Pride & Prejudice  2005 Joe Wright

Rating: Null/10 (4 December 2007)

I saw it yesterday on cable TV, and I am disappointed: this version is not an adaptation of the book, it is something supposed to be P & P.
The cinematography and the music score are great and I enjoyed both immensely.
But I have not liked at all the changes made to the book that were absolutely not necessary, like the scene when Darcy proposes to Elizabeth for the first time : why was it shot under the rain in the outside? And they looked like they were going to kiss... Was that really necessary, or when Elizabeth, with her Uncle and Aunt, visits Pemberley House, they visit a display of Greek statues but in the book all they see are miniatures and quite acollestion of them, she hears the piano and she peeps through the door to watch Georgiana playing, this is unheard of as decent behavior at any time, especially at that time, the same for the famous Lady De Bourg visit at Longbourne : in the middle of the night ? Even the pompous vicious and haughty Lady would not stoop down to such demeanor.
Transforming Longbourne into a farm with animals and fowls, etc, and in general the dreary house, bad furniture, rather dirty place: there is no mention whatsoever of anything of the sort in the novel; or all this linen on the lines, there all the time, never taken down even when it rains, it is strange because it does not belong to the novel and does not add anything so important to the plot it had to be added.
Mr. Bennet was a gentleman and as such had the estate of an esquire, he spent most of his time in his library reading, some time walking his dogs, shooting etc. but not gardening !!!! and certainly not in one bed with his wife, whom he could not stand and made nasty jokes behind her back, even at her face. The shot of Elizabeth on the swing, with muddy bare feet, I do not know why they did this; it is not in the book. Neither this invention of a Mr. Hill.
A PLAY may lend itself to interpretations and some changes, since there are no clear-cut limits imposed by the author. But regarding P&P the author has written in the NOVEL exactly all he or she, she in this example, wants to see and all she needs in order to bring her ideas to the mind of the readers, this is why I tend to be very demanding of the directors to respect the text of the authors : they cannot do what they jolly well please !!!
As for the characters, Elizabeth is OK, so is Darcy, his cousin Fitzwilliam, Jane and Bingley, Georgiana and the other Bennet sisters. However, Mrs. Bennet has not enough fits, Mr. Bennet chuckles much too much, Wickham does not look pervert enough, Lady De Bourg is not vicious enough  Judy Dench is a bit too soft , and Miss De Bourg does not look sick enough, Mr Collins is doing just fine and Charlotte is OK. Overall, it is not bad if you forget it is supposed to be based on Jane Austen superb novel, but if you are like me a dedicated fan, you cannot help yourself and will always compare it with the brilliant BBC series, which is top (only the costumes did no look right to me).
It is a pity this version was mishandled.