I should probably start out by saying that Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite Jane Austen novels (I enjoy them all, but am also particularly fond of Emma) and one of my all time favorite books. I have read Pride and Prejudice numerous times (okay countless times), including for a college literature class on woman writers (in fact, I even wrote an paper on it and other books connecting women’s freedom with their clothing … but I digress). I know the book pretty well and I have enjoyed the BBC movie. So with that background, I will now discuss the most recent Pride and Prejudice movie.
The 2005 Pride and Prejudice movie is a thoroughly enjoyable rendition of Austen’s book. It is not the book or the BBC movie, but it incorporates important elements from the book including some of the best lines. It is certainly one director’s vision of the book, and, although some of the discrepancies between the book and the movie may be problematic for hardcore fans of the book (if Austen fans can be “hardcore?), I think most fans will enjoy it. The movie is funny, intelligent, sweet, a tear-jerker in places, and a good use of the 127 minutes. The scenery is amazing and camera work fine. I give it two thumbs up and 4.5 stars.
Within the director’s vision, I would say the casting was excellent. Keira Knightley did a good job as Lizzy, although she was rather too bold in places (where it departed from the book), at least too bold for the time period, but it made for an enjoyable Hollywood version. Matthew MacFadyen did an excellent Mr. Darcy. He gave the role more personality and longing. He displayed the pride, but also a certain shyness and nervousness (like in the scene where he briefly visits Lizzy as she is alone in the Collins’s house). Mr. Darcy did seem to be longing after Lizzy quite a bit in the movie. I’m surprised not everyone thought he was interested.
Kelly Reilly did a fantastic Miss Caroline Bingley. However, the lack of her sister and brother-in-law made for some interesting changes with whom she said some of her key lines to and the surrounding conversations. I think they could have added the sister and brother-in-law without subtracting from the movie and giving Miss Bingley rather more reason and making her seem a bit less forward and rude. She was a bit more … intense than in the other movie and book. She was very focused on Darcy, perhaps inappropriately so for the time (she’s make a great flirt today). The friendship between Jane and Miss Bingley was barley touched on in the move and the reason for the friendship is much less clear with this rendition of Caroline (granted we all knew Caroline was not good friend material, but she is rather friendly to Jane. Her truer personality is perhaps more clear from the start to everyone in the movie).
Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn both did well as Mr. & Mrs. Bennett. They made the couple more loveable—in fact I would say too loveable. The foibles of both were not as clear. The wife was not silly enough and the husband not “amused? enough. Also, the affection they showed each other was great for the movie, but not an accurate portrayal of the relationship they shared in the book (which was rather bad, as Mrs. Bennett had long lost the respect of her husband, who as Austen pointed out, married her based on looks).
The sisters and many other parts were also well done. Rosamund Pike made a great Jane, although the dark brown eyebrows with the blonde hair drove me crazy throughout the movie (my husband agrees). They have eyebrow dye, I know it; I wish they had used it. Jena Malone and Carey Mulligan as Lydia and Kitty Bennett (respectively) did quite well; and Talulah Riley made a good Mary. I rather liked the longing look she gave Mr. Collins at one point. Claudie Blakley made a great Charlotte. They did well showing the friendship between Charlotte and Lizzy. Judi Dench, of course, made a great Lady Catherine de Bourg, although I do believe Lady Catherine de Bourg was younger. Tom Hollander did well as the movie Mr. Collins; but I didn’t really like what they did to Mr. Collins in the movie. He wasn’t foolish enough and in a few places one almost felt sorry for him. Although his being so short was great! Rupert Friend was a rather attractive Mr. Wickham, but he was not enough of a dashing, debonair rake. He was rather quite and actually seems to have realized he did something wrong. However, the ribbon scene was well done. Otherwise, there was not nearly enough flirting between him and Lizzy (they cut out all those scenes).
The movie obviously had to condense the book and in general I thought they generally well. However, there were huge chunks taken out and the sudden time changes and journeys (which happened in some cases, in the book, months apart). In fact when Darcy wonders if Lizzy has the same feelings she had last April, it wasn’t quite as much of a statement since last April was apparently (according to the movie timeline) 3 weeks ago.
The movie does justice to Jane Austen’s lovely lines. Some of those lines make it clear why she is such a good author—they are just so well done. The final Darcy proposal was one fine example of Austen’s lines at work. Darcy did a great job of showing how romantic those lines really were. I’m sure I heard a few sighs during this scene.
In other places, however, the lines were bit off. For example, it is Lizzy and not Mary or Lizzy’s Uncle that says “What are men to rocks and mountains?? But I’ll give them some latitude.
Now there were a few other issue with the move—mostly with the appropriateness of clothing choices. First, what is up with all those people wandering around in their nightclothes? Would Lizzy run around the house of Mr. & Mrs. Collins in a nightgown and robe? No. Would the whole Bennett family run to the door at night (all in their nightclothes) to answer the door? No. That is what the servants were for. Would Lady Catherine de Bourg talk to Lizzy in her nightclothes? No. Would Lizzy and Darcy be wandering around outside in nightclothes or rather immodest day clothes? Probalby not and even if they were, they certainly would not talk to each other in them! And there is no way that Bingley would have walked into the sick room of Jane when Jane way laying in bed, in her nightgown! Miss Bingley’s dress at the Netherfield ball seemed much more modern and not very time period appropriate. And what in the world was Lizzy wearing throughout the movie??? The Bennetts were a fairly affluent family and Lizzy is running around in these ugly brown homespun dresses (without the proper petticoats either!). Lizzy is always the worse dressed in the room, even compared I believe to her poor friend Charlotte. I wonder if this might be a way of making Keira look less attractive, since Jane is supposed to be the pretty one? They could have at least given her decent clothes. And one non clothing issue—Darcy would have not called Caroline Bingley by her first name. Sorry, would not have happened (in fact I do believe there were a few other places were people were not properly addressed). Oh and one more inaccuracy: The Bennett sisters will not be desolate paupers when their father dies. They do have a small inheritance from their mother.
Despite the many issues I have pointed out, I must say the biggest problem was the limited interaction between Lizzy and Darcy and the lack of a strong reason for her to fall in love with him. Much of the development of this love is lost in the movie. The first proposal scene was rather rushed and was wrongly used for Darcy to explain away one of Lizzy’s stated problems with him. The reasoning behind Darcy pulling Bingley away from Jane are much better laid out in the letter when Lizzy can slowly come to release he is correct, instead of is a big fight during the engagement scene, where it comes across as even more criticism of Lizzy and her family. The letter, which was supposed to explain both problems, only explained the Wickham problem and only very briefly. If the full letter or even most of the letter had been included it would have better worked. We have little of the scenes at Hunsford, where not only is there the Darcy attraction going on, but a brief look and interest in Fitzwilliam. A closer look at Darcy’s interest and some of the reasons for Lizzy’s affections are totally lost in the very short Pemberley housekeeper scene (where Lizzy really just seems to fall in love with the sculptures) and all the Pemberley interactions (which were greatly abbreviated). Then the Darcy and Bingley return to Longbourn is cut very very short and none of the chemistry is really allowed to spark here. Now fans of Austen know why she loved him, but I fear people who never read the book may have issues being convinced she would have loved him (besides the good looks and money!).
However, even after all these issues, it is a good movie. I laughed probably more than anyone else there, in part because I know the book so well that even good facial expressions suggested some of the humor, background, and important material the movie did not include. Plus, the movie was just funny. It was well done and I think even hardcore Austen fans will find something to enjoy, and, I bet, may of them, like me, will find the experience well worth the $9.00.
