Pride and Prejudice 

Director: Joe Wright

Release date: September 2005

Plot summary: (a purposefully not very faithful adaptation of Jane Austen's eponymous masterpiece:) Elizabeth Bennet takes a strong dislike in Mr Darcy on their first encounter, while Elizabeth's sister, Jane, falls in love with Darcy's friend, Mr Bingley, who just moved in the neighbourhood. But as the plot advances, Elizabeth is bound to realise that Mr Darcy is not as proud and detestable as she thought, while Jane and Bingley have to overcome classical lovers' issues before being united.

Sorry, did my supposedly neutral plot summary sound partial? Well, then, you are warned: you're not reading the words of a big fan of this film! If, like my best friend, you loved the film, I would advise you strongly not to read the following review...

I also warn the reader that, since this is an adaptation of one of the most famous and best classics of English literature, I will probably spoil the plot in many occasions, so if you haven't read the book and/or seen an adaptation of it and do not wish to read about the end - or any other part of the story - stop reading this now - and run to the nearest library to buy the original work... now!!

Lire la suite...

Howl's Moving Castle

Author: Diana Wynne Jones

Published: 1986

Plot summary: After the terrible Witch of the Waste turned her into a 90-year-old lady, formerly 18-year-old Sophie Hatter is forced to seek her fortune on the road. She takes shelter in Howl's moving castle, Wizard Howl having a reputation as bad as the Witch - he hates young women's heart, they say! - but Sophie should be safe on this point now. In the castle, she meets Calcifer, the fire demon, and makes a bargain with him: he'll lift her spell when she breaks the contract he signed with Howl. In the house also lives 15-year-old Michael, Howl's apprentice. Sophie starts working there as a cleaning lady, but things get more and more complex by the minute. The book ends up being a giant jigsaw puzzle of mixed spells that Howl seems to be particularly unwilling to untangle.

For those who thought that Howl's Moving Castle sprang from Hayao Miyazaki's imagination, think again! It was originally a book, written almost 20 years before the Japanese motion picture aired, by a British writer, Diana Wynne Jones. Most of her books were written for children and teenagers and take place in magical worlds.

Lire la suite...