Yay, there's someone who likes Austen here. Geez, I must have watched the 2005 P&P DVD almost every month the first year that it came out. It was visually scrumptious: the costumes, music, color, set. That single-take camera span was awesome. Joe Wright's version is my favorite - it's nicely acted, scripted and directed. Love the rain scene. McFadyen's voice was sublime. I didn't like the sunrise union as much as others (the ending was even worse -too saccharine), but admitted that it was lovely filmed. Besides that, I thought that both McFadyen and Knightley delivered the emotions and awkwardness of first love very well. I didn't get that heart-thumping-hand-tingling sensation from the Colin Firth's "revered" interpretation.

I think Knightley portrayed a different Lizzie than all of her predecessors. The jury is still out on whether she gave the best interpretation. IMHO, it may not be the most accurate but most age-approriate. I didn't think that her performance was Oscar- caliber but her take was in line with the young and modern interpretations by Joe Wright. I find it's less stuffy than the previous versions (sorry!). Same thoughts about McFadyen. His seemingly "wooden" performance may also be viewed as subtle acting. I've always thought that Darcy was forced into adulthood too early and that deep down, he is still a young man who is falling in love for the first time. He is socially-deficient despite being enormously wealthy.

There's something about British men. It's not like they're the greatest looking men on earth; but their wit, humour and intelligence make them quite attractive. Death at a Funeral is on my must-watch list. The British are at their best in farce (although i've heard that Mr. Darcy is no longer swoon-worthy).

I also absolutely adored Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South's series (not the Patrick Swayze 's). And it's available via Netflix. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

#3 "Insoon will have more self-confidence like her mother". Well, whatever may happen to Insoon's sense of self-worth in coming episodes, I don't see her mother as anything like self-confident. Self-assured on the surface, sure. But a strong driver of the drama in eps3 and 4 is her deep insecurity, which is actually stronger, and a lot more well-founded, than Insoon's. As is also her guilt and self-reproach, which again has real roots deeper than anything in Insoon's personal past. The segment bridging the cliffhanger of 3-4 is all about that: and it's of particular dramatic importance that there's a phone conversation there of which the audience hears only one side (though we can guess what the other party is saying) while Insoon hears only the second part, which knocks the stuffing out of her. Had she heard the first part too, she might have reacted rather differently, though she would still have been very upset.

javabeans: I think people list the Da Vinci Code as their favorite book because they think it'll make them look more intelligent. haha that book was sooo BORING!!

moving on...since I'm only 17, I'm pretty much "allowed" to read little chick lit books. But even though it's not weird for me to read them, I usually cover the book when I go in public places because, well...it's kind of embarassing to be seen with it :)

Since this is just the first two episodes maybe the story will get better later on. Like, instead of watching her depressed most of the time, she'll come out a fighter later on. It's usually what happens in dramas.

Yes, Gong Yoo seems to have risen above all due to the CP popularity.

I'm a fan of Kim Rae Won since I watched Sunflower. I think he did a great job in that. I didn't watch Love Story in Harvard so can't comment on his poor English skills!

javabeans...you can't be serious,right? Laurence Olivier is THE Mr Darcy for me. Colin Firth did a good enough job but he is no Laurence Olivier. Not sure if you've seen this or not but Wives and Daughters (the miniseries) is a must see if you like British period mini-series. If you haven't seen it..you should Netflix'd it..lol.
The book is enjoyable too...I enjoy reading Elizabeth Gaskell's novels. Different writing style from Jane Austen of course but still enjoyable.

And don't worry..Thank You for Smoking is good...I highly recommend it. I think you'll enjoy it...it has a quirky sense of humor.

So... whaddya think of Kazuo Ishiguro? He ought to ring all your bells very loudly. Though I do think his oh-so-ultra-English narrators of what is under the surface deeply Asian fiction in The Remains of the Day and, above all, Never Let Me Go -- maybe not my favourite novel of all time, but possibly the modern novel I most admire - are the strongest things he's done. Of the ones with Asian, or partly Asian settings, I think only A Pale View of Hills works completely, with both An Artist of the Floating World and When we were Orphans being a bit too selfconsciously seasoned with Oriental exoticism, meant to be perceived as such by Anglophone readers.

I don't think I can make much of a case for The Unconsoled. I find in interesting (typical faint praise word) because in a former existence I wasted many years and a lot of young people's time droning on about Kafka for a living, but I don't see how anyone with less professionally warped literary tastes could stick it, at least not for all its huge length

Hmmm. I think the only thing I agree with you on is the OST. They should have diverted some of the budget they spent on big-name singers into hiring song-writers who weren't eager to offload their sub-B-side jottings, session musicians who weren't taking a break from muzak-making, and, above all much better arrangers: I don't think I have ever heard a Korean CD with such a succession of unimaginative arrangements. Oh, and I agree on the great performance KJH is delivering, of course.

Otherwise, I think they've got everything more or less right and are building it up nicely, including some rather interesting and potentially complex portraits of the older generation which you are rather skipping over. The first four eps are very much a sub-drama in themselves, with strong hints that there are going to be major shifts in tone and content from 5 onwards.

Sorry to hear you're thinking of jumping off already. This is a drama I for one am certainly going to stick with -- the first one that's had me camping on the CBs to grab each episode with an urgency and anticipation I haven't felt since CP finished.

Hei I'm first to respond! ^^
I didn't think Ep 2 was that bad. I liked it a lot more than Ep 1 in fact..didn't think Ep 1 was THAT interesting or as poignant as you had pointed out. (maybe I'm slow in catching subtlety..hehehe..)

I was expecting Ep 2 to drag the issue of In Soon's mom and Sang Woo not finding out that soon..but to my surprise, it was quite fast paced. The drama kinda got thru the issues quite smoothly and I kinda liked it.. I also like how In Soon was portrayed to be a strong and vulnerable person in the drama at the same time. Strong as in how she tries to fight all the hardship of having ppl pick on her past and use it against her..and vulnerable in a sense that despite her determination, she still can't let go of it. PLUS point was, I adored the teacher's kid when he's with In Soon..they looked soooooo adorable together. Was such a touching scene - when he told In Soon that she's not a dangerous person...she's the prettiest, kindest and most generous person on earth. Imagine how IN Soon would have felt..I'd be on cloud 9 despite all my problems and hardship...

Yeah, it's just me I guess.. ^_^