Pride and Prejudice

So I finally watched the most recent Pride and Prejudice film, and I have to admit it was a lot better than I thought it would be. I'm certainly no expert on Jane Austen, but I did write a paper on the book and I've seen at least five versions of it including the Bollywood version, Bride and Prejudice, and just because I have a blog, I feel like that's reason enough to voice my own opinion.

I have to say there were some good things about this version. I wasn't really bothered by the brooding and the scenes of Elizabeth walking along in the fog or standing on that dramatic overhang. Those romanticized scenes seemed quite appropriate given that Austen wrote in a period when many other authors were exploring romanticism, even if her writing doesn't exactly fall into that category. I didn't even mind the pig walking through the house, although I seriously wonder if the Bennetts would have been that rusticated. Maybe it's a subtle way to remind all of us that they were still using chamber pots and outhouses even if they did wear beautiful dresses and speak so formally. I especially liked the scene where Charlotte tells Lizzie that she's agreed to marry Mr. Collins, because I felt like it really conveyed Charlotte's predicament and why some women would choose to marry even someone as annoying as Mr. Collins. I also loved Mr. Collins. He was just the right amount of smarmy and obnoxious without laying it on too thick. And I couldn't help but appreciate Mr. Bennett's affection for his daughters, especially in that endearing scene when he hugs the disappointed Mary after he's removed her from the piano. But I don't think that was very true to Austen's Mr. Bennett. I thought I would hate Keira, but she actually did quite a good job for the most part. Occasionally her teeth got in the way, but most of the time they weren't too distracting. And at last a Jane who really is as beautiful or more so than Elizabeth.

Now for my gripes. I felt like the entire movie was a sprint through what is normally a contemplative sort of romance. The director and the screen writer just didn't give me enough reasons to believe that Eliza and Mr. Darcy had really fallen in love. They took out all the great lines about her beautiful eyes and they skipped over their "chance" encounters in the park while Elizabeth was visiting Charlotte. Even if it was a cheesy love song and montage in Bride and Prejudice ("take me to love, show me the way") at least they recognized that we need more than a few heated exchanges to believe that these two could really fall in love. I know that this movie can't really compare to the six-hour long marathon, but I really think that including ten more minutes of their encounters at Kent, even if it means cutting out some of the solitary walking in the fog, would have made the love story a bit more convincing.

And now for the feminism (warning: this material may not be suitable for the truly romantic at heart): The very last scene was sort of sweet, except for the Mrs. Darcy part. I love a good romance and I have no problem with marriage, but I couldn't help but think that in addition to the cheese factor, it also erased Eliza's identity, subsuming it completely into Mr. Darcy's. I felt like our heroine was sucked into a 1950s marriage advice column for Good Housekeeping. And consider the fact that many of her clothes have sort of a masculine look, such as that coat she walked around in. Now I know that in some sense the Mrs. Darcy bit was just to show her true devotion and it's true that that's how husbands and wives used to refer to each other, but it was just a bit to heavy on the patriarchy for me.

But patriarchy aside, as the movie ended, I said, "I'd watch it again." And Dan asked, "So is that how you know if it's a quality version, if you'd watch it again?" And I'd have to say yes.