Pride and Prejudice

 

 

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What a horrible interpretation of a classic story. I loved the book, I really loved the 1995 mini-series with Colin Firth, but this story is NOT Pride and Prejudice at all. It leaves you wondering if the writers and the production crew ever read the book at all. If you're not familiar with the story at all, it might be all right as a generic period drama, but if you know anything at all about P&P it's awful. Stick with the 1995 version starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. It's the true Pride and Prejudice and was done so much better than this movie that I don't have enough words to explain it. That one got it right, this one did not.

I actually saw this movie with a friend who'd never seen or read Pride and Prejudice and she enjoyed it, but she was really confused about key parts of the story, such as Wickham's entire role, and needed me to explain afterwards because she didn't understand why things happened in the movie.

Some of the casting was good and the scenery was gorgeous, but some of the most important roles were terrible. Keira Knightley is a horrible Elizabeth... she turns a witty, intelligent young woman into a giggly, ridiculous brat. This Mr. Darcy left me feeling only lukewarm about him. He was all right, but had very tough competition in Colin Firth. Bingley is portrayed as a total idiot in this one instead of a warm-hearted yet slightly naive young man.

Worse than the butchering of some of the characters, they chopped the story up very badly and got a lot of details about the period completely wrong. For example, the Bennetts were never poor and certainly weren't a lower class family, as portrayed in this movie. They were middle class, but just had no sons to carry on their fortunes so upon Mr. Bennett's death the girls would have nothing left to their names.

Don't waste your time and money on this one. If you must see it, rent it or borrow it from the library. Not a good adaptation at all.

Like most people who love literature I was well aware that Jane Austen could write, but the idea that Keira Knightley can act and hold her own against the likes of Dame Judy Dench was a revelation. Granted, Knightley has not particularly been called upon to turn in great acting performances in most of her films. In "Love Actually" she is basically required to look pretty and her best moments are reaction shots rather than dialogue. She has many more moments such as that in "Pride & Prejudice," but she also proves herself proficient at the witty dialogue. Knightley filmed this version as her final film as a teenager and the results are comparable to when Franco Zeffirelli cast the teenage Olivia de Hussey in "Romeo & Juliet."

This becomes the most romantic version of "Pride & Prejudice" because we are not surprised along with Lizzie when Darcy shows up and makes the most backhanded proposal of marriage in the history of Western literature. The screenplay by Deborah Moggach (Emma Thompson receives special thanks in the credits, apparently for script doctoring) makes one significant change in the proceedings by simply having the moment when Mr. Darcy (Matthew MacFadyen) falls for Lizzie clearly written on his face. At the Meryton ball she finds the perfect moment to throw the callous words that she has overheard back into his and with the rapier still skewering her victim she turns on her heels and walks away in triumph.

When next he sees her she has walked over to Mr. Bingley's house to care for her sister Jane (Rosamund Pike), who has been taken ill because of the matrimonial machinations of their mother. Lizzie's hair is down and she is positively glowing. When we see the look of Darcy's face it is clear that he is beyond smitten, even though through the veneer of upper class manners the signs are decidedly subtle. From that moment on his affection becomes transparent to us, although Lizzie is surprised to learn of its existence. Joe Wright also creates a motif where the first time Darcy and Lizzie touch, as he helps her into a carriage, resonates by an emphasis at key moments throughout the film of Darcy's hands.

Elizabeth Bennett is the most delightful of the Austen heroines because she has the virtue of not backing down. Indeed, I believe Darcy first takes real notice of her because she stands up to him at the ball. When she refuses to back down from Lady Catherine De Bourgh (Judi Dench) at the dinner table it struck me that one of the reasons she is so attractive to Darcy is because she is not trying to be. Certainly Mrs. Bennett (Brenda Blythen) has taught her five daughters it is how to be on their best behavior to catch a husband, and in a world of such propriety her candor is refreshing. Darcy's curt dismissal of her looks as being tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt him, becomes ironic because for my money it is her brains that make Elizabeth Bennett a real beauty both to him and to us.

The screenplay necessitates cutting much of the action to reduce the tale to a two-hour film. I appreciated being spared the unfortunate incident of Mary at the pianoforte as well as the constructed scene for the final fadeout and my only minor complaint would be that Lady Catherine does not utter her exit line from the novel when she takes her leave of Elizabeth in their final confrontation although I fully understand that the words cannot be uttered under those circumstances and the fact that Lady Catherine shows up immediately on hearing the rumor makes up for being denied the pleasure of hearing Dame Judy declaim that line.

I had heard that the Jane Austen Society was less than pleased by Knightley's posture in this film, but one of the strengths of this production is that the Bennetts clearly live in the country. There are dirt roads that lead to their home, where a large hog wanders through the front door, and when Mr. Darcy and the Bingleys make their first appearances at the local ball the dancing has an exuberance (not to mention slapping of hands) that makes it patently clear that we are far from the hallowed halls of Pemberly or the civilized life of London. But the outside locations are as sumptuous as the gilded rooms in this film, and cinematographer Roman Osin makes both look gorgeous.

For those who consider "Sense & Sensibility" to be the current cinematic benchmark for Austen adaptations I can report that "Pride & Prejudice" is its superior in terms of both romance and comedy by virtue of both crying and laughing more at this 2005 film.. Where Ang Lee's 1995 film comes out ahead is in its depiction of sisterhood, as Jane and Lizzie cannot rival Elinor and Marianne in their bonds of affection, which is understandable since it is more central to that Austen novel. Even so there is a cute moment of confidences shared beneath the covers and Lizzie's spirited defense of her sister's shyness. However, this one really is all about Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.

