Sometimes, you learn more by the absence of quality.

Rating: 1/10 (7 May 2006)

The sparkling wit, the colourful detail, the absorbingly real characters and the familiar concerns of the inhabitants of Pride and Prejudice made the book and several movies into timeless classics. This new movie adaption highlights the brilliance of Austen and the excellence of a faithful reproduction.
Sadly, it highlights these qualities by their absence.
The scriptwriters have carefully excised any traces of wit or charm from the dialogue and, thanks to the removal of Austen's subtle characterisations, every piece of action and every decision is now explained in excessive detail as though the audience is not capable of the simplest interpretation.
An excellent example is the famous scene when Elizabeth first meets Lady Catherine de Burgh in her house at Rosings. The original scene was a cleverly played battle of wills between the two strongest characters in the story, as they pitted politeness against intrusiveness, honesty against artifice and youthful pride against middle-aged prejudice. Keira Knightley and Judi Dench, utterly failing to capture the spirit of either character and left with a poor excuse for a script, are unable to establish the tension that is needed between these characters for later plot developments to have any sense or meaning.
Ms Dench, so sublimely witty in the same dress as Lady Bracknell in "The Importance of Being Earnest", is too attractive, too dignified and quite unable to capture the repressive spirit of Lady Catherine.
In scene after scene, the set, costume designers and directors fail to create a believable Georgian setting. Lizzy walks about the town in what appears to be a work dress, hatless and gloveless; Mr Bingley breezes into Jane's sickroom at Netherfield; Caroline Bingley parades a sleeveless dress at a ball; and Mr and Mrs Gardiner expose their niece to the vulgarities of a common tap room at an inn instead of hiring a private parlour or at least sitting in the coffee room.
In the end, the drama and romance can't quite carry off the final reconciliation of this poorly realised couple. One can't help feel, at the end, Keira Knightley would have made a better Lydia, or even a decent Jane. Mr Darcy is barely distinguishable from Mr Collins and disappointment lingers that Austen's clever way of setting up Charlotte Lucas as the future Mrs Collins has been replaced with a crude and unnecessary tiff between her and Lizzy.
The drab music is mitigated by beautiful scenery, however, and in a courageous move many parts of the movie are shot in the semi-darkness of a candlelit world. The gorgeously fashionable setting for Mr Darcy's initial scene of proposal almost makes up for the puerility of his speeches, and for a while there I really thought the movie would succeed in creating a meaty, realistic, tangible world through its crowded ballrooms and earthy minor characters.
I recommend this movie to students and fans of Austen everywhere, as it is only when the quality of Austen is removed from the story that we appreciate how special it is.