Bride and Prejudice
|
Our Price: $23.62 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $13.29 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Bride and Prejudice
Movie Review: A fun cultural twist on Austen AND Bollywood
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very Western movie with some distinct Bollywood-style elements. Some of these Bollywood elements will be helpful to keep in mind: obvious lip synching as most Bollywood stars aren't using their own voices; very chaste love scenes-no kissing involved!; very old fashioned sense of storytelling-ala musicals from the 50's, NOT like musicals like Chicago...heavy on the slapstick, light on the ironic wit.
With that said, Ms. Gurinder takes these Bollywood elements and then transplants them in Western settings like Los Angeles....where you get break-out-in-song sequences that include Mariachi musicians, bartenders, surfers, life guards, and a gospel choir! It's clever to see Ms. Gurinder transpose these bollywood style dance sequences, which seem "natural" when in India, in a different cultural context like LA, with culturally appropriate "indigenous" participants!
As for the love story-the only thing I'd change is that Mr. Darcy deserved some more zippy comebacks to Lalita's stinging comments to show he is her equal. That's where Austen's story works so well-the bickering between Darcy and Elizabeth is really a sort of seductive dance between two headstrong people. And Lalita deserved to be shown more playful and light hearted as well like the original story. Of course Lalita is the "prejudice" in P&P, but she should lighten up a little still. Other than that, Ms. Rai is a gorgeous and mesmerizing star and Martin Henderson compliments her nicely as a more boyish but charming Mr. Darcy to Colin Firth's more imposing, rigid Darcy.
This is a great movie that puts alot of cultural twists on various things-Austen, bollywood, parental expectations on marriage,musicals,etc. I think it was put together in a clever way, and it's very entertaining. The music is great, I really enjoy all the Amritsar dance sequences, and everyone in this movie is seriously beautiful, men and women! And Mr. Kholi---he is so hilarious!Even my husband, a man who tends to only watch really macho movies and boxing and ultimate fighting, liked it! That's saying something... I'm totally buying this movie for everyone for Christmas.....
Movie Review: Campy, funny, and entertaining
Summary: 5 Stars
I think that for many Westerners, Indian movies are harder to watch than other foreign films because Indian song and dance are almost obligatory but not to the taste of the majority of Americans -- it's not music we're used to, and we're not used to movies with countless song-and-dance scenes.
The director (as you learn from the special features section) went to great lengths to try to make the music more accessible to Americans but still Indian. I think it worked. It took some getting used to, but by the "No Life No Wife" number, I was enjoying the music and amused by the campy song and dance number (four Indian girls in pajamas having fun teasing each other about the "Mr. Collins" character).
I thought the movie actually kept quite close to the plot of the original book, including retaining some of the most memorable lines. For those who haven't read Pride and Prejudice, the plot involves a mother trying to get her four daughters married off in a good marriage -- to someone with money and status. She's silly and rather common (as the Brits say) and the father is kind but too little involved. The oldest daughter falls in love with a visiting man (an Indian living in England) and the second daughter has a love-hate relationship with a rich American. One of the younger daughters is boy-crazy and the fourth insists upon displaying her questionable talents to visitors, to the embarrassment of her family. There is an Indian from America who has come back to India looking for a wife, and although the mother is anxious to marry one of her daughters off to him, they are all revolted by him. He's a very funny character, every bit as awful as the Mr. Collins of Jane Austen's book, but a parody of Indians who go to America to make their fortune (he has a 5 bedroom house in California and all he lacks is a wife.)
It took 15 minutes or so for this movie to grow on me, but after that, I enjoyed it. Is it Hollywood? Of course not. It's not really Bollywood either. But it's humorous, moves right along in plot, and visually attractive (watch the use of color in the costumes). And it's campy.
Movie Review: A Small World After All
Summary: 5 Stars
Bride and Prejudice is a well-executed, charming, colorful and musical adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (only seldomly does it deviate from its source's plotline).
This review could easily concentrate on the merits of this film in terms of entertainment--that there is great comedy (there is); that the singing and dancing are a lot of fun (it is); that the women are beautiful (they are)--but instead I want to comment on what is, perhaps, the lovliest aspect of this film. The fact of its creation, and presentation, shows me almost more than anything before how the world can set aside all differences and come together in the name of art.
