Strengths and Weaknesses

Rating: 8/10 (26 February 2007)

By and large I found this a very enjoyable film. It is visually stunning, has some very touching moments and features a truly bewitching hero. I like the scenery, the music, the buildings and the way they are filmed. It is a charming film all over, beautiful, atmospheric and emotional.
One might wonder though, how much it actually has to do with Jane Austen's novel. I am not a purist and have no problem with a film making considerable changes to the plot, settings or characters of a novel. But I believe there should be a noticeable effort to capture the general spirit of a book. Watching this film and listening to the director's comments, I wondered if he had read the book at all. Where, for example, did he get the idea that the Bennet's are such a wonderful warm and loving family? In Jane Austen's novel, the Bennets are a particularly dysfunct family and the only relationship in it that is not fraught with problems is that between Elizabeth and Jane.
Furthermore, Austenian language is largely missing from the film, and the whole pace, attitude and feel of it is a far cry from the subtle and witty elegance of Austen's prose. The film is dramatic and romantic, rather than enlightened and ironic.The style of it would be more suitable for an adaption of Wuthering Heights! I also have great difficulty with Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennett. Visually, Jane Austen describes Elizabeth as light and lithe, and pretty in an unspectacular way. Knightley's figure is too awkward and angular to fit that idea, and her scowls and black eye makeup make her look too dramatic. Elizabeth's personality is very complex and multi-layered, but Knightley seems to just alternately frown, stare and giggle. I find her convincing in the scene when she explains her love for Darcy to her father, but that is only at the very end of the film. Compared to the vast variety of gestures and facial expressions that Jennifer Ehle gave to the character, Knightley does a poor job.
Matthew Macfadyen, on the other hand, presents a touchingly vulnerable Darcy that is bound to charm the socks off anyone who hasn't got a heart of stone. By far the best performance in the whole film. I also liked Claudie Blakley as Charlotte Lucas and Rosamund Pike as Jane. Donald Sutherland makes a very nice father - though he certainly isn't Jane Austen's Mr Bennett! Some of the other characters remain underdeveloped, largely due to lack of time on screen. I understand the need for cuts, but I cannot help to regret the loss of so much of the roles of Caroline Bingley, Colonel Fitzwilliam, Mr Collins, Mrs Gardiner and Lady Catherine. I would have loved to see more of Anne de Burgh! Lastly, the film didn't make me laugh or even smile. While that is okay in general, it's a strange feature for a Jane Austen adaption!