Pride and Prejudice is a 2005 romantic comedy. Starring Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet, the second-born of the Bennet girls, who is known for being an obstinate, headstrong girl. For 127 minutes, we get a small look into society in the late 18th century as a group of women search for a husband, dodge scandal, and left their guard down to be loved.
The Plot
The Bennet Sisters need to find husbands because what else is a girl to do? And, as we all know, a man with a fortune is in need of a wife. And with five daughters, Mrs Bennet feels the need to act quickly. So when a new neighbour appears with his handsome friend, Mrs Bennet takes the opportunity to get at least one of her daughters married off, or so she hopes. The story follows Elizabeth Bennet as the family learns of their new neighbours, her introduction to Mr Darcy, the perils of society, and what it means to stand your ground and speak your mind. Even if it risks upsetting a powerful lady in the process. Set with period costumes, a beautiful soundtrack, and some excellent boiled potatoes, Pride and Prejudice will have you falling in love with Jane Austen by stripping away your own pride and prejudice to see a snippet of what this author is known for.
Thoughts on the movie
This story is one of the best known of Jane Austen’s works, and it is a story that I know well. If there is one thing that you need to know about this movie, it is pretty close to the original book. Of course, there are some changes, as there always are. However, the team behind the movie captured the dynamic between the characters beautifully. Although the book sets the Bennet family as members of society and a reasonably important local family, the movie moves away from this slightly. The Bennet’s still appear to be an important local family with their house and small estate, but appear more at ease with the rural setting than we would imagine the upper middle class would be during the Regency period. This comfort with the countryside helps to show the divide which Mr Darcy perceives when he meets Elizabeth and her family for the first time at the assembly hall, and vice versa.
There has been a lot of debate about this movie and if it should be considered a good adaptation. Some argue that the actresses are not beautiful by Regency standards. Some say that the pigs in the house were not suitable for the story. The simple fact is, to the casual reader who knows nothing about Jane Austen, the Regency period, or how the world worked back then, the movie makes sense. Of course they are going to cast actresses who are beautiful by today’s standards, how else will the film get the message across that the Bennet girls were knock-outs? And without a decent background knowledge about society back then, it can be hard to show the difference between Darcy and Elizabeth.
Fin
As with all novels, it is impossible to fit every tiny detail into the movie. However, Pride and Prejudice does an excellent job of covering all of the important plot points (even if some of them are out of order). It is also unfortunate that we do not get to see both of the Bingley sisters, but I supposed some areas of the story had to be trimmed. As a stand alone movie, it is beautiful. And you don’t need to appreciate Jane Austen to understand the story. Although Jane Austen fans will disagree and state that this is a terrible movie that does not do the book justice, I don’t believe it. I think it is a fantastic introduction to the world of Austen. However, if you do want to watch a more accurate version of Pride and Prejudice, I recommend the 1995 mini-series which stars Colin Firth as Mr Darcy…. who also plays Mr Darcy in Bridget Jones’s Diary. You need to read Bridget Jones’s Diary to get the joke about that.
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