DVD Review: Pride and Prejudice (2005)

My Rating: 9/10
This movie was made available for the first time on DVD, so I just had to pick it up from the store this morning. Excellent movie, though purists/fans of the beloved BBC version might think otherwise!

The truth remains that I happen to love BOTH the BBC version AND this newer 2005 version, starring Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet, and now I own both on DVD! I just happen to appreciate them both in different ways.

Keep in mind that the original BBC version was made for TV and was a mini-series that is 6 1/2 hours long… The newer, shorter version (just over 2 hours long) is excellent and has a completely different feel.

The director also wanted to cast a younger Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet which is more realistic to the novel, plus the setting is truly set during the precise period in which the novel was first written… in the late 1700s, and not in the early 1800s when the novel was first published. Many females loved Colin Firth’s version of Mr. Darcy, but the fact remains that he seemed a bit old for the role. So “dashing-ness superceded age.

Also, there was the original version in 1940 starring Greer Garson (as Elizabeth Bennet) and Sir Laurence Olivier (as Mr. Darcy) which is also very highly rated. Both Garson and Olivier were rather old for the roles as well.

In total, there were at least 6-7 different versions of “Pride and Prejudice” either on the silver screen or made for television. Each version was an “adaptation” of the original novel.

While the original BBC version is arguably the most faithful to the novel, the newer 2005 version in some respects is just as faithful, in regards to time period, ages of the characters, and the setting and costumes of the period. But the newer version was admittedly from the start an “adaptation” of the novel, as remarked by the director, Joe Wright.

In summary, the 2005 version is more passionate and emotional. And who’s to say that the characters weren’t passionate back in those days? The BBC version seems to lack a certain passion and emotion as if it were set in the Victorian Era, but the Victorian Era was from the early 1800s to the early 1900s… and though the novel was published during the early days of the Victorian Era, the story was actually set in the late 1700s when the novel was first written! So, which version is more faithful to the novel then?

Anyways, there have been many versions/adaptations to this beloved novel by Jane Austen, even one set in India (Bride and Prejudice)…. which one is the best? Well, is quite a subjective issue, really.

I thought Keira Knightley was superb as the witty, strong-willed and outspoken Elizabeth Bennet…. and she deservedly earned herself an Academy Award nomination for it. And although she may not win the Oscar, her performance will shine regardless….

And Matthew Macfadyen was just as superb as Mr. Darcy, a younger version and someone all the girls can swoon over, just as much as Colin Firth’s Mr. Darcy…