Pride & Prejudice [Blu-ray] [2005] [US Import]

I love this film, I only watched it as recently as in the last 3 to 5 years, what a gem, I could watch this over and over again for it's cinematography and scenic capture is superior and superb, the storyline and screenplay are intriguing and often captivating. Keira Knightley I felt put on an Oscar winning performance as well as Matthew Macfadyen, but the former more so than the latter. The mother Mrs Bennett reminds me of Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet) from Keeping up Appearances, an over bearing and micromanaging mother who means we'll but fusses an awful lot and herds her five daughters around like a gaggle of geese, but great to watch still and especially the legend Donald Sutherland who plays her loving and understanding father who copes with an ever worrying wife and the fact he is the only male in that family is well outnumbered 6 to 1. The eloquent and intellectual conversations Keira and Matthew have when confronting conflictions is so well acted and very well scripted. I think if this was made an hour longer I think it would be a masterpiece and would deserve at least a minimum 9.0 rating in IMDb as there's alot of storyline to cram into 2hrs. The 1995 BBC miniseries starring Colin Firth has the perfect length to not feel rushed and to allow the story to be born and developed, If they had done the same for this one I think it would most certainly be a masterpiece that would be the platinum/gold standard of a quality period drama and would of done the Jane Austen story and book justice. Both adaptions are amazing, and this director Joe Wright did a fantastic job in his directorial debut along with his entire production team. Truelly a fantastic adaptation which was perfected and refined by the captivating beauty of Keira Knightley.

I own both the BBC and the Keira Knightly P&Ps, and my advice to people who love the story as much as I is to buy them both.Although the movie is necessarially much shorter than the TV version, many of my favorite quotes are preserved which, for some reason, Andrew Davies decided to edit out of the BBC version. Furthermore,the movie is absolutely beautifully filmed and edited. Even the sound editing is marvelous. The music in the ballroom and party scenes is very consciously part of the atmosphere of the film and blends almost seamlessly with the background music. The acting throughout is organic and sympathetic, and particular nods must be made for Mr.Bennet, Mrs.Bennet and Mr.Collins, who never indulged in even a moment of campy behavior. In general, all the characters were shown in their best light. Caroline Bingley, although very mean spirited, is the height of fashion and beauty of her day. Mary (a little unfaithfully to the book) is simply an industrious if not accomplished introvert. The shortness of the medium denies Darcy of a proper character development (that honor stays with Elizabeth), but he is from the beginning an overly wealthy man whose shyness is too easily mistaken for arrogance.The BBC production has the advantage of 6 episodes which gives the characters and the story the time to properly develop. The conversations from the book are better preserved, and one has time to listen and enjoy them, as if one were watching a play. Darcy benefits the most from the protracted version, for he really undergoes a development from being very arrogant to very gracious. Although I prefer many of the smaller roles from the movie, the characterizations are completely faithful to the book and to an old style of entertaining character acting. Also, although the Lydia and Wickham in the movie are alright, albeit a bit watered down, the Lydia and the Wickham in the BBC production are absolutely perfect. Furthermore, although one can see that the BBC production did not have the Hollywood budget for the filming, the direction is every bit as bit as good and sometimes better.Both productions have wonderful Lizzies. Knightly has the sharper tongue and stronger personality, and Ehle has the "fine eyes" which can speak monologues with a twinkle and twitch of the eyebrows. Both productions feature wonderful sets and locations, not to mention charming dances. The hair and costumes in the movie are prettier to my taste, but, to be fair, the hair and costumes in the TV version are truer to the style of the day.So don't waste time deciding! Buy them both!

What a classy movie! This is the successor to the Merchant Ivory movies... Joe Wright does an impeccable job of getting a dense and wordy novel down to the essentials of the story, and still leave time to savour the beauty of England and the cast.The story involves Lizzy and her 4 sisters, following their path to marriage through the minefield of Georgian conventions of 1797 (when the movie was set)and English social mores. The pride and the prejudices come from every angle in this classic and timeless story.There are several ingredients here that simply make this work to perfection. The cast is for the most part spot on, with Keira Knightley in top form as the headstrong Lizzy, looking, sounding and emoting every inch the part. She is surrounded by Brenda Blethyn and Donald Sutherland as her father and mother, Judi Dench as a Lady Catherine to make you wither in your boots (unless you are Lizzy of course), ravishing Rosamund Pike as her older sister and Tom Hollander as the wimpy cleric, amongst others. The only slight let down, and only because the others are so good, is Matthew MacFadyen, who is perfectly adequately brooding as Darcy, but compared to Colin Firth lacks the charisma to make such a character attractive to Lizzy.Therein lies the problem, if any, with this adaptation - it cannot help but be compared to the impeccable casting and pedigree of the BBC version, which is still the definitive version because of its length, which allows it to stick more rigidly and fully to the book. But this movie must be taken on its own merits, and succeeds where the BBC version could not, in the scale and beauty of the photography - England looks absolutely beautiful here. The mud and dirt are all there - this is no stagey drama - but the beauty of the photography illuminates fantastic interiors of houses rich to poor, and most especially the exteriors of Georgian facades, and natures rich greens and majestic moors.I should also mention the music by Dario Marianelli which is a perfect contributor to the movie, beautifully classic while never dull, somewhat like the ivory tinklings of Michael Nyman (The Piano), but not nearly so minimalist, with lush orchestra where appropriate, and lively jigs for the ball scenes making them seem genuinely like something that would have been fun to attend.Overall, I suggest avoiding comparison with the BBC version, and take this movie as the definitive cinema version, at least.- a p.s. there are plenty of extras on the desk fleshing out history and Jane Austen as well as the usual 'making of' stuff, but most interesting is the alternative ending for the US market - this adds a scene of Lizzy and Darcy together cuddling and expressing their love, which seems much more like a Hollywood add on than the original ending, and adds nothing other than some saccharine for those who cannot find the romance in the story but require it spelt out.

Love this film. Though the original is better