Not for Purists!!

Rating: 6/10 (3 October 2005)

As a devoted fan of both the book and the BBC adaptation I went to see this new version more out of a feeling that I should before I trash it than an actual belief that it would be good. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised.
Despite a personal dislike of Kiera Knightly, she did pull off a good performance. She did share with the audience more of Elizabeth's emotions than Jennifer Ehrle did, but perhaps she went a little too far. Brenda Blethyn and Judi Dench were lovely, dare I say it better than the BBC castings for Mrs Bennet and Lay Catherine. Jenna Malonwas also very good, though her accent was not perfect!
As for the men,it was a poorer showing. Matthew MacFaydon was sadly disappointing. I loved him in Spooks, and was hoping that he would make an to be convincing. Perhaps he should stick to thrillers... Neither Bingly nor Wickham really managed to capture the part. Bingly especially, came off too silly to be believable. (Wickham just looked far to like Orlando Bloom!)
What did really catch my eye was the directing and cinematography. I loved the creative way that the camera was used to convey time passing and significant devlopments in people's emotions. It is worth seeing this film for that.
To sum up... This is not ever going to be a good version for the purists among you. Two hours is just not enough time to do Austen justice. Some of the subtleties of class and emotion have been expanded to make it clearer what is happening and why, so therefore it is more accessible to the Pride and Prejudice virgin than the BBC version. But like I said, it's not for purists.