I think Pride & Prejudice (2005) is quite deserving of its four Academy Award nominations: Best Actress (Keira Knightley), Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design and Best Original Score. I was thoroughly entertained by this delightful movie, which is an adaptation of Jane Austen's classic 1813 novel. I consider Keira Knightley's performance in the role of Elizabeth Bennet brilliant, and Pride & Prejudice is strong in every facet of filmmaking.
On the DVD audio commentary track, the director states that the movie is set in 1797. That is the same year Jane Austen finished an unpublished manuscript titled First Impressions, which she eventually revised and published as Pride and Prejudice 16 years later.
The story takes place in the English countryside, and I think one of the film's great achievements is to create a richly textured world where middle class folk socialize with aristocrats. The class differences cause a certain amount of tension, but this is kept in check because the society puts such a high value on decorum and harmony.
In this society, women have only one route to self-improvement: to marry advantageously. The story centers around Elizabeth Bennet (Knightley), who needs to make a suitable marriage, not only for her own well-being, but to assure that her sisters and her mother don't end up destitute.
The movie focuses on the relationship between the middle-class Elizabeth and the wealthy aristocrat Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen). Here's how Darcy proposes marriage to Elizabeth: "Against my better judgment, my family's expectation, the inferiority of your birth, my rank and circumstance, and I'm willing to put them aside and ask you to … do me the honor of accepting my hand." And here's Elizabeth's response: "From the first moment I met you, your arrogance and conceit … made me realize that you were the last man in the world I could be prevailed upon to marry."
I enjoyed the humor in Pride & Prejudice. For example, Elizabeth's mother (Brenda Blethyn) is always seeking suitors for her five daughters, and on an occasion when she employs a particularly shrewd tactic, Elizabeth's father (Donald Sutherland) tells his wife, "Your skills in the art of matchmaking are positively occult."
Judi Dench portrays the snotty Lady Catherine de Bourg, and there's a joke on this repugnant character that still makes me chuckle when I think back to it. At one point there's a commotion outdoors, and a woman inside the house rushes to the window and asks, "Has the pig escaped again?" She then spots a fancy carriage and answers her own question, "Oh, it's Lady Catherine."
I found the period costumes and English locations in Pride & Prejudice to be quite pleasing to the eye. The Bennet's house, though modest, is charming, and we get to see some marvelous country estates. Also, there's a memorable ball sequence where the ladies and gentlemen wear finery, including a number of army officers in spiffy redcoat uniforms.
The film Pride & Prejudice contains the major plot points of Jane Austen's novel, and all of the book's important characters are in the movie, although some of them only briefly. However, devotees of Jane Austen may be troubled that the tone of the film is so different from that of the novel. Also, the movie emphasizes the personal relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy at the expense of developing a detailed portrait of the society in which they live. However, it didn't bother me that the film is not faithful to Austen's worldview. Nevertheless, I should mention that I found the movie's ending too sappy.
Continued on Next Page: Pride & Prejudice Bonus Materials and DVD Details
