Robust Adaptation of Familiar Austen Novel Is One First-Class Production

Rating: 9/10 (20 March 2006)

You would think that Jane Austen's most famous novel is not in need of another cinematic treatment given the definitive BBC version of a decade ago and the classic 1940 MGM version starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier, not to mention a contemporary 2004 Bollywood-style musical and according to IMDb, at least six other versions. However, first-time feature director Joe Wright and first-time screenwriter Deborah Moggach (with uncredited assistance from Austen adaptation veteran Emma Thompson) have brought youthful vigor and a wild, Thomas Hardy-like element to the movie, and as a whole, it works very well. It almost makes the overly familiar novel feel revitalized.
For those who have forgotten their required high school reading, the story focuses on the downscale Bennet family - a passive father and a domineering mother, the latter intent on marrying off their five daughters to wealthy families. Eldest daughter Jane becomes smitten with rich but somewhat weak-willed Mr. Bingley and the bookish Mary keeps to her piano, while the two youngest daughters, Kitty and Lydia, are giggly and boy-crazy. On the other hand, the headstrong Elizabeth wants marriage on her terms with an intellectual equal, and she becomes alternately repelled and drawn to the brooding Mr. Darcy. There are several plot lines that interweave precariously toward the inevitable conclusion, but Austen's witty, often insightful dialogue holds the story together organically with grace and humor.
Twenty-year old Keira Knightley is the youthful embodiment of Elizabeth, as her predecessors, Garson in particular, always strike me as too mature for the role. With her beauty subdued in casual period fashion, she manages to convey all the necessary facets of her personality with a natural élan. As Darcy, Matthew Macfayden captures the moody character's insolence and growing romanticism with little affectation. Most all of the supporting players shine with Brenda Blethyn as the exasperating Mrs. Bennet, Donald Sutherland as her introspective husband, Tom Hollander as the priggish Mr. Collins, Rosamund Pike as beautiful and likable Jane, Jena Malone convincingly British as the impulsive Lydia, and of course, in all her scene stealing glory, Judi Dench lends acidic vinegar as Lady Catherine, Darcy's disapproving aunt.
Parts of the film have a subtly stylized quality, such as the way the camera seems to track uninterrupted during the Assembly Hall ball sequence or when Elizabeth's head spins symbolically as she sits on a swing. There are also many well-turned tableaux-style shots that imbue the spirit of the period with vivid but unobtrusive detail. Credit should go to Roman Osin's textured and sumptuous cinematography, Jacqueline Durran's authentic-feeling costumes and Dario Marianelli's flavorful music, all of which capture a decidedly realistic though ultimately romanticized 16th-century England.
The DVD package has several too-short features that provide some background into the production and Austen's characters but hardly enough to provide meaningful insight. Wright provides sometimes interesting commentary on an alternate track that borders a bit on the effusive, and there is an alternative and thankfully excised ending which spells out the plot resolutions unnecessarily. This movie is a joyous celebration of Austen's artistry as a writer whose story themes resonate today.