Excellent portrayal

Rating: 10/10 (1 July 2007)

Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite novels. And as an avid fan, I must say that the movie excellently portrayed the novel. Granted, there were things that were shortened, edited, and left out. One can only expect that. The Masterpiece Theatre version, featuring Collin Firth, contained more of and followed the novel more closely, obviously. Because it was a mini series they were able to incorporate more. So one cannot argue that that version was better only because it was more like the book, given the circumstances and the fact that this was a movie, not a series. So for the time allotted and considering other circumstances, this movie was a very good adaptation of the novel, Pride and Prejudice.
The movie itself was, I'll admit, modernized and Americanized (for lack of better words). It became more of a romance, than a tale of the prejudices of historical English society and aristocracy. However, it was still made clear that Darcy and Elizabeth were not considered equals, as well as it was pointed out the prejudices they both held towards each other. Although it was much more romantic and focused more on the growing love between Darcy and Elizabeth, the movie's title was NOT left unexplained. Pride and prejudice was evident and adequately portrayed in the movie--though not as fully as the 1995 version, still enough to follow the novel, while still appealing to the hopelessly romantic audience.
The acting, as well, was superb in my opinion. First of all, Keira Knightley was absolutely amazing as Elizabeth. Absolutely. I am a big fan of her in all movies, but I thought she was especially excellent in this. She definitely captured Lizzie's pride, beauty, intelligence, stubbornness, and other qualities. I would go as far as to say that this might have been her best performance yet. Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn, as Mr. and Mrs. Bennet were excellent, also, which is expected, as well as Judi Dench as Lady Catherine. The rest of the cast was very believable and true to the novel, especially noting Simon Woods (Mr. Bingley), Claudie Blakley (Charlotte Lucas), Rosamund Pike (Jane), and Tom Hollander (Mr. Collins), all of whom I thought specifically brought Jane Austen's characters to life. The final character, who seems to be quite controversial, is Mr. Darcy, played by Matthew Macfadyen. Well, many seem to think his portrayal of the proud, aloof Mr. Darcy was not up to par. And where I can see that Collin Firth may raise the bar quite high, I must say that I though Matthew's acting was absolutely exceptional. Honestly, Collin Firth was a great Darcy, but there was just something missing. He played him excellently, yet just his appearance and overall self was just not what I had pictured Darcy to be (nothing against him, of course. I adore Collin Firth and find him one of the best actors in British ((and American)) film). Mattew, however, was the perfect resemblance to Mr. Darcy. He just had that air and appearance that I had pictured when I read the book.
I happened to find his acting amazing, despite the controversy. In my opinion, this movie was a very good adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, one of the few pictures to ever rival the novel.