Another spin in the Austen

Rating: 8/10 (22 October 2005)

Ah! Another spin in the country in the old Austen! Here we come, Hertford, Kent and Derbyshire (and a few other locations as well). The two most striking things about this version of "Pride and Prejudice" are the liveliness of the direction and the exuberance of the cast. Keira Knightley, whose flawless beauty at 20 years old can stand the closest of close-ups, can act as well, and, despite the odd anachronism in Deborah Moggach's script, she gives us an appropriately spirited Elizabeth Bennet. Matthew McFadyen ("Spooks"), battling against the definitive image of Colin Firth in the role in the 1995 TV version, gives us a Darcy to compare, if not match.
The Bennet family is a lively, noisy lot and Brenda Blethyn as Mrs Bennet manages to make her something more than the comic upstart matchmaker of previous versions. I thought Donald Sutherland as a Canadian Mr Bennet something of an anomaly (it was very hard to expunge memories of Benjamin Whitrow in the role) but even if he does not quite convince as an English gentleman with a large family and in reduced circumstances, he handles the fond father bit very well.
The minor characters do not disappoint either; Tom Hollander does a superb Mr Collins, a little man in every way, and Judy Dench, although more of a termagant than a monster of aristocratic hauteur, packs plenty of punch as Lady Katherine De Bourgh, Collins' patroness and Darcy's aunt. I didn't care for Rupert Friend as Wickham the cad, who seemed to have wandered in, pony tail and all, from the set of a another movie, but Simon Woods gave us a nice eager, but not over bright, 5000 a year Bingley, the catch for sister Jane.
There are lots of people, lots of dancing, busy muddy farmyards and crowded market places. This is a very busy, bustling film as the makers shoehorn the novel's story into less than two hours, but there are some occasional moments of tranquility, including one scene where Elizabeth, standing on top of a rock, dress fluttering in the breeze, gazes out onto the rugged landscape. It was a straight steal from somewhere  a version of "Wuthering Heights" I suspect.
This is entertainment and not Eng Lit. Not all the best lines are there but the necessary production values are  good acting, fine costumes, well-paced direction by Joe Wright, good locations, dynamic cinematography and appropriate music (if at times a little too well played to be authentic). Really, there's not a lot to complain about, certainly not while Keira Knightley is on the screen.
It is a paradox how a series of novels so specific in their time, place and social milieu can have such universal appeal. Austen has been exploited in all sorts of ways by film-makers, from the straight re-telling of the story as in the 1995 TV version of "Pride and Prejudice" to the embedding of the story of "Emma" in the teen flick "Clueless" (not to mention the Indian version "Bride and Prejudice" and the shameless rip-off of "Bridget Jones' Diary". Not doubt Jane herself would have remarked "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single film producer in possession of a good budget must be in want of an Austen script". There are a few miles left in the old Austen yet.
Note, for our transatlantic readers "Austin" was an English make of uncharismatic motor vehicles which after 70 years of production faded away in the early 90s.