Now read the book

Rating: 7/10 (24 September 2005)

Please pay attention - this is not the lengthy 19th century novel by the genius Jane Austen, it is not 6 hours of glossy, BBC drama, this is 2 hours of cinematic story telling. Once you realise that you can forgive the omissions - quite a lot of the Wickham subplot, for example. The film-makers have pitched this back a few years and muddied it up a bit. The Bennets are well-off - they have servants and property - but it's all relative and we are encouraged to see the brink on which the fates of these five young daughters teeters. Only Mrs Bennet, often despised, but here much more than a comic caricature, realises how important it is for these girls to make a good marriage. Austen knew this only too well, as she wrote her marvellous novels in the corners of other people's houses, with never a room of her own. The look of the movie is interesting, no glamorous, bust-line enhancing empire-line dresses, no powder on the noses of the genuinely youthful cast (save Ms Knightley, I suspect), and the curls, even when pinned up for parties look a little untidy. I liked this aspect very much. Donald Sutherland's casting was a little eccentric, but he brought out a side of Mr Bennet I had always suspected - a fond, weak man, aware of his daughters' vulnerability, but unable to do anything about it - knowing as he does that marriage may bring more disappointments than mere lack of money. Now to Ms Knightley, whose charms have always bemused me. I am prepared to admit that I may have been wrong, for here she is delightful. She delivers the difficult lines with conviction and passion, her bright eyes watching everywhere for examples of human folly and frailty, her affectionate nature not able to dismiss even her irritating mother from her care and concern. And falling in love. As she pieces together the clues as to Darcy's nature she is beguiled, intrigued and, at last, smitten. And he gains a partner who understands him, something that Mr Bennet knows is far more important than mere physical attraction. Matthew MacFadyen as Mr Darcy, suggests severe self-consciousness, arrogance masking his exposed and sensitive heart. Their scenes together are potent and persuasive. The minor characters do their part in expressing the other dimensions of the Georgian world - Lizzie's friend Charlotte making the hard-headed practical choice of marrying a man her inferior in everything except fortune; Wickham's seduction of the youngest Bennet requiring substantial pay-off before she is rescued (along with her family) from debilitating scandal. I didn't think I could come across an actor to top David Bamber's performance in the BBC dramatisation, but Tom Hollander is marvellous, raising even a little pity in the audience. The superior budget of the movie shows in the packed ball scenes, which are carried off with much bounce and energy, shadowed corners for Lizzie to catch her breath in, the sweep of the camera showing other intrigues and liaisons this film could not tell, but at least suggest are going on, in this pre-Victorian society. This film delivers a successful re-telling of an adored book. Which I now intend to re-read. Again.