Still trying to make up my mind

Rating: 7/10 (25 March 2008)

I don't immediately think this is my favourite interpretation of Jane Austen's novel, but I do not hate it either.
The look is good - rustic England - but the Bennets' home seems a little "farmy". The assembly room (I assume that to be the setting for the first ball) does have a good atmosphere, though - noisy, rowdy, informal, fun English country dancing. (Not in the maypole and morris dancers sense - the type of dancing favoured at this time was actually known as "English Country Dance".) A tiny point I noticed is how "of the period" the windows at the Collins' parsonage look. The one jarring thing was that blue, white and orange ceiling at Pemberley - surrounded by the other decor it seemed tacky in such a grand house.
The wardrobe department doesn't give an impression of any kind of co-ordination. The dress Lizzy wears to the first ball isn't dressy enough (to say balls and such functions were a chance for the unmarried to meet potential partners) - she looks like she should be gardening in it! The Netherfield ball is odd - Caroline Bingley wearing an unusual sleeveless number and Lizzy without gloves, where every other lady (even the extras) is in both gloves and sleeved dresses. Saying that, the striking costume difference when they first arrive at the ball marks them out instantly as "high fashion" people compared to the locals, but their entrance is possibly too dramatic.
Jane looks pretty but Lizzy seems to have coiled her hair, stuck a few hairpins in and hoped for the best. Mary is plain enough to melt into the background - but the family looks mixed when Bingley returns to visit Longbourn - Jane is "dressed up", Kitty and Lizzy are middling and Mary looks like she should be scrubbing the steps.
The Lizzy I envisage doesn't listen at doors to her parents talking (Lydia and Kitty maybe, but not Lizzy) but she is kind - ie. trying to get Jane the carriage to visit Netherfield. Jane listening at the door with her sisters during Mr. Collins' proposal also seems out of character - quite an extroverted action for someone described by Charlotte Lucas as not affectionate enough with Bingley. I missed the absence of Lizzy giving a clear indication after Wickham and Lydia are married that she knows that the story he spun her had a few holes in it.
None of Austen's witty satire on Mr. and Mrs. Bennet's incompatibility is present. I also missed Mr. Bennet's dry wit - he sounds so laid-back, almost half-asleep in some scenes. Although she looks desperate pushing her daughters under Bingley and Darcy's noses as soon as they arrive, Mrs. Bennet obviously cares about their futures - although not shrieky as in the 1995 adaptation, you can see why Darcy finds her behaviour vulgar. When Mr. Collins discreetly asks to speak to Lizzy (as with Bingley and Jane), her haste to clear the room seems like overkill. (Incidentally, why go to the kitchen in the latter scene? Surely they had another "good" room to sit in?) Lydia and Kitty having their hair down adds to their youthful look. They both look about fourteen so it seems odd when Kitty states that she is older by two years. I'm not sure why Mary wears so much black and grey - is she in mourning? Her tears at Netherfield after her piano performance isn't very "Mary-like" - I always thought of her as vain enough to think herself brilliant. There is a nice montage of them all showing themselves up at Netherfield - in a film, time is of the essence and this is an effective way to show a lot in a very short moment.
My crucial issue with the script and dialogue is that, while it is well crafted from Austen's source material, it seems rushed. Darcy (who, incidentally, didn't strike me as handsome) speaks in a rude, clipped, unfriendly way even when surrounded by friends. The Bennets' maid sounds like she's reading her line (although I liked the contrast of this young girl laying out shoes and dresses for girls her own age to attend the Netherfield ball, an occasion she would never be grand enough to attend - it was sad and poignant somehow) and the Bingley footman's "Miss Bennet" introduction sounds silly - I'm sure "Mrs. Bennet and her daughters" would have sufficed.
At Rosings, Lizzy and Lady Catherine seem to be "reading" their lines. Lady Catherine's confrontation with Lizzy regarding Darcy's proposal is also rushed - it's like the film crew only had five minutes of time free in the schedule before lunch to film it. Lizzy's snappy response to her family afterwards is not in keeping with the character Keira Knighley has shown this far - more sulky teenager than witty female. When Darcy first proposes, I think they were hurrying through the script to get out of the rain. They did include many brilliant lines from the book - I especially liked Mr. Collins turning his enquiry about which cousin was responsible for the food into a kind of backhanded compliment by being pleased that the estate can generate enough to afford servants. The only downside is his voice - the "violence of his affection" for Lizzy described in a monotone was ironic.
One small thing I'm not certain of - why is the travelling in this film often done at night? Lady Catherine visits Longbourn at night, Lizzy and the Gardiners come home from Derbyshire at night - do the film makers realise that this was still an era when highwaymen were lurking around at night? I like what the film makers were trying to do - I just can't make up my mind as to whether they achieved it.