Blog From The Bench

Finally somebody has dared to film Jane Austen's classic novel the way it should be. While retaining the period trappings, this film brings to the surface what makes Pride and Prejudice so beloved in the first place: the smart and witty story that after nearly 200 years remains refreshingly modern. We've nearly drowned poor Elizabeth and Darcy in our collective worship over the centuries, but Joe Wright has found a way to make the Bennetts, Bingleys & Co. into real, recognizable people, and transform sleeply Longbourn from a fairy tale location of the imagination into a real place where people live and love and die.

Utilizing a surprising number of long and complicated tracking shots, the camera roves restlessly through the corridors and rooms of Austen's world, capturing its inhabitants in various preoccupied states, whether it be gossiping behind (almost) closed doors, dancing wildly or practicing the pianoforte-- it establishes the sense that this is an authentic world teeming with life, and not merely movie sets or elegant location shots. The film's tour-de-force sequence, in my mind, is the ball early on in the film: functioning as kind of a small-scale Russian Ark, the camera tracks through swirling bodies in motion and halls cramped with overdressed gossip mongers, all the while witnessing small, intimate stories of personal triumph and humiliation. This, in my mind, is how a comedy of manners should look on the screen: it effortlessly captures the endless criss-crossing of paths, furtive glances, and awkward missteps that occur in any party and transforms it into something resembling an endlessly complicated social dance. Brilliant.

In her third film released this year, Kiera Knightley makes a surprisingly luminous Elizabeth Bennett, imbuing the role not only with the spunk and high-spirits we associate with the character, but also conveying an underlying delicacy and vulnerability-- when she realizes her mistakes there's a genuine sense that the world for one girl is collapsing in on itself. I would have never thought of Knightley for the role-- her unconventional beauty and blend of fragility and backbone seem more in tune with the moors of the Brontë sisters than Austen's drawing rooms-- but she's an inspired casting choice, and it pays of handsomely (not only for the film, but for Knightley-- this could be her first bona fide great performance). And even if I have a few reservations with Matthew MacFadyen's turn as Mr. Darcy, but he's appropriately brittle, and the first tier of the supporting performances (from Rosamund Pike to Donald Sutherland to Brenda Blethyn) are uniformly excellent.

But it was actually several of the performances from the lesser supporting characters that really captured my attention. I adored Simon Woods's turn as Mr. Bingley-- as I read the book I had pictured him as a rather dull and bland one-dimensional character, but Simon Woods brings the role such a sense of affability and fun that I found him more interesting than his good friend Mr. Darcy. And when is Claudie Blakley going to get some recognition? A fan of hers since her heartbreaking turn in Gosford Park, she's a plain-faced but remarkably radiant actress, and she makes the most of the role of Charlotte Lucas (she nails her big scene when she tells Elizabeth that she is to marry the spurned Mr. Collins). The only weak spot in this robust cast is Rupert Friend as Mr. Wickham, but his storyline is so truncated I can hardly blame him for weak characterization.

The only time the films stumbles is when it actually does start veering off into Emily Brontë territory-- complete with misty moors at morning and chest-heaving embraces-- as the film heads towards its conclusion, and damn you American preview audiences for demanding that ridiculous final scene on the porch. But not even these flaws can begin to tarnish this diamond of a film-- it's easily one of the best I've seen all year.