Movie Review: Pride and Prejudice
Rating: 3 Stars
Pride and Prejudice has all the makings of a movie I shouldn’t like.
Foremost it’s set in the period of English history where all the characters speak in a pseudo-Shakespearan shorthand where you kind of understand the gist of what everyone’s saying. There were several instances when I was unclear if someone was being insulting or genuinely kind.
The 2005 Joe Wright directed film is based on the Jane Austen book of the same name published in 1813. Deborah Moggach takes on the task of adapting it to a screenplay.
Pride and Prejudice is a film that is willing to take its paces. While it does crawl for a few scenes in the latter stages, there is enough goodwill earned to this point I was never disengaged. Pride and Prejudice is a film that cannot be rushed lest it lose the ongoing chemistry of its two leads destined to fall in love.
Kiera Knightly (taking home an Oscar nomination for this role) plays Elizabeth Bennet, a beautiful but complicated young woman who is unmarried at a time and age where marriage is chiefly used as a tool for status and wealth. The man with the status and wealth she encounters is Mr. Darcy played by Matthew Macfayden. Mr. Darcy is cold and calculating but has an air of mystery about him that Elizabeth can’t quite ascertain.
The key to Pride and Prejudice is Elizabeth’s independence and liberation. Elizabeth is cunning although she is not perfect. She is forward-thinking but also quick to assume. Her mother is quick to pawn her daughters off. Her father quietly contemplates.
Pride and Prejudice is wonderfully shot. A sneaky transition where Elizabeth exhales blows into a flame as the camera artfully pans out to the manor where a ball is being held. In dimmer moments, the color is faded but the detail is exquisite. Knightly has a gripping presence and scenes of her looking wistfully into the distance hold weight and purpose.
Pride and Prejudice is a love story that navigates the usual genre pitfalls of wish-washy cliches and poor writing leading to unearned romance.
Crucially, Pride and Prejudice takes a woman’s perspective during a period where a woman’s perspective was rarely given credence. Ironically, the men in Pride and Prejudice often find themselves outdueled and outwitted by the women they are interested in. This goes back to that liberation point I said earlier. A cousin of Elizabeth’s believes it his duty to take her hand in marriage. Elizabeth refuses much to the chagrin of her pimp mother. Elizabeth even earns the ire of Judi Dench as the harrowing Lady Catherine de Bourg. She admirably stands her ground.
Pride and Prejudice is a film I suggest watching with subtitles. I know those fancy words would cover up some of that Oscar-nominated art direction but the dialogue can be a handful to follow.
Yet with all the great things that I have to say about what made a seemingly great film, I was ultimately left with the opinion that Pride and Prejudice is a good film. It’s a nice watch, poses a few questions, it has its sparks of genuine romantic energy… but I wasn’t utterly blown away. Call it a matter of preference if you must.
The self-contained world the story exists in works for the material, but I could never find myself fully engrossed. The world Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy exist in ends up feeling hollow.
Pride and Prejudice is also the sort of film I can only recommend if your sensibilities allow you to have love and endearing romance in your heart. Those in a state of bitter disarray may want to avoid the crushing blow of seeing two on-screen humans overcome their emotional differences to find themselves hopelessly in love with each other.
