Dreadful!

Rating: 2/10 (15 September 2006)

Dreadful, dreadful, dreadful! Jane Austen would be turning in her grave if she ever saw this movie. Ppl should never try to put on screen things they just don't understand. A Hollywood adaptation of one of the most inspired regency novels will simply never work because it requires an in-depth knowledge of that period in English history. There are so many inaccuracies i could never manage to list them all. The most unforgivable thought, and the reason i cannot rate this movie any more than this, is the overall impression of dirt and poverty. The movie depicts the Bennets as a much lower class family then they are, their house and clothes are unkempt and... well, dirty! How horrid... There is a lack of propriety during the meetings between Elizabeth and Darcy that is just impossible to overlook and it is clear that miss Knightley simply didn't bother to read Austen's novel and had no idea what Elizabeth Bennet and the whole story depicted in the book are all about. While someone not familiar with the English history and literature of the period might find the movie tolerable or even mildly entertaining (i have friends that have found it to be thus), a true Austen fan should never attempt to see this movie, it will be a disillusionment not easily to be gotten over. The 1994 BBC short series is in my opinion the closest to perfection any adaptation of this novel will ever have the chance of reaching.