think that’s what Possession says —it’s worth risking all for the sake of love. She’s very unconventional and has her own rules, she tries to live her life the way that she wants to."

LaBute adds, "There is a force to Christabel, a singlemindedness about the way she approaches life, that I thought Jennifer was perfect to portray. There’s a strength about Jennifer as a person that’s undeniable, which is showcased beautifully in her portrayal of Christabel. Quite honestly, I strongly feel that she is one of our greatest stage and screen actresses."

He's a playwright, no? Oh Neeeiilll...

Forgot to include this in the post below - there's another Jeremy Northam interview. No mention of Ms Ehle, though it's pretty funny:

B.L. Did you have to prepare in any way to play the Victorian poet Randolph Henry Ash?

J.N. I had to spend a lot of time in make-up chairs rather more than I would have liked. Then there were three different makeups to do and no one could decide anything. Plus also, they offered the part to someone before, which rather threw me. They offered it to Sean Connery first. Sean and I are often up for the same roles, you know.

Jeremy Northam interview

A rare 2002 interview with Jeremy Northam about Possession, from Star Interviews, copyright Prairie Miller via Cineman Syndicate.

Your Possession leading lady Jennifer Ehle said that she was with you right after 9/11, and she said she had nothing to do around that time. She was with her fiancé.

JN: That's right.

*Anyway, Jennifer said that whenever you have nothing to do and you're in England, you have dinner with Jeremy.

JN: Is that so! I'm not sure quite how to take that. No, she came up to my home for a couple of days because she'd gone back to London to sell her apartment there, and had a fire. So she was without a home. So I said, well come and visit my place up in the countryside. So they came and stayed for a couple of weeks. Which was really nice. I wasn't there all the time. They just squirreled themselves away! But I don't know how to take that. I mean, the part about when you don't know what to do in England, have dinner with Jeremy. But I like to cook. So...

*Would you say you then, that you're sort of a last resort for people who can't find anything else to do.

JN: ....Must be!

...

*What was it like getting romantic with Jennifer Ehle in Possession?

JN: What do you want to know?

*Oh, anything you care to tell!

JN: Jennifer was a lot of fun, it was nice. It was, you know, kind of like a no nonsense approach to the work. Because it's always potentially a bit fraught when you're trying to portray passion.

*How come?

JN: Because you know everyone is watching it like hawks, whispering things like, have they got chemistry, and all of that stuff. But I think we supported each other well in that process, and had a lot of laughs doing it. Because another thing, I think you can't take it all too seriously whilst you're doing it. Otherwise it can be a very long day. So we had lots of laughs too.

*Jennifer said that when she looks at the screen, all she can think about is "my awful jaw". When you look at the screen, do you see the attractive heartthrob romantic lead that we see, or do you put yourself down?

JN: Uh, do I see an attractive heartthrob when I look at myself on the screen? No! [more]

Scroll to the end to read the bit about where he's told "You were very good in 'Bridget Jones's Diary'!".

Thanks to Jenny from the Possession group-read for this article.

Sharing the love

Some reciprolinks for the kind people who helped spread the word about the interview.

Colin Firth 24/7 who have generously allowed us to piggyback on their bandwidth by hosting the PDF files

AustenBlog. Some funny comments there; they're aghast that Ms Ehle hasn't read Northanger Abbey yet

GreenCine Daily, an indie film blog

Driving Mr Spacey

Daddypundit of BlogCritics

weblog.hd

More Paradise Road pics

Click to enlarge (accidentally squished it more than usual, but it's worth a click through, promise).


From Sights and Sounds, a Julianna Margulies and George Clooney fansite which has other photos from the Paradise Road press kit. There are also a couple of photos of Ms Ehle at the bottom of this German site. Lastly, a shot from the scene where she, Glenn Close and Cate Blanchett are standing by the roadside at the beginning of the film.

5 stars

An enthusiastic Summerfolk review - in Japanese! As always, you can try your luck with BabelFish and, as always, it's pretty hilarious. From what I can gather, they're saying that Ms Ehle should've won the Olivier Award for which she was nominated.

俳優は素晴らしい。一人一人の生活が見える。オーバーテクストだけではなく、緻密にサブテクストを開拓している。だから、台詞を喋っていないときの俳優の演技は非常に見応えがあった。しかも、俳優個人個人のみならず、アンサンブルとして成功している。これが、トレヴァー・ナンの凄いところだ。付け加えていえば、主演女優のJennifer Ehleは、オリヴィエ賞にノミネートされたが残念ながら"Comic Potential" の Jannie Dee に持って行かれた。ぼくは、どちらかが獲るだろうと思っていた。それほど二人の演技は印象的だっ

Roll up

Before I forget - The Other Side previews are starting in less than a week, November 10th. You can get tickets from the New York City Center, where the play will be running. BroadwayBox is offering a discount if you order tickets before December 11th.

The Other Side is an Ariel Dorfman play produced by the Manhattan Theater Club, starring Rosemary Harris, John Cullum and Gene Farber.

We'll be blogging news and reviews about this play since a) we're practically the defacto Rosemary Harris blog anyway, b) Jennifer Ehle news is bound to be slow over the next few months as she does the domestic bliss thing, and c) Rosemary Harris rocks in her own right.

"Intriguing"

Because a day without River King reviews is like a day without rain. This one's from The Chronicle Herald of Halifax; the film scores 2.5 stars of 4.

The River King (Thriller, 14A, 100 minutes)
Director Nick Willing’s adaptation of the Alice Hoffman novel about the death of a student at a U.S. prep school combines frigid Nova Scotia location shots with intriguing plot twists, as small town cop Abel Grey (Edward Burns) tries to solve the crime no one else wants to know about. The film’s conflict comes from the friction between the snooty staff and students at the school (portrayed by both King’s-Edgehill in Windsor and University of King’s College in Halifax) and the plebian cops who are told to look the other way. Adult leads Burns and Jennifer Ehle run the emotional gamut in their roles, but young actors Thomas Gibson as the doomed student August and Rachel Lefevre as his friend Carlin give the film the necessary dramatic juice to offset The River King’s chilly scenes of winter.

Summerfolk

A review of Summerfolk with a photo, brought to you by Komisar's Curtain Raisers. Here's the relevant bit, as usual.

These new rich lack the culture of the aristocrats they are emulating. The lawyer Sergei Bassov is given life by Roger Allam as a flippant, anti-intellectual with a lower-middle class British accent and demeanor. His wife Varya (the excellent Jennifer Ehle) is bored and dissatisfied. She looks forward with secret hope to the visit of Shalimov, the famous writer she idolized as a student. But he is cynical and can't write, because he can't understand what's going on in the world.

Chuffed

From April this year in the Evening Standard, a brief article reporting that "'Reclusive' Jen" was "chuffed" to have free lodgings in London.

In more recent news, there's yet another review of The River King from Terminal City. Much along the same lines as the others.