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Pride & Prejudice By Harry Forbes Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) -- Not counting various television versions such as the memorable 1995 BBC Colin Firth-Jennifer Ehle miniseries (shown stateside on A&E), and some big-screen adaptations that took considerable license -- such as last year's Indian-flavored update, "Bride & Prejudice" -- Jane Austen's most famous work was, incredibly, filmed only once before: MGM's 1940 classic with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. The MGM and BBC renderings were fine indeed, but the latest "Pride & Prejudice" (Focus) is yet another splendid dramatization. As everyone knows, the story concerns the five unmarried Bennet girls and the strenuous efforts of their mother, Mrs. Bennet, perennially unkempt and frazzled as played by the wonderful Brenda Blethyn, to marry them off in 18th-century England. Things are looking promising for eldest daughter Jane (Rosamund Pike), in love with the upper-crust Bingley (Simon Woods) who has come to town with his wealthy friend, Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen), in tow. Darcy encounters second-eldest daughter Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) at a ball, and the first meeting has Darcy disdainfully refusing to dance with Lizzie, as she's called. Thereafter, it's crossed signals all the way between Lizzie and Darcy, whose dislike for each other -- because of his arrogance and her judgmental attitude -- masks a growing and profound attraction. Her bad opinion of him is reinforced when she learns he had a hand in derailing Bingley's courtship of Jane, and his apparently cruel treatment of the soldier Wickham (Rupert Friend), once Darcy's childhood friend, but who now claims Darcy did him ill. Knightley could not be more different from her recent turn as actor Laurence Harvey's punkish, heavily mascaraed, bounty-hunting daughter in "Domino." Here, she's the picture of a fresh-faced Regency-era young lady, deftly capturing Lizzie's spiritedness and charm. Macfadyen is appropriately aloof and sullen, and is immensely sympathetic when he first expresses his love for Lizzie -- and, like Darcy, grows more appealing as the story progresses. Director Joe Wright uses settings more realistically rough-hewn than usual; the Bennet household, for example, is a lived-in mess, and there are several shots of livestock that give you a visceral sense of the environment, but the film is nonetheless visually stunning. Roman Osin's camera is always on the move, sometimes distractingly so, but is unafraid to linger on the beautiful vistas of the English countryside. The supporting players are all top-flight: Donald Sutherland as the long-suffering father who quietly supports Lizzie, Judi Dench as the unpleasantly imperious Lady Catherine de Bourg, Penelope Wilton as the Bennets' kind aunt, and the diminutive Tom Hollander offering a gem of a comic characterization as Mr. Collins, a dull and fawning clergyman who, briefly, sets his sights on Lizzie. Apart from a subplot involving a rakish character who elopes with one of the daughters with dishonorable intent, there is nothing to preclude recommendation for all ages. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-I -- general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG -- parental guidance suggested. - - - Forbes is director of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. END Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed. CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250 |
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