Pride and Prejudice question

I prefer Colin Firth, but I also prefer the 1995 adaptation overall. I didn't dislike the 2005 film, but I found it felt a little too Bronte and not enough Austen, and I kind of felt the same about MacFayden's portrayal of Darcy.

It's so funny how people really are drawn to one Mr. Darcy over another.

Someone earlier up the comments said MM did a better job of showing the inner conflict and I think I have to agree.

Someone else said the moment with the sun shining behind KK and MM was contrived. If you watch the movie with the director's commentary, you will learn that the timing happened providentially and they just had to keep it. The director also said MM walking across the field took too long, and he wished he'd not filmed it so long. So that scene wasn't exactly contrived!

OOHHHHH!! I just finished watching the 2005 version with Matthew MacFayden, and he is so HOT!!! He is prideful, but later he admits it's because he's shy. He smiles more than Colin Firth did, and he shows a lot of vulnerability as well as a healthy male lust. He kisses her in the end and it is so sweet.

And the rest of the cast was to die for!! Every single actor is a big star. Rupert Friend is unbelievably handsome and he played Wickham. Donald Sutherland portrayed the tender emotions of a father who cares deeply about his favorite daughter. Brenda Blethlyn, Kelly Reilly, Carrie Mulligan, Tamsin somethingorrather, Rosamund Pike, Dame Judi Dench!!! Tom Huddston was so short!

Colin Firth!

Love Firth so much pride!!! Loved his awkwardness meeting Elizabeth wet and his smile during his little tete-tete with her before being introduced to the Gardiners.
MacFadyen is second for me loved his second glance at Lizzy at the assembly, his look when she arrives to see Jane at Netherfield and his near kiss at Rosings swoon! oh how could I forget his reaction after handing her into the carriage!!

Mathew MacFadyen I think he made the perfect Mr.Darcy!

Colin Firth IS Mr. Darcy. Movie was so terrible didn't even finish it

Defo Colin!!! The whole 2005 threw me off completly: as someone said above it was more Bronte than Austen - there was no refinement in the costumes e and Keira...don´t get me started on her performance. Although i loved her in the Duchess, in this she was a wallflower, didn´t stick out in any of the Lizzie-qualities that she had to chow: sharp-tongue the most that i missed in her performance.

So yes, 1995 BBC version all the way.....Colin as proud Mr. Darcy.

I didn't have cable 1995, so I totally missed Colin's Mr. Darcy. Though I heard from lots of friends that he was a great Mr. Darcy.

So my first look at Mr. Darcy is Matthew. I thought he was perfect.

About a year later I finally saw Colin's version. I see why everyone loved him, but to me Mr. Darcy is Matthew.

Collin Firth all the way!

Colin Firth definately.

My first experience of Pride and Prejudice was the film and I really loved it. Since I first watched it, I've watched it many times and I still really like it. It's what persuaded me to read the book which I liked even more. Then I watched the 1995 version and I loved it so much that I watched all six hours of it over one weekend. For me, the 1995 one is much more Pride and Prejudice as it would have been and the 2005 film is sort of the more passionate, less realistic version. I prefer the 1995 version because there is more time to portray the story and I prefer Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth. And of the course the person who played Mrs Bennet was the best!
As for who I prefer as Mr Darcy, I'm not sure. Colin Firth is an amazing actor and he looks a lot more like I picture Mr Darcy and plays him really well. However, you don't really see as much of Mr Darcy falling for Elizabeth.

I love both of them as Mr. Darcy. I am so confused I cant choose as both Firth n McFayden were best as the arrogant n loving Mr.Darcy.

Colin Firth. I find his awkwardness adorable and more tangible than McFayden's.

Beyond any doubt - Colin Firth.

Definitely Colin Firth!

I'm not at all sure that the discussion should be about the Darcys. For me it was all about the Elizabeths. I found Keira Knightly's portrayal of Elizabeth to be more of a betrayal.
She was awful in the role. No empathy with the time period in which she supposed to be living at all. Too much of the modern miss.
And I think that this for me spoiled any possibility of enjoyment of Mathew McFadyen's portrayal of Darcy.

I like both actors, but prefer the older version with Firth. I like Ehle better than Knightly as Elizabeth, and besides the longer version does more justice to the story than a simple film.

Mathew MacFayden all the way,he portrayed both the pride and the inner conflict.

Colin Firth of course!

Colin is my Mr.Darcy<3

McFayden x10. Pure hotness in that roll.

Matthew Macfadyen. I thought he conveyed the shyness and warm hearted character way better than Colin Firth. You could see his interest and curiosity far better than the BBC mini series. Colin Firth was stiff and unfeeling, which is what you think Darcy is at first but something you're supposed to learn is untrue.

I saw the BBC version first (and have seen it many times) and the movie later, and I love both versions, and both Mr. Darcy's, they both did a splendid job. When I see Colin Firth in other movies, I always think of him as Mr. Darcy (especially since he reiterated that character in "Bridget Jones' Diary"), so in many ways, he IS Mr. Darcy to me.
And yet I still prefer Matthew Macfadyen's portrayal of him. Macfadyen is who I see before me when I read the book. Macfadyen just seems more like the character as he's described in the book.

Keira Knightley is all wrong for Elizabeth Bennet though.

Mathew MacFayden any day. Colin Firth is a great actor. But I felt that as Darcy, Matthew was better. He brought out each emotion very well. His looks and his voice suited the character a lot

MacFayden!!!

Mathew MacFayden : handsome !!!

Matthew MacFayden absoluty!!! I love his interpretation! :)

MacFayden is more interesting. I like Colin Firth, but MacFayden is more edgy and surprising. He brought a lot to the Darcy character, who was never quite so vivid to me as Elizabeth.

Matthew MacFadyen gave a better performance. He always had a barely contained intensity just below the words he said to Elizabeth. He was wonderful and broody, and when he smiled the heavens opened (I never felt a connection to Colin Firth's Darcy, he was broody, but also stodgy and cold).

The scene at the end with he walks through the mist towards Elizabeth, I get goosebumps just thinking of it! LOL

Colin Firth is definitely more Darcy for me. In fairness, I generally disliked most things about the 2005 adaptation, whereas the 1995 version was, in my opinion, much truer to the book. But whereas Firth really encapsulated both sides of Darcy's personality perfectly, in contrast I found Matthew Macfadyen's portrayal to be extremely wooden and one-dimensional.

Duh, Colin Firth! Matthew Macfadyen is a nice actor , but Colin Firth is what we call a proper incarnation of Mr Darcy.

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. 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.