Recently bought an DVD of Pride and Prejudice movie made in 2005 featuring Keira Knightley and Matthew Mcfadyen. Well I was sorely disappointed with the movie and its adaptation of the most famous books by Jane Austen. They digressed too much from the original book which sort of made it bland.
Now where do I start? The first scene where the Bennett family is introduced was itself a turn off for me. In the book the girls don't scream like mad girls when they hear that Mr. Bingley has rented Netherfield. It seemed so out of character for Lizzie and Jane to participate in the screaming. Even Mr. Bennett didn't react the way he does in the book.I think the 1995 version of BBC adaptation nailed it.
And the ball where Mr Darcy is first seen looked so artificial to me. Mr Darcy's expression didn't seem proud or haughty(which is what it should have been) ,to me he seemed as if he were suffering from some sort of constipation(seriously!) And Lizzie's constant smirk or arrogant smile made me feel as if she were Mr.Darcy and not the real one!
I understand the the 2 hour version needs sharp editing and requires more work in retaining important parts of the book and excluding not so important ones but look how "Persuasion"(1995 movie) was done. They condensed the book into a beautiful movie with fantastic editing. P&P somehow failed in that department.There is one scene in the book where Eliza runs across dirty fields to Netherfield and dirties her petticoats in the process. I think from that scene onward Mr.Darcy develops an attraction towards Eliza. But that scene was so fleeting that it hardly left any effect on me.Even the proposal scene where he comes near her as if to kiss her and she also leans slightly towards him was sort of turn off.That scene shouldn't have shown such an intimacy from Eliza.Her feelings towards him change only after she reads the letter he writes explaining his action and revealing Wickham's true colours. Why did they have to show Eliza leaning towards him? That didn't seem correct to me.
I somehow didn't enjoy the scene where Lizzie visits Pemberley with her Aunt and Uncle as well. She thinks he is not in town but is shocked to find him in Pemberley itself. But her discovery was shown as snooping according to me. She snoops on Darcy and Georgiana (this is scene is not there in the book) through a gap in the door. Lizzie who is so righteous doing this seemed out of character.If I were Lizzie I will simply run back as soon I discover them(Darcy and his sister).Why didn't they keep the original scene? It was so romantic in the book ,should've been even more romantic on a screen! And what can you say of the scene where Lizzie gets a letter from Jane informing her about the elopement of Lydia.
First of all why did they have to keep her aunt and uncle in the scene? If Darcy and Lizzie were alone the scene whould've had more romance! And the way Keira Knightley reacted to the letter was so funny.She comes out of the room with tears and goes back to the room.She comes out again but howling this time ! I mean I felt like laughing at her reaction. This scene alone could've been the most romantic of all!
And the proposal scene where she runs across the fields to find Mr.Darcy is sort of ok. The feelings seemed to come across on the faces of the lead actors.
But over all the film sort of underwhelmed me.If only they had kept all the original Jane Austen scenes! Jane knew women's heart like no one! Only she knew that women feel the same in 1700 and 2013 :-).
