Jane Austen for Dummies

Rating: 2/10 (3 March 2006)

I realize many people will like this film but it is the equivalent of a Coles notes version of the Jane Austen novel. It is difficult to translate an entire novel into a two hour filmed presentation, however this version subtracted a little of the storyline from all over the place rather than just write out entire characters and thereby simplifying the story for its time frame. The viewer is left feeling confused and incomplete. This was most obvious in the lack of character development of Elizabeth Bennet's sisters. Most viewers, unless already acquainted with the story, won't even understand why they are all there, and if you audibly blink, you are likely to miss why Wickham is in the story at all. This abbreviated version also lacks historical accuracy. The Bennets are portrayed as impoverished farmers with pigs running the hallways, entertain friends in the kitchen, and dress like mill workers -- not the gentry and social equals of Mr. Darcy that they are, albeit not as wealthy. Their home is not portrayed as an 18th century Gentelman farmer's abode but rather as a 'shabby chic' interior. Austen's feminist concerns for her gender's inability to inherit is almost completely missed. Subtlety is abandoned in favour of over-modernizing situations and sets so that one feels they are being screamed at 'GET IT?' throughout the film. The director seems to miss that the only reason Miss Bennet and Mr. Darcy do not get together at the beginning of the film is due to pride and prejudice, not social class or breeding. Jane Austen is not just a romance writer, she is an acute observer of her times and its modes and manners. This film misses portraying these subtle although important elements of the storyline. This film has visual charm and artistic merit but falls well short of an authentic rendition of Jane Austen's classic.