Pride and Prejudice question

I am maybe one of the few who finds MacFayden better than Colin Firth. I generally like Firth as an actor, but to his Darcy he gave way too much pride and very little other emotions. I was not really convinced in his Darcy's love towards Elisabeth. From MacFayden's performance I could sence both the character's pridefulness and love. From the way he looked at her one could see his vulnerability, his love and desire for her, as well as his inner struggle. Well done Matthew!

I really like both of them. they both projected different qualities of Darcy to each movie. Watch them both over and over.

Before I read the book I actually loved the movie, but after reading it I just couldn't see the movie, nor the actors in it, with the same eyes. They just make so many little things different from the book that it takes out some of the appeal. Then, when I found the miniseries I feel in love because it hits the mark when it comes to detailed scenes, the characters are perfectly portrayed. They did the scenes exactly how I imagined them to be in the books. Having said such things, to me, Jennifer Ehle IS Lizzie Bennet and Colin Firth IS Mr. Darcy.
PS: I still do think Matthew's Darcy showed more emotion than Colin's did.

I prefer MacFayden. Collin Firth had a terrible voice, for me. It only had arrogance in it. Macfaydaen's voice had both arrogance and empathy.

Love Matthew MacFadyen! And I think Ashley's right, he captured the broody quality, and the awkwardness of Mr. Darcy. And he's so hot! Just throwing that out there...

Interesting thread! If you're going strictly on who captures the book best, then it's Firth. But if you are saying which is the better movie, then I vote Macfayden! Who would I dream of? Macfayden! He does bring a different feel to the character, but I think I like the character better that way.

I don't understand why I can't have both.

Matthew MacFadyen!!

The broodiness does it. It's incredibly attractive *swoon*

I love the 1995 P&P because it adheres so closely to the book. The 2005 version strays too far from the source material for my taste. I feel the same way about the two actors. Colin Firth gave me the Darcy that was in my head. He was recognizably Darcy. Matthew Macfadyen gave me... some emo guy. I mean, seriously, who was he playing? Through the whole movie, I kept asking myself who that dude was, because he was not at all similar to the Darcy in my head.

To be fair, a lot of that isn't his fault. I mean, that rainy kiss in the folly during the disastrous first proposal? Walking across the field to propose, at sunrise, in only his shirtsleeves? Scandalous! Those are bad choices that were not his to make. He just had to act them. But let's be real. Darcy would never ever in a million years do those things! Those are Wickham moves. Part of why Firth is my favorite, then, is because the writers and directors on that team produced a vision of P&P that more closely matched what I read in the books.

Colin Firth. Obviously.

Colin Firth was excellent as Mr. Darcy. Colin Firth is a superb actor.

Colin Firth, of course!

Matthew, hands down. 1995 made me hate Colin Firth ... worst Darcy ever. Most people only like him more cuz they saw that one first... Matthew is a brilliant actor and did Darcy perfectly to the script.

Colin Firth!!

Colin Firth, no question!

Colin Firth. I found his Mr. Darcy to be very nuanced and intense as needed. I absolutely HATED the 2005 version. The dialogue, the casting, the costumes, they way they made the Bennett house with farm animals running through it, all just HORRIBLE. I could not finish watching it.

Colin Firth :)

Mathew MacFayden all the way! He was able to portray the vulnerability beneath the pride in a way that made him endearing.

There are things to like about each version--although I must confess Firth is the Darcy I fell in love with. However, both actors do a good job of portraying (albeit in different ways) the way that Darcy is uncomfortable in social settings. Firth plays it more appropriately to the time period, Macfadyen plays it to today's audience. Firth portrays a Darcy who knows the rules of his society--but not always how to apply them best, especially when others act outside the "rules" of behavior (i.e. Collins approaching him without introduction, Mrs. Bennett's appeal to him--again without introduction). Macfadyen brings out more of the introverted-ness of Darcy, the shyness. Yes, Firth comes across as stiff on occasion, but overall, he plays it much more closely to what is described in the novel--at least to me. Macfadyen is the appropriate Darcy for today's audience, none of the subtlety that Firth's Darcy employs. And the same goes for Knightly vs. Ehle--Ehle plays her role much more as would be appropriate for the time period. And Knightly seems not to have the range of emotion that Ehle portrays throughout.

I loved them both but if I have to choose a favourite I would say Matthew MacFayden. I agree with Soph that MacFayden showed his emotions more. I know that Darcy didn't really show his emotions well, but we still needed to be convinced of Darcy's love for Elizabeth. Love Colin Firth though - he has been in some great movies.