In the first place, it is an Indian film adapting one of the most famous English novels in world history. It is in English, but uses an Indian musical style. By shifting the settings of the original, it takes Austen's original commentary on silly prejudices between the upper-crust and country and applies them to the prejudices that the western world maintains about the third world, and vice-versa (if that isn't swift, I don't know what is). It is filmed in India, London and Los Angeles, and pays respect to the strengths of all three venues, honoring all.
A couple of the Los Angeles sequences jumped out at me, as when the Liz Bennett and D'Arcy of this film have a romantic dinner in an L.A. Mexican restaurant, serenaded by a mariachi band, or when they're on the beaches of Santa Monica, as a black church choir ala AME sings an Indian ballad with their distinctive song stylings. This is true culture-blending, using various elements of different cultures from around the world--calling on all of their virtues--to present one story which is, at heart, a story about overcoming misunderstandings and the prejudices that keep us apart.
I'd always known that great storytelling was universal. Bride and Prejudice is proof of it, and also a great movie for a variety of other, more typical reasons that the other reviews here are certain to mention. Absolutely wonderful.
Movie Review: Amazed and Impressed
Summary: 5 Stars
I did not want to watch this movie. Pride and Prejudice (by Jane Austen) is one of my favorite novels, and I did not want that book to be marred by a stupid comedy. My brother, who has never read Pride and Prejudice, made me watch it (I had fully intended to sneak out of the room once he got into the film). I definitely didn't expect to love this movie; but I do. It was wonderful! This was one of the few GOOD romantic comedies (and it followed the book pretty well).
I'm not going to go into plot much because if you didn't know the plot of Pride and Prejudice before reading this ; I'm sure you picked it up by now from reading other reviews. So, why did I like this movie?
The scripting is wonderful, and even though some characters/situations are changed (not to mention the whole modern setting thing) it keeps the integrity of Pride and Prejudice intact. This is a Bollywood film; and as such the music and dance (a LOT of music and dance)is very different than what I, as an American, am used to. However, it was fun. The tunes were catchy, and most importantly the movie was funny and you ended up caring about the character (though Jane Austen deserves most of the credit for that; the actors did a good job too).
The scenes are all colorful and the setting is just enjoyable to watch. There really isn't much dull time, either. I remarked to my brother that this was like Pride and Prejudice for people with ADHD. Quick moving (the movie is only 112 minutes) and easy to watch.
If you, like me, were reluctant to watch this movie; I ask you to put your prejudice aside and just try it. If you don't get into it I'll be surprised. I watched this movie with family and everyone ended up liking it.
Me, don't like romantic comedies much: LOVED IT
My brother (hasn't read book, 24, not much for musicals)and my
sister-in-law (Chinese, not used to American/English culture, knew very little about the book) both really, really liked it.
Movie Review: Absolutely Loved it!
Summary: 5 Stars
Rented this the other night and was completely blown away. I knew the general idea of the movie-Pride & Prejudice + 21st Century India + Bollywood--but had not seen either any other Bollywood style movie or Gurinder Chadha's big hit, Bend it Like Beckham.
I absolutely loved this movie, nearly everything about it from the music and dancing in the musical numbers (which break out at random intervals) to the acting to the intertwining stories of romance and heartbreak. Standout actors were the incredible Aishwarya Rai (Lalita) and the comic relief of Nitin Ganatra as Mr. Kholi, the gauche returnee from America shopping for a bride.
It was also lovely to see Naveen Andrews outside of "Lost" and just wish there could have been a bit more of him and his storyline with Lalita's sister.
The movie is in English but sometimes when the speech gets rolling quickly, the accents can make a scene a bit hard to follow, but since I want to watch this movie again and again I will get it all eventually. Or you can do what I do sometimes when I have trouble following thick Aussie or British accents on a DVD--turn on the subtitles.
For someone like me unfamiliar with Bollywood and the amazingly beautiful AND talented Aishwarya Rai, this is a great introduction to both, and like me, I'll bet that you will want to see more of both. The exuberant music and dancing are what stayed with me the most from this movie, and I think that queuing up the opening wedding dance scene or the "No Life Without Wife" number will cheer me up on any grumpy day.
This movie is a keeper for me--I'm buying both the DVD and the soundtrack.