A humorless Pride and Prejudice

Rating: 6/10 (12 November 2005)

The movie is reasonably enjoyable and often attractive to look at. The leading lady, Keira Knightley, is charming, lovely and frequently bewitching as Elizabeth Bennett, but this Miss Bennett is not quite Jane Austen's Miss Bennett, nor is this Pride and Prejudice quite Miss Austen's Pride and Prejudice. For one thing, the humor has been leached out and the whole story taken very seriously indeed. This has the effect of making Austen's affectionately caricatured folks (such as Mrs. Bennett or Mr. Collins or even Lady Catherine) into somewhat monstrous characters. Instead of seeming silly, they seem almost malevolent. The whole picture is very realistically depicted: the assembly ball feels claustrophobic, hot and stuffy; the Bennetts live on a working farm, with plenty of messy livestock. The whole emotional tone of the picture is serious indeed. Elizabeth's final interview with Lady Catherine is brutal, played with heightened emotion, far from the mannerly but cleverly hostile scene written by Austen.
Judi Dench is in her dowager duchess mode as Lady Catherine, effective but too little used; a treat nevertheless. Matthew McFayden's rather hangdog Darcy passes muster, but I think most fans will prefer Colin Firth in the A&E miniseries. Simon Woods as Bingley and Rosamund Pike as Jane are just perfect, the best ever. Brenda Blethyn is fine indeed as this particular kind of Mrs. Bennett, but I can't say as much for Donald Sutherland's Mr. Bennett; he seems miscast much of the time, and what in blazes is he doing at the assumbly ball? (He grins entirely too much, too).
I prefer the old BBC miniseries (with its limited production values) even to the very lavish, handsome and enjoyable A&E miniseries. The BBC version was scripted by Fay Weldon, who maintained the perfect Austen tone throughout. While A&E did not manage to do that all the time, the new movie doesn't even seem to try. The final tacked-on scene will be a real jolt for Austen purists: a romantic scene for the married Darcys in the garden at Pemberly, very atmospheric and purple dialog abounding. Why not just tuck us in bed for the wedding night?
But you know, maybe this will lead a few more people to the immortal book itself, so I wish the movie a huge success. I can't imagine anyone not enjoying it.