Picture Perfect Period Pap

Rating: Null/10 (18 January 2006)

Much to my surprise 'Pride and Prejudice' is really rather enjoyable. Keira Knightly makes a suitably petulant Elizabeth Bennett, Matthew Macfadyen a bemusedly surly Mr Darcy, and the supporting players are generally very good. Even ten years on this version has been compared constantly with the 1995 Andrew Davies BBC adaptation, unfavourably in most cases. I think this is a little unfair. Jennifer Ehle was too old for the part of Elizabeth by a good ten years, and Colin Firth's Darcy delivered surly by the bucketful, but lacked the underlying sense of social awkwardness which makes the character ultimately sympathetic, and Davies, typically, tweaked the plot on more than one occasion to 'improve' (sic) on the plot. There are quite a few liberties taken in the current film adaptation, of course, but these appear to narrative abridgements and occasional simplifications of Jane Austen's dialogue, and, I have to say, there are no real linguistic clunkers to offend fans of classic lit. Actually a few anachronistic contractions, etc., are fine by me. If they were to occur in a Readers Digest abridged edition I'd be irritated, as this would go against the intention of the author  this stuff is supposed to be read, after all. Film is different  sometimes a single silent shot says more than ten pages of dialogue. By resisting the temptation to incorporate every one of Ms Austen's witticisms and aphorisms, and relying on character the script seems more organic than Mr D's: Austen's jokes and jibes are great on paper, but as dialogue simply make characters seem more snide and self-satisfied than is really required. The sense and sentiment of the original is retained, which is the important thing. The Bennett sisters are nicely  if fleetingly  drawn (even poor earnest Mary, normally neglected in adaptations), and Brenda Blethyn, 'though not the glorious comic grotesque Alison Steadman created for the BBC version, is allowed to flap and flutter her head off. Donald Sutherland is good, too, as Mr Bennett, and my only real complaint in this adaptation is that more time isn't given to the relationship between Elizabeth and her father. Their exchanges in the novel are, understandably, pace-killers for the scriptwriter, and I can understand why they are simplified or excised here  but, that said, they are really rather nice. Knightly and Sutherland work well together, and it's a pity they weren't allowed to do more. No doubt the staggering inappropriateness of her casting as Domino Harvey (reviewed yesterday) was designed to steer wee Keira away from English Rose/Period Drama Queen stereotyping. If this is anything to go by, then she should stick with that archetype for a tad longer: a few good, solidly written stereotypes might turn her into a decent actress.