Sideburns and wet breeches

The man of the moment is of course, the newly crowned king best actor at the Academy Awards, Colin Firth, a.k.a. Mr. Darcy.

Having been educated at an all-girls school, where Pride and Prejudice is a set text in the GCSE English Literature curriculum (and was voted the most popular novel every year during the seven years I was there), my girlfriends and I have been fans of Colin Firth since watching the classic BBC adaptation. Although for me, it wasn't the wet shirt (which millions of women in this country seem to be obsessed with) scene that "sealed the deal", it was the scene when Elizabeth (Jennifer Ehle) visits Pemberley, Mr. Darcy intently watches her playing Mozart's "Voi che sapete" (from Le nozze di Figaro) and oh-my-goodness Colin Firth's glowing face -

In Year 12 I shared a room with Sarah, who hails from Seattle, and we shared a mutual passion for Colin Firth/Mr. Darcy. We even had a noticeboard dedicated to pictures of Colin Firth in our room, so impressive that it got mentioned in the nationally published The Good Schools Guide:

Of course I own a DVD copy of the mini-series, and I watch the entire series (6 episodes, 5 hours in total) at least once a year. The last time I did the P&P marathon was last spring, in my room in Osaka with Larisa and Morgan and big bowls of microwave popcorn. That was a lovely afternoon.

Apart from Pride and Prejudice and The King's Speech, one of Colin Firth's finest work must be A Single Man, which earned him his first Oscar nomination (last year). While I have yet to watch the film (there are way too many films I want to watch but haven't had the time to do so), - and read in some reviews that the film looked more like a very long perfume advert - the praise for Firth's acting was unanimously acclaimed.

Another art house type film that Colin Firth did, and one that I had actually watched and liked, is Girl with a Pearl Earring. It's quite a slow-moving film, but the subtly portrayed attraction and sexual tension between Firth (who plays Vermeer) and Scarlett Johansson is incredibly lascivious.

Obviously Colin Firth is also remembered for many often romantic, but not so Oscar-worthy, comedies such as Bridget Jones's Diary and Love Actually. Incidentally both of these films also starred another British export in the name of Hugh Grant. Today I read an article on the Telegraph website, which amused me greatly, where the writer compared Firth and Grant (who are actually born a day apart):

Firth is the movie star Hugh Grant could have been if he a) gave the impression of loving acting, and b) actually did some.

A bit mean, but so true. I really liked Hugh Grant in Notting Hill. But he seems to play the same character in every single film he starred in - himself.

At the many ceremonies where Colin Firth's acting was honoured with many awards, you can see him being accompanied by his classy and beautiful wife, Livia. Apparently she owns an eco-fashion store in Chiswick. Since the success of A Single Man last year, she's been using all the red carpet opportunities to showcase eco-friendly fashion in front of all the cameras. "The Green Carpet Challenge" has been covered by Vogue UK. Not only does Mrs. Firth look absolutely stunning, the man himself also looked rather dapper and handsome in a Tom Ford suit.

(Photo source: Vogue.co.uk)