Pride and Prejudice

This movie is nothing short of beautiful. From Keira Knightley's glowing skin, to the music underscoring every scene, to the scenery itself, it's just gorgeous. Pride and Prejudice is a story about the Bennett family, particularly Elizabeth Bennett. She meets a man named Mr. Darcy and finds him completely pompous and arrogant. She believes the worst about him and as the truth about him is uncovered bit by bit, she swallows some of her pride as she realizes that she is in love with him and he with her. That's a very summed-up version of a romantic story that everyone has their version of (Bridget Jones' Diary, anyone?).

Keira Knightley is so natural in the dialogue from this period and the dress that one would think she was born there. She has a way of putting things in a modern tone at times that makes her completely relatable to an audience. Her arc of character as she kind of ends up having to put her foot in her mouth is very well contrived from beginning to end. Matthew Macfadyen as Mr. Darcy was very understated and full of poise in the beginning and slowly his defenses come down as he is charmed somehow by Elizabeth's wit, humor, and sarcasm. They have a beautiful scene at the end of the movie as they walk toward each other in the sunrise over the fields. It's breathtaking.

I also have to say props to Donald Sutherland whom I particularly enjoyed watching as he dealt with all these crazy women (five sisters and a mother) who run his household. He puts his foot down when it seems important but otherwise they seem to have the run of things. There's a moment when Lizzie is asking her father's permission to marry Mr. Darcy when she's explaining that she doesn't hate him like everyone thinks and she has to stop and giggle at, "We're both so similar. We're both so stubborn!" and it's so infectious that her father also has to giggle back with tears in his eyes because he's so happy that she found the person who could make her act that way. Also I like him because he resembles a certain Jack Bauer of course.

Well done, everyone! Jena Malone as Lydia is sufficiently annoying and trouble-making and cracks me up with the airs she puts on once she's in the sham of a marriage she has. The mother constantly pestering everyone to marry off her daughters and goes around tipsy at parties bragging about it. That's another thing-- there are so many looooooooong takes in the movie! Mostly in crowd scenes. You just watch and see how often they actually cut away. Not much. In the crowd scenes they just follow from person to person and that takes a lot of effort to have everything so well planned out that you don't have to cut. They did that during even the dancing scenes as they follow Keira from side to side while she conversed. Just a lot of focus to get such great takes without a break for an entire scene.

This movie gets an A. Don't think I'm giving them out like candy either, I've just been privileged to see good movies.

My new favorite movie!

I first saw this movie as a video store rental and decided right away I wanted it for my personal collection. It is currently my favorite movie, and I'm sure will continue to be one of my top favorites for a long time. This says a lot about it since I enjoy a wide variety of genres, including drama, action/adventure, horror, comedy, and anime, to mention a few. It is definately a chick flick, and would be enjoyed by those who like romantic or period movies.

What I like about it, besides its classic story line, is the scenery, the musical score, and the general grandeur of it. Many have criticized this version of the movie, 1 - for what they perceive as poorly casted roles, and 2 - for not strictly adhering to the actual dialogue of the book and cutting out too much of the story. In my opinion, the acting is very good, and Keira Knightly's performance as Elizabeth Bennet is right on. Matthew MacFadyen does a more than passable job as Mr. Darcy, and the supporting roles are portrayed reasonably well. In response to #2 above, the script writers did take a few liberties with the dialogue, not so much in what was said, but with which character said it. However, I found that this did not interrupt the flow of the story. As for cutting out too much of the story, this was a necessity in order to make a reasonal length mainstream feature film. Compared to the 6-hour 1995 A&E miniseries, which I consequently checked out from the library to make a comparison to the new release, they did leave a lot out, and I must admit that those extra few hours did make the story flow a little more smoothly. But, those extra scenes didn't make me enjoy that version more. After seeing the two, I still like the shorter 2006 version better. And I'm sure that hard-core Jane Austin fans would argue vehemently with me on that.

