Mixed feelings

Rating: 6/10 (21 November 2005)

Although I've seen this new version twice, I still have to give the advantage to the Firth/Ehle version, and not just because the mini-series had more time to develop the characters. Yes, Keira Knightley is lovely, but she has a very modern look and isn't suited to play this character. She doesn't convey Elizabeth's maturity and intellectual strength, and MacFadyen as Darcy doesn't convey his painful stiffness and upperclass snobbery. Instead, MacFadyen acts more like a sullen and tortured Heathcliff. Romantic, yes--but not Darcy. This new version is much less true to the manners of the day, such as when Bingley visits Jane in her sickbed, Darcy just walks into the house and leaves a letter for Elizabeth, or Elizabeth wanders outside in her nightgown, barefoot. And why did they dress Keira in such unattractive costumes? Brown homespun? Elizabeth wasn't an adolescent tomboy, but that's the look they've given her. Finally, I had seen the film previously in Scotland, and was surprised that another ending has been tacked onto the American version--one that was again distinctly untrue to the book.