I watched the Colin Firth rendition of Darcy within the past few days and was not impressed. He didn't have the appearance I imagined Darcy to have. He had the horrible annoying arrogance but none of the love. The last scene where Jennifer Ehle is staring at Colin Firth in the open carriage, just willing him to kiss her, stayed in my mind...Colin Firth looks as emotive as a lump of coal!

Now I checked out the other version with Kiera Knightly and Matthew McFayden. I always thought MM was hot in MI-5 so I hope I like this version better!

Matthew MacFayden is going to have to let Colin Firth be Mr. Darcy, because MacFayden is already Arthur Clennam.

I have had the privilege of the time to watch these two versions back-to-back. The cast of the more recent version with Matthew McFayden is much better in my opinion. Donald Sutherland, Dame Judi Dench! Even Kelly Reilly who I adore.

Mathew MacFayden plays Darcy less arrogantly so when Darcy makes the declaration of his love and desire to marry Elizabeth it doesn't seem to come from Mars.

colin firth forever

Matthew. I liked his interpretation of Darcy as somewhat awkward and misunderstood.

Matthew MacFayden was brilliant. I have watched both these screen adaptations. However Matthew MacFayden played the role with more passion and dept compared to Colin Firth. He completed owned the role!

Sooo...am i the only one who abhorred the bbc series? I hated everything about it. Not one redeeming quality in my opinion. And Elizabeth was butt ugly. (fine eyes my ass. <_<) Now I adore the novel. I've read it too many times to count. The movie was...perfect. Now don't get me wrong, I know it had a ton of inaccuracies...I realize the director and script writers took many liberties with the story...Still I found myself charmed by the movie. I was very surprised i actually enjoyed it thoroughly. And Darcy (swoon). he delivered on all accounts, the angst, pride, stubbornness, drama and even stupidity that made us all fall in love with Darcy in the first place. colin...ugh. I didn't like him. That simple. He had a stick up his ass the entire series and I didn't buy that he had any emotions at all. And when he finally did show some i was like puhleaze!

Anywho...don't get your panties in a twist if you don't agree with me. I just thought it'd be nice to know if there was anyone out there who hated that damn series more than i did...and maybe explain to me why i loved the movie so damn much i still watch it on blu ray. lol. (and yes, I bought the limited edition dvd set of the bbc series as a treat for myself expecting to fully love it after reading many reviews of it online. After I finished watching it I returned that shit so fast to amazon it made my head spin. So grateful I got my money back.) So don't even try to tell me I didn't give that series a sincere shot because I did. soo yea...MACFAYDEN WINNING!! lol

Colin Firth times a thousand. His subtlety is perfect. He gives you everything you need to see that he loves her with just his eyes! HIS EYES!

Matthew MacFadyen is an excellent actor, but his Darcy, along with the entire movie, turns it into brooding Bronte rather than the light and witty Austen I love so much.

I haven't watched the Colin firth one. I tried to but I hated it.
However, I am in love with the 2005 version.

Colin Firth, he is the best

Colin Firth. MacFadyen is more the 'Rochester' type.

Colin Firth, absolutely. Those who say he didn't show much emotion (except pride) clearly were not paying attention. Matthew MacFayden made me cringe in nearly every scene. I just watched the 2005 version this morning and it's like a train wreck, I couldn't look at the TV straight on.

And honestly, I much prefer Laurence Olivier's version of Mr. Darcy. No one did brooding, tortured souls like Olivier.

Colin firth. He's the Darcy for generations.

I like both actors but I have a soft spot for Colin Firth...so I prefer him!

For me the BBC Series is THE adaptation of the book, really catches the atmosphere of the time, costumes, locations, music, mannerisms and above all the actors (Ehle and Firth but also the others) really make the constrictions of society at the time come alive, I am sure the film is not too bad, but I could not finish it, it jarred and felt really wrong, not true to the book at all. The series had the advantage of time, it took its time, just like the book. The film by necessity, had to pretty much butcher the story to fit it into a feature length film and lost a LOT, I loved the nuances that the BBC series was able to portray and even tho the looks of the actors might not be to everyone's taste it is after all about the story...

Colin Firth. He managed to portray Jane Austen's Mr. Darcy far better than Matthew MacFadyen. No offense to MacFadyen, but he didn't have far enough pride in his character - which was stressed in the book as Darcy's greatest fault. And the love scene at the end was too simple portraying absolutely none of the complexities of Darcy's character. Colin Firth, on the other hand, managed to catch the complexities of Darcy's character, especially in the scene where he first, awkwardly, proposes to Elizabeth. To compare the two scenes, well MacFadyen just didn't have the depth that Firth did. This is a moment of extreme perturbation to Darcy. He's demeaning himself by offering for the hand of a woman far below his rank and then she has the audacity to refuse him. Firth does a fantastic job by then showing how Darcy changed when he meets Elizabeth at Pemberly by showing Darcy as a softer and humbler man.