The only thing I disliked didn't so much have to do with the movie as it did with the particular DVD I purchased. Be sure to get the version the was released in the US. I got a version that I think was an import. There is some Asian writing embossed on the label and the box is slightly different than others I've seen, which I didn't notice until after I got it. The only difference between my version and the one I rented from the video store is the ending. My version does not include the final scene, about 1 minute, that I saw in the rental. In fact I probably would not have even missed it except I expected it to be there and, thus, was disappointed.

I highly recommend this movie to most women - I did say chick-flick - and even a few men.

Pride and Prejudice

This is my all time favorite movie! I fell in love with this movie the first time I watched it. It's very fast paced, and took me a few times to figure out what was going on in some parts. All characters bring a certain element into the movie that would be lacking without even one of them.

The story begins with a mother and father discussing new arrivals that contain two very eligible and rich bachelors in a country setting in England. This couple have five, I think, girls and no boys. Living in the country with no title or money makes it difficult to marry these girls off.

The richest of the bachelors is a very powerful Lord Darcy who is anti-social and incredibly shy. Elizabeth is the second oldest girl who dislikes his attitude, while he tries to come to terms with his fascination with her. After committing a serious error in judgment, Darcy is at a loss on how to deal with Elizabeth's anger and rejection.

The ending is not what I expected and greatly satisfying.

If you like classical movies, like Jane Ere, Silas Marner, and Dead Poets Society (ok, not a classic), you will love this movie.

Oh, if you have seen American Haunting, you will have trouble viewing Donald Sutherland in the appropriate light in this movie. Good luck.

It's about the movie! Not eBay sellers! I recommend it.

My review is about the movie, NOT about the service I received from an eBay seller. I thought that was what feedback was for! As a huge fan of everything Jane Austen I found this movie to be excellent--not perfect maybe, certainly not exactly by the book--but so very delightful. I've watched it several times now and purchased the soundtrack, which is very good to read by as well. The departures this movie makes from the novel are actually very creative and not at all distracting, or in my opinion damaging to the author's intention. I enjoyed the warmer, more casual, livelier, and perhaps less genteel attitude of the characters too, though also a slight departure from the book. The cinematography takes you away in era and area. Matthew MacFadyen (also starring in the BBC series MI-5) stole my heart (I nearly swooned!), with his fluttering lashes and breathless confession of love for the bewitching Lizzy, played by Keira Knightly who was just great (I'd love to be her). Brenda Blethyn, though just as flighty as the other actors I've seen play this character, is far more loveable than any Mrs. Bennett I've seen so far, even more than the character in the book--but then I adore all of Brenda Blethyn's acting. Donald Sutherland gave a wonderful performance as Mr. Bennett too, but this story is more about the girls and I thoroughly adored them all. Plus, since this version is a only 2 hours and 9 minutes long, you can get your fix of Austen and not have to dedicate a whole day to get it. I highly recommend this adaptation. It's just beautiful. I relax in my comfortable chair with a hot cuppa tea, some dark chocolate candy and escape.

Mini-Series vs Movie

I've read Jane Austin’s Pride & Prejudice twice, seen the A&E mini-series with Colin Firth (love him!) and I've now seen Pride & Prejudice 2005. This is going to be a comparative between the mini-series and the movie.

First of all, I think it is important to note that the mini-series is approx. five hours long and the movie is approx. half that. This provides the mini-series with an advantage. The mini-series is SO true to the book in just about every realm. One has a chance to get to know the characters thoroughly and fall in love with Mr. Darcy right along with Lizzy.

However, there is one major thing missing from the mini-series that the movie possessed: PASSION! Colin Firth's portrayal of Mr. Darcy was bar none, but the young lady who played Lizzy (cannot recall her name at the moment) lacked the passion to meet him in the middle.

Keira Knightly and Matthew Macfayden were by far breathtaking in their portrayals of each character. I was left breathless many times by the slight looks given by Matthew Macfayden and received by Keira Knightly. The passion of the 2005 movie version is undeniable!

However, be aware that Hollywood did what Hollywood does best: Fluffed it up and made it their own. The mini-series version is so deep and involved with the original story line that it is totally engrossing. However, the movie version brings the story to life with the passion and resonance that Ms. Austin intended.

I would recommend watching both. The mini-series for the depth of character development and strict storyline and the movie for the passion and moral awareness that this story was meant portray.