loved it - may include spoilers

Rating: 8/10 (26 October 2005)

Having long been a fan of the 1995 BBC version...and Colin Firth in particular, I was determined to view this movie on its own merits rather than spend my time comparing. It is useless to compare a mini-series with a movie, just as it is futile to compare a movie to a book. This version brought a different emphasis, it focused on the relationship between Lizzie and Darcy, the other relationships being secondary. The realism was terrific, showing by the state of the Bennet's home the financial difficulties Mr Bennet laboured under (which was shown as a scene in the BBC version but to my eyes was belied by the cleanliness and apparent prosperity of the BBC Bennet household). As one other writer commented, the scene with the pig was fabulous! Much criticism has been leveled at Matthew MacFadyen's portrayal of Darcy...I liked his Darcy better than Colin Firth's (I know, boo hiss!). I felt MacFadyen's Darcy was a man you could relate to on some level, especially towards the end of the movie. No kiss, someone cried...not coyness but rather credibility for the time. We have become so used to unbridled passion being played out on the screen that we find it hard to believe that people could fall in love and agree to marry without ever having kissed, let alone jumped into bed together. But it did happen then and, strange as it may seem, still happens today. Love and attraction were portrayed very circumspectly for decades on the screen, and we accepted that. Perhaps we just need to use our imaginations more! Besides, I don't think I'd be averse from seeing the man I love walking out from the mist to find me. Yes, Keira Knightly is too beautiful to play Lizzie, but then Greer Garson was not even the right hair colour but that did not detract from the joy of that version (of which I have a copy and which has been watched many times over). Jane Austen wrote her stories in the years before films and TV were even thought of. She wrote to caricature the social foibles of her day. Film and TV are just another medium for allowing us to enjoy her insights into human nature. As long as people love her stories there will be re-tellings of them...and probably at least one more version of this beloved story in my lifetime (at least hope so!)