Not to blame MacFadyen because truly the 2005 movie is completely unpalatable. And his co-star's acting I don't even want to get into. Kiera Knightly is certainly no Jennifer Ehle. Colin Firth is just a far better actor than MacFadyen and is really the only man who can play Darcy.

Firth hands down forever and always.

Matthew MacFayden, I loved his inner turmoil. He played Darcy so well. Quiet and closed off. Plus I love the scene in the rain...I don't care that this movie was more of an adaption. I loved it.

Colin Firth!!

Colin Firth in BBC's P&P IS Mr. Darcy. Firth managed to capture the complexity of the character and its development in relation to his feelings for Elizabeth but most importantly he managed to show a genuine connection between them.
Mathew Mackfadyen's portrayal of Darcy was practically nonexistent, as it was a mere extension of the general “Hollywood-ification” of P&P in the 2005 movie. With the help of the director, the integrity of Mr. Darcy (and P&P) had been sacrificed at the altar of cheap sensationalism (e.g.: the proposal scene in the rain!-could it be more Hollywood?!- Darcy and Lizzie practically a breath away from making out = an abomination)
But aside from the “Twilight-y” adaptation, if you compare and contrast the acting in the proposal scenes in the two, I believe Firth’s superiority will be self-evident, especially when Darcy asks “so is this your opinion of me?” When uttering this line, Firth manages to convey surprise, disappointment and at the same time a genuine understanding of Elizabeth’s reasons for her evaluation of his character, that will bridge nicely the subsequent scenes where we see in Firth, a Darcy in complete abandonment of the vices he is accused of, desperately attempting to amend Lizzie’s opinion of him despite her rejection. By contrast, Macfadyen overplayed disappointment to the point of contempt reducing his attraction to Lizzie to the physical and by extension the basis of Elizabeth Bennett’s appeal.
As to the people out there that referred to Macfadyen's hotness as a measure for quality of his portrayal of Mr. Darcy, I have two things to say: (1) you just made my point and (2) Colin Firth is sooo hot as Darcy! (see: the infamous lake-dive scene, the way he looks at Ehle when at the scene where she plays the piano and sings and countless others)

DEFINITELY Matthew MacFayden.
He showed so much more Darcyness than what can be simply said about Darcy; he wasn't just cold, proud and annoying. Maybe Colin Firth, though he is a fine actor, did a bit of a stereotyped character...
I think it's only becomming that someone as smart and lively, playful as Elisabeth feels attraction towards someone who can be as vulnerable at times, lustful, passionate etc... instead of a man with a stick up his a**.
I mean yes, we eventually find out that he is a good man but i refuse to believe Lizzy settled for a dull dude just because he was good. No, i thınk as the director of the movie said, this is about magnetic attraction between these two people. I mean there is some kind of undeniable tension between those two throughout the book! And that's something i appreciated more in MacFayden İ guess...
And by the way... Does anybody else fınd that Ehle played Lizzy too wise, too mature? I always imagined her to have this undomptable nature, joyful and witty. ..

Mathew MacFayden is a great Mr.Darcy :)

Oh yeah.... Colin was fabulous, but Matthew MacFayden's signature 'brood' made him the definitive Darcy, for me.

Colin Firth

Matthew MacFayden!!

COLIN FIRTH!
With all due respect to Matthew MacFayden...his Mr. Darcy reminded me of a forlorn puppy more than of a proud gentleman.

I liked them both. I watched the movie version before the BBC series, and I can honestly say that I feel like Knightly copied quite a bit of Ehle's mannerisms and gestures. Which irked me a bit.

The Mr. Darcy of my mind is a mix between the two.

Definitely Colin Firth, Mathew Mcfayden just wasn't snobby enough to pull it off. Also the chemistry between him and Jennifer Ehle was electric. Also Kiera Knightly isn't Elizabeth she's too wet. Elisabeth needs to be gutsy and Darcy needs to be up his own bum for most of the story

Colin Firth, of course :)

COLIN FIRTH ALL THE WAY! he was really successful in emphasizing the proud Darcy. I think Matthew MacFayden was a sort of "modern Darcy".

the 1995 version stayed so much truer to the book- which is why I prefer Colin firth because the point is that he's arrogant and unapproachable. that's how she wrote it and that's what he captured. he is mr. Darcy.