Classics: A Review of Pride and Prejudice By Lauren Ennis

It is a truth universally acknowledged that each generation of film goers must be in want of their own version of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Fortunately for today's viewers, Hollywood's most recent outing with Mr. Darcy and Miss Bennett might be its best to date. This 2005 take on the classic novel acts as a faithful adaption that will satisfy even the most ardent of Austen's readers while still offering plenty of charms for the casual viewer. Through its wicked wit, swoon worthy romance, and star making performances the film more than earns its status as a modern classic.

The glare that launched a thousand rom-coms

The story begins with the Bennetts, a struggling family with five daughters and no male heirs, learning that their new neighbor is the wealthy and eligible Mr. Bingley. Upon receiving this news Mrs. Bennett immediately launches a campaign to match Bingley with her oldest daughter, Jane. When Jane attends the Bingley's ball her younger sister Lizzie accompanies her and meets Bingley's best friend, the even wealthier and more sought after Mr. Darcy. While Jane and Bingley find themselves immediately attracted to one another Lizzie and Darcy are instantly repelled by each other. After overhearing socially inept Darcy describing her as appearance as 'tolerable' at best Lizzie dismisses him as proud and snobbish. The stage is then set for a series of misunderstandings, entanglements, break ups, and make ups that are the stuff that romantic comedies are made of as the Bennett girls and their beauxs each find that somewhere between pride and prejudice there just might be love.

Since the advent of cinema, Austen's work has been a screen staple, with Pride and Prejudice having been adapted for the big and small screen at least once per generation. What stands out about the 2005 adaptation is the way in which it brings Austen's novel to life rather than merely following its familiar plot. Instead of following the well worn period piece path of showcasing elaborate costumes and impeccable manners this Pride and Prejudice shows Regency era England in all of its splendor and squalor. From the film's opening shot of Lizzie wandering past puddles and pigs and into her chaotic home it is obvious that this is not your mother's Austen. The film's use of historically accurate settings and costumes places the characters perfectly within the context of their era, and subtly highlights the class divisions that lay at the heart of Austen's biting social commentary. Similarly, the dialogue maintains all of the novel's intelligence and wit without resorting to the impeccable manners or stuffiness of a Masterpiece production. By infusing the story with warmth and humor, the film ensures that characters come across less like the literary idols that we were taught to view them as in high school than more like the flawed and multifaceted people who populate our own world. This emphasis upon the characters' fundamental humanity allows viewers to relate to, empathize with, and invest in their struggles . As a result, when Lizzie and Darcy finally put both their pride and prejudices aside viewers will find themselves rooting for the couple's happy ending much as we would for the happiness of  our own friends.

And...swoon!

Austen's classic is vividly realized thanks in large part to the work of the film's stellar cast. Carey Mulligan, Jena Malone, and Talulah Riley are perfectly cast as Lizzie's three younger sisters, frivolous flirts Kitty, Lydia, and Mary. Simon Woods conveys an endearing awkwardness worthy of Hugh Grant as Mr. Bingley. Rosamund Pike personified loveliness as reserved but passionate Jane. Brenda Blethyn is delightfully daffy in her uproarious turn as social climbing Mrs. Bennett. Donald Sutherland makes for an excellent foil to Blethyn by infusing Mr. Bennett with warmth and wit. Rupert Friend turns on the con man charm as the rakish Mr. Wickham. Kelly Reilly and Judi Dench make for wonderfully wicked mean girls as Caroline Bingley and Lady Catherine. Matthew Macfayden is the stuff that crushes are made of in his layered performance as the brooding but honorable Mr. Darcy. Keira Knightley strikes an ideal balance between light-hearted wit and spirited ferocity in her turn as Lizzie. Together, the pair share a chemistry that is so palpable that viewers could be forgiven for thinking that Austen wrote the parts of Lizzie and Darcy just for them.

2005's Pride and Prejudice transforms the classic novel into classic cinema. Through its detailed costumes and sets the film transports viewers into the very heart of Austen's England. The sparkling wit of the script and the endlessly engaging performances bring the novel to vibrant life and takes viewers onto a delightful journey into the depths of the human heart from which they won't wish to return. All prejudices aside, Pride and Prejudice is a film which its cast and crew more than deserve to take pride in.