I am not at all surprise that Kngihtly received a Best Actress nomination for her performance in this film. As is invariably the case with such films the cast of supporting players is superb. Brenda Blethyn's Mrs. Bennett is comically painful, but Donald Sutherland as Mr. Bennett has a touching final scene with his daughter, Tom Hollander is toadally obnoxious as Mr. Collins, and my wife really wants to slap Jenna Malone's Lydia a couple of times. The best thing I can say about this version of "Pride & Prejudice" is that I went back to the theater to see it again, and the only other movie I did that for was "Revenge of the Sith" (I was using it for class). This one was better.

Certainly this is one of the two most intriguing versions of this movie I have seen.

In the Laurence Olivier version, I thought his Darcy came across as somewhat affected and foppish. I have not seen the Colin Firth version yet, however I did see his depiction of Darcy in the modern Bridget Jones Diary movies, and he did seem off in his attitude towards Renee Zelwegger's character. He seemed too snooty, and as if he genuinely disliked her at times for no reason.

My other favorite version is the Bollywood version, Bride and Prejudice, a must see totally enjoyable version with the beautiful Aishwarya Rai, and replete with Bollywood conventions including musical numbers.

The Keira Knightley version I have seen several times, and even made copious notes about it, because whether you know it or not, many love stories follow the template of this story, and it has become an enduring classic for good reason.

The dialogue is simply beautiful, the scenes excellently executed, the lead actor Matthew MacFadyen interplays brilliantly with Keira, offering excellently nuanced scenes. Finally, a lead actor who truly does justice to the role.

Like many love stories it starts out on the wrong foot, when Darcy disses her to a friend. He does not know she has overheard. She responds with some later banter putting him in his place, and like the flick of a switch he becomes intrigued with her. Yet as you get deeper into the story, misunderstandings arise, new perceptions, a whole welter of emotions.

I especially loved the scene where he proposes the first time and totally screws it up. She is hurt and angry, and turns on him, and yet beneath that anger stirs a passion. Beautifully done.

Mr. Darcy: ...Could you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your circumstances?

Elizabeth Bennet: And those are the words of a gentleman. From the first moment I met you, your arrogance and conceit, your selfish disdain for the feelings of others made me realize that you were the last man in the world I could ever be prevailed upon to marry. [they look at each other for a long time as though about to kiss]

Surprisingly, in the book it does not quite bring the scene to life like the sparkling dialogue in the movie, merely alluding to the content of the conversation.

I also enjoyed the performance of Collins played by Tom Hollander, the repressed smutty preacher whose small estate adjoins her ladyship's rather large abutment. Love it, the language that is, not the..

Since writing this review originally, I agree that the mini series starring Colin Firth and Jennfer Ehle is truly beautiful, and well worth watching. Being much longer, it has the advantage of being able to develop sub themes and offer much more detail.

If one has not seen the mini series already I highly recommend this as a great entree into Jane Austen's classic. Judged on its own merits it's a great movie.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, and I hope this was helpful.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Pride and Prejudice movie.
Wonderful Movie. You can watch it ten times and will love to watch many more times. Keira is superb. Read more

Published 7 days ago by Dr. R. Veluri MD

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful film
I noticed that many reviewers have unfavourably compared this film adaption of Pride and Prejudice to the 1995 BBC production. Read more

Published 22 months ago by CanadianMother

1.0 out of 5 stars Ugh
I think if you're going to do another version of a well known, well loved novel, you'd better do it right! This just is so wrong it made me angry! Read more

Published on Mar 22 2010 by Poetkitty

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the BBC version...
First of all, for those of you that wanted to know if there's the French audio on this dvd the answer is YES. Read more

Published on Aug 23 2009 by Mylène Laflamme

3.0 out of 5 stars As good as the BBC mini-series?
A recent trip to Chatsworth House in England proved to be the source of this purchase. Good all around, quickly-delivered and film was enjoyable. Read more

Published on Aug 13 2009 by Jonathan Davis

5.0 out of 5 stars Modern romantic take on a classic
I actually hated the movie the first time I saw it in theatres..I usually prefer the truly period pieces (ie. Read more

Published on April 12 2009 by R. Ignacio

1.0 out of 5 stars ICK! not worth the price of rental, the movie ticket or the DVD
What a mess! What was the point of making this one? You can't do this story properly in under five hours. Read more

Published on May 25 2008 by V. Andrews

3.0 out of 5 stars Love Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice is really my all time favourite book and movie. I did enjoy this rendition but it does not measure up to the BBC series. Read more

Published on Mar 31 2008 by Shirley Schnurbach

1.0 out of 5 stars A Disaster
With the BIG NAME cast, this version was a FLOP. Acting was bad, Character buildup was non existant, etc, etc. This is not Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Read more

Published on Jan 14 2008 by Hugo Sam

1.0 out of 5 stars You're joking right?
I'm so happy that I read the book before seeing this adaptation. I'm also VERY HAPPY that I first bought the A&E 10th Anniversary Limited Collector's Edition of Pride & Prejudice... Read more

Published on Dec 17 2007 by YANNERS

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