"Subconsciously, Austen was writing a horror novel and didn’t know it. People taking these strolls, riding their carriages to and fro…. There are so many opportunities there — for zombie attacks." - Seth Grahame-Smith
Having just ranted about remaking perfect films badly, I now want to comment on something that I think DOES work. I've blogged about this before but it's getting closer now...
Most of Jane Austen's very few books are classics, read by generations and made into countless plays and movies and radio shows. And there is a very large fanbase that hangs on (upon?) every word of her novels as though they were sacred texts. And I agree that they have merit, although as a man I'm sure I'm missing most of the point. One of her most revered is Pride and Prejudice, from 1813, the story of the trials and tribulations of one Elizabeth Bennett. I must confess I've not read it, but I did read its re-write (mentioned below) and the 1995 movie with Keira Knightley is fantastic.
According to author Seth Grahame-Smith, fantastic as the story is, there was always something missing. Something obvious and perfect had been omitted. As it turns out, that thing was zombies.
In 2009 Grahame-Smith wrote a book to fix that oversight, crediting Jane Austen as co-author, called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. As heretical as that may sound, he has a point, the book seems to benefit from this treatment. I'm sure it wasn't easy to pull off, but P&P really was a good basis for a story about the living dead roaming the English countryside. Instead of would-be suitors, we get pretty much the same thing at the doorstep - lumbering, droll, and imposing.
It's no big secret that P&P&Z is now it's being made into a movie. The director promises it will be faithful to Jane's novel in both tone and social texture:
Most of Jane Austen's very few books are classics, read by generations and made into countless plays and movies and radio shows. And there is a very large fanbase that hangs on (upon?) every word of her novels as though they were sacred texts. And I agree that they have merit, although as a man I'm sure I'm missing most of the point. One of her most revered is Pride and Prejudice, from 1813, the story of the trials and tribulations of one Elizabeth Bennett. I must confess I've not read it, but I did read its re-write (mentioned below) and the 1995 movie with Keira Knightley is fantastic.
According to author Seth Grahame-Smith, fantastic as the story is, there was always something missing. Something obvious and perfect had been omitted. As it turns out, that thing was zombies.
In 2009 Grahame-Smith wrote a book to fix that oversight, crediting Jane Austen as co-author, called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. As heretical as that may sound, he has a point, the book seems to benefit from this treatment. I'm sure it wasn't easy to pull off, but P&P really was a good basis for a story about the living dead roaming the English countryside. Instead of would-be suitors, we get pretty much the same thing at the doorstep - lumbering, droll, and imposing.
It's no big secret that P&P&Z is now it's being made into a movie. The director promises it will be faithful to Jane's novel in both tone and social texture:
"It’s staying incredibly true to Jane Austen and the humor that you get from Jane Austen and the dynamic of this society and the humor and insight that comes from the situations that she wrote about. And then you also get the horror of of zombies."
Cool bonus!
About 85% of the text of Grahame-Smith's book is lifted directly from Jane's novel. Remember, she's been dead so long her works are in the public domain everywhere in the world. The other 15% is the zombie part, perfectly intertwined.
Movies about the undead are huge now, and I don't just mean Twilight's vamps. Zombies are in vogue now. I was never really a horror movie fan, but I've become drawn to zombies. And there have been so many really good zombie movies and shows lately: "The Walking Dead", "Zombieland", "Shaun of the Dead". All fantastic with a wry sense of humor. And more are on the way. I'm really looking forward to "World War Z", and the vampire film "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Killer".
So what does Gram do for an encore? He already did it...he co-wrote another novel with his fair Jane, called "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters".
No, seriously. He did.
2 comments:
Not to out myself as one of Jane Austen's hangers on (though I almost suspect you did this on purpose to get me to comment), but Keira Knightly was not in the 1995 version. She was only 10 years old at the time. The 1995 version with Colin Firth is fantastic. I did not care as much about the 2005 version with Keira Knightly, probably because it didn't have Colin Firth. :)
Gah! I had both of those in my mind and you're right she was in the 2005 version. We actually have both on Blu-ray. I haven't seen the Firth one but I liked the 2005 one. I've heard a couple fans say they wish they could have had a combined one with Keira and Colin.
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