Paperjam

Pride and Prejudice: I Was Right!

Film // Vanessa // 10th October 2005

I trashed Keira Knightly and Matthew MacFadyen and just the nerve of Working Title to attempt to remake Pride and Prejudice as a motion picture. And my gosh wasn’t I right to do so!

I’ll get straight to the point. The biggest problem with the new Pride and Prejudice is that it was a non-starter. This story is built on the rich characters and their relationships with each other but there just wasn’t enough time to explore these characters in enough detail to do the story justice. A Pride and Prejudice virgin would have been flummoxed! And indeed my P&P partner was.

I dragged along frustrated husband to watch this much anticipated rehash and at the end his opinion was the worst it could be – he didn’t care. The film was devoid of anything that could evoke emotion in him – enjoyment or absolute hatred. Instead, there was nothingness and he just didn’t want to talk about it. The only reason he knew the storyline was because he’d heard it from me a million times (and he has seen Bridget Jones' Diary). But otherwise, his input into the post-movie dissection was - “If I’d never heard of this story before, I wouldn’t have a clue what was going on apart from two wooden actors who end up together.” (That’s quite a good critique coming from the guy who wanted to see, and secretly enjoyed, Land of the Dead, but that’s another story). Maybe that's because important parts of the plot were thrown in so casually that, unless you knew to look out for them, you'd have missed them. Oh, and he also complained that the cinema was filled with the Land of the Dead, no under 50’s apart from us.

And that’s even before discussing the merits (or not) of Keira Knightly and Matthew Macfadyen as the leading characters. I have to admit that the reason this film was nowhere near the genius of the BBC version was not completely down to Knightly and MacFadyen (shock! horror! – but no need for humble pie just yet).
While Knightly tried her best, I have a big problem with her as an actress. I’m sure she’s a lovely person, but I don’t rate her at all (in Pirates of the Caribbean, Love Actually, she even annoyed me in the brilliant Bend It Like Beckham) – it’s her walk and her smile and her voice is just too, well, whingey. And there were no heaving bosoms anywhere… It just doesn’t work for me but that’s a personal thing (not the heaving bosoms). But her performance just did not convince me that she was a strong, feisty and stubborn girl who is stuck with an embarrassing family and is reluctantly falling in love with the moody, silent and apparently proud Mr Darcy.

Coming onto Mr Darcy, well! I was right about his voice…deep and very very sexy. But the hair just turned me off. I’m sure Mr Darcy would not have been sporting a mullet. Even the scenes he was in did not command the authority they did in the BBC version and his ‘passion’ for Lizzy just wasn’t more like a lukewarm cup of Earl Grey. There was nothing in his eyes, his voice was monotone (though sexy) the only memorable scene was when he walked in to see Lizzy before he proposed but stood there like he'd just wet himself. It was very funny and well done, but that was 10 seconds in two hours. Even the scene when an apparently desperate Darcy proposes to Lizzy isn't that captivating. They're just wet from the rain - it wasn't sexy...neither was the end when he comes walking through the mist...no sighs coming from me.
Frustrated husband’s input about the leading characters – “they were wooden – but maybe they were like that in the 18th century”. Hmmm…

P and P: Non-starter, lack of heaving bosoms

It would be unfair to suggest that Pride and Prejudice is just about Lizzy and Mr Darcy, so let’s look at the hash job the rest of the cast made of this wonderful story..
Actually, that’s a bit harsh. Brenda Blethyn – a wonderful actress, but she wasn’t a patch on the BBC’s Mrs Bennett, who was so annoying and frustrating that you wanted to kill her.

Mr Bennett was played tolerably by Donald Sutherland. The problem was that Mr Bennett is a man so thoroughly fed up of his wife and three of his daughters, that you feel for the poor guy all the way through. His only sanity are Jane and Lizzy, his favourites. But this doesn't come through in the film and the ending scene when he gives his consent for Lizzy to marry Mr Darcy just doesn't give you a sense of a father losing his beloved daughter. It's emotional, yes. But only because I've read the book and watched the fuller version.

Now we come to the sisters. You hardly saw anything of them. The camera was shagging Knightly all the way through. Most of the scenes lingering on her looking through the window at the wild landscape beyond could have been cut and focused on the other stories around her.
You never really got a sense of how ridiculous her younger sisters were, and how much of a floozy the youngest, Lydia, was. And Jane...she looked like a shocked manequin rather than a beautiful, demure and quite frankly pathetic sister. This Jane was definitely better looking than the BBC's Jane, but she had absolutely no personality - and that's saying something for Jane's character.

Mr Bingley was so obviously gay that there was no way he was going to shag Jane once they married (though I did like the bit when he went to propose to her near the end), and his sister was not nearly catty enough to be hated. Even Mr Collins, the dreadful cousin who should make you cringe with embarrassment just made you giggle.

Mr Wickham. That had to be the biggest disappointment (yes...even more than Knightly and MacFadyen). There was no cheekiness, roguishness, or even many lines. For a character that had a major part to play in getting Lizzy and Darcy together in a round about way, this film absolutely destroyed Wickham's character. They picked a pretty boy (who looked deliciously like Orlando Bloom), to play the part of a charming soldier, who is supposed to be a gambler, selfish and a womaniser who chases the ladies only to get their money, elopes with 15-year-old Lydia, you hardly care, because you've hardly seen him in the film so it makes no difference. But this is what drives Darcy to get his arse into gear and sort his love life out!

Anyway, not to end on a bad note... I did think I would never watch the film again. Not because it was absolutely horrendous. It was tolerable. The performances weren't great, but not terrible. It was ok...the worst it can be actually. But saying that, I think I will watch it again - because I know the story and I love it, because it was an interesting take on the story compared to the BBC's glossy version. (but I wouldn't call it 'gritty' like some of you did - it was more muddy and peasant-like). But most of all, because despite the fact the scene when Darcy proposes to Lizzy the first time doesn't get your juices pumping, the split second when you think he's going to kiss her does.

Some links of vague relevance

Pride and Prejudice film site

From the main Working Title Films web site

Suss out P and P in about two minutes

Thanks to the Wikipedia