Even Colin Firth would like this movie
By Aine O'Hare
Issue date: 11/17/05 Section: Film & Music
Keep the Uggs in the attic and save the anime for Tarantino: if Keira Knightley's latest performance is anything to go on, pop culture's current fixation with the Victorian era isn't about to fade away just yet. Pride and Prejudice, the Universal Pictures adaptation of the oh-so-famous Jane Austen novel, is as delightful as a ball at Hertfordshire, crumpets with the gentry, or a merry jaunt along the Thames - and not nearly as irritating as words like "gentry" and "merry".
Keira Knightley and Matthew MacFadyen star as Lizzie Bennet and Mr. Darcy, one of literature's most beloved pair of pigheaded Brits. The chemistry between the two is enough to shift the focus away from MacFadyen's unfortunate hairstyle, and the film offers a refined alternative to the usual tripe that tends to dominate the realm of the "chick flick". One can't help but get the feeling that this is the role that Knightley was born to play: the quick-witted, waifish English rose, blending equal parts prissy snob and tomboy. The film is marked by the complexity of its characters, and appears very much as Lizzie's story: one which is more played out in subtle facial gestures and superb intonation than headstrong actions and pronouncements. Knightley's Lizzie has moxie, but she doesn't necessarily wear it on her sleeve, nor does MacFadyen's Mr. Darcy expose his soft, mushy middle until the end, when all the external layers have been stripped away.
Perhaps one of the film's greatest strengths lies in its portrayal of Lizzie's relationship with her family, which allows actors like Donald Sutherland, Brenda Blethyn and Judi Dench to radiate as Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and Lady Catherine de Bourgh, respectively. Rosamund Pike is adorable as Jane, the Bennet family beauty, and Simon Woods' portrayal of Mr. Bingley mixes the awkwardness of courtship with the elitism of aristocracy into comic brilliance - comedy perhaps helped in part by his resemblance to Ron Weasley. Thankfully, the main parts in the movie are played almost exclusively by actors hailing from Mother England, saving the audience from the agony of American actors choking on phony British accents.
Many fans of the novel are likely already familiar with the A&E miniseries of the same name, starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. While purists will argue that the A&E production is more in tune with the finer details of Austen's novel, the beauty of this movie lies in how it manages to sum up in two hours what the miniseries showed in five. While we see the Bennet sisters buying ribbons for the ball and giggling over unmarried men, we don't hear every discussion pertaining to how "agreeable", "suitable" or "tolerable" each and every character is.
So just how agreeable is Pride and Prejudice? As lovely as a steaming cup of Earl Grey, as refreshing as a brisk stroll through the countryside, as jolly good as a- oh, forget it. Suffice to say that Ms. Austen would be proud.
Keira Knightley and Matthew MacFadyen star as Lizzie Bennet and Mr. Darcy, one of literature's most beloved pair of pigheaded Brits. The chemistry between the two is enough to shift the focus away from MacFadyen's unfortunate hairstyle, and the film offers a refined alternative to the usual tripe that tends to dominate the realm of the "chick flick". One can't help but get the feeling that this is the role that Knightley was born to play: the quick-witted, waifish English rose, blending equal parts prissy snob and tomboy. The film is marked by the complexity of its characters, and appears very much as Lizzie's story: one which is more played out in subtle facial gestures and superb intonation than headstrong actions and pronouncements. Knightley's Lizzie has moxie, but she doesn't necessarily wear it on her sleeve, nor does MacFadyen's Mr. Darcy expose his soft, mushy middle until the end, when all the external layers have been stripped away.
Perhaps one of the film's greatest strengths lies in its portrayal of Lizzie's relationship with her family, which allows actors like Donald Sutherland, Brenda Blethyn and Judi Dench to radiate as Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and Lady Catherine de Bourgh, respectively. Rosamund Pike is adorable as Jane, the Bennet family beauty, and Simon Woods' portrayal of Mr. Bingley mixes the awkwardness of courtship with the elitism of aristocracy into comic brilliance - comedy perhaps helped in part by his resemblance to Ron Weasley. Thankfully, the main parts in the movie are played almost exclusively by actors hailing from Mother England, saving the audience from the agony of American actors choking on phony British accents.
Many fans of the novel are likely already familiar with the A&E miniseries of the same name, starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. While purists will argue that the A&E production is more in tune with the finer details of Austen's novel, the beauty of this movie lies in how it manages to sum up in two hours what the miniseries showed in five. While we see the Bennet sisters buying ribbons for the ball and giggling over unmarried men, we don't hear every discussion pertaining to how "agreeable", "suitable" or "tolerable" each and every character is.
So just how agreeable is Pride and Prejudice? As lovely as a steaming cup of Earl Grey, as refreshing as a brisk stroll through the countryside, as jolly good as a- oh, forget it. Suffice to say that Ms. Austen would be proud.
