Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Lost in Austen

I'm back to work and it's not going too well. So in between readings for school, I did what every student does in times of studying: procrastinate.

Somehow, I happened upon Lost in Austen, a four-episode British show based on Pride and Prejudice. I'm a big fan of Jane Austen's writings, particularly Pride and Prejudice (of course) and Persuasion, so naturally, I had to check the show out.

The basic premise is that Amanda, a big-time fan of Pride and Prejudice, finds her way into the novel's world through a mysterious door in her bathroom. Elizabeth Bennet goes into the modern world while Amanda gets stuck in the Austen novel and wreaks havoc upon the plot (Bingley falls for Amanda? Jane marries Mr. Collins?!) as well as learning interesting new tidbits about the characters (Wickham is actually a good guy? Caroline Bingley is a lesbian??)


Amanda at Pemberley

So the rest of the show consists of Amanda running around, trying to piece the original plot back together and somehow making things even worse. It's a cute, entertaining affair that plays on every fangirl's fantasy of stepping into the role of Elizabeth and being able to latch onto Mr. Darcy and it helps that the male characters, Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley, are very easy on the eyes. :)

Doesn't Elliot Cowan, the actor who takes on the famous Fitzwilliam Darcy role, look a lot like the late Heath Ledger? Here's a brief clip for you to decide. This shows the part when Mr. Darcy declares his love for Amanda (though I could do with the excessive gasping on Amanda's part) and a little twist on the famous Colin Firth "Darcy in a wet shirt" scene from the BBC adaption of Pride and Prejudice.

3 comments:

  1. Hello Maeven,
    Yes the moment when Darcy was in the lake with that wet shirt he really does look like Heath Ledger O_O It's just spot on.
    Thank you for sharing this movie with me now I'm going to find it. I am a big fan of Jane Austen and I have the entire collection of BBC versions of Austen's novels.
    Have a nice day.

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  2. Oh fey you guys lie, he does not. He actually scared the living crap outta me when he turned. OMG! That is some funny stuff, now you have me interested in this show. Like my sister, who enjoys watching British televison, some of it is a snore. Where can I find full clips of this to watch it and snicker with you about it.

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  3. I watch most of my stuff these days online through streaming sites - less of a hassle and I annoy my brother by killing our bandwidth, etc. etc.

    Anyway, I just googled the show and watched it from this site:

    http://free-tv-video-online.info/internet/lost_in_austen/

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