Wonderfully shot, lovely adaptation

Rating: 10/10 (19 November 2005)

Having seen the BBC mini-series shot 10 years ago, I was really hoping that this adaptation would be just as good or better. Don't get me wrong, the mini-series was wonderful. The acting was great and so was the cinematography. But it was 6 hours long. Someone who wants to watch that needs to be really interested, or they will switch off half-way through the story.
I was so happy that this new adaptation managed to capture the flavour of the book, without giving up too much. Sure, everyone complains when scenes are cut, but how else are you supposed to adapt a novel without making it 6 hours long? The main points of the story were there, although I agree some more of Wickham and Lydia's story would have made the point of why it was such a scandal more clear. It was successfully adapted to 2 hours. This means that newcomers to Jane Austen's wonderful novel won't be bored to tears by the end of it. Many people can not handle that much period at once.
Besides the wonderful acting on everyone's part, the movie was exquisitely shot. I especially liked the shots where the camera wanders around the ball or house. It made it seem less like a movie, but more like an intimate look into what life was like. Needless to say, the costumes were wonderfully designed and beautifully made. I thought the dialogue, which stayed very true to the book when it could, was witty, interesting and made me laugh in all of the right places.
All in all, I couldn't ask for a better 2-hour adaptation of a classic novel.