A nice film out of context

Rating: 4/10 (11 May 2006)

I didn't have a problem with this film simply because I'm a Jane Austen purist, I swear. It doesn't bother me that some plot points are missing due to the new time frame, nor does it matter to me that Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle are not playing their famous roles. I do dislike this film a great deal, though, because I disagree with it's interpretation of the material. If you are going to adapt a book or play to film, you can do whatever you want with the storyline, but I believe it is essential to keep the message or "spirit" of the work intact. That is something I believe this version of Pride and Prejudice failed to do. Granted, it's no outrageous disgrace like "Ella Enchanted" (I think I actually cried after seeing that abomination of an adaptation), but it still loses a lot of Austen's sharp wit and especially gets rid of the whole "satire" part. Instead of watching an enlivening piece that sweetly pokes fun at the mating games and marital ploys of the 19th century, I watched two hours of melodrama. All of the masks and innuendos were gone, replaced by blatant statements. I have to preface this by saying that I think Keira Knightley is a good actress, but I did not like her at all as Elizabeth Bennet. Admittedly, I didn't think she was right for the part in the first place, but I ended up disagreeing with her interpretations in a completely unbiased way. I don't think Jennifer Ehle or anyone else have ever done a "perfect" Eliza Bennet, but I definitely disliked Knightley's choice to make Elizabeth laugh all the time, or to make her comment's sassy comments cruel and not playful. I suppose I say that from a directorial or actor's point of view, but I don't think it was a valid interpretation of the literary character. Also, I didn't really feel like a lot of the interactions were true to the period. Finally, my biggest problem was all the beautiful backdrops. Yes, they were dazzling to look at, but why were they there? What purpose did they serve? To distract me from the scene actually playing out? Truthfully, I saw no reason to place almost any of the scenes in expansive areas of nature like that, and I hate seeing things done pointlessly. However, when I don't think about the fact that this movie is based off a Jane Austen novel (as opposed to a Harlequin romance), this film is cute and enjoyable. :)