FIRST & LAST IMPRESSIONS : Joe Wright’s ‘Pride & Prejudice’ [6/10]

Published on: October 19th, 2005

Pride and Prejudice, a novel by J.Austen, published 1813. It was originally a youthful work entitled 'First Impressions' and was refused by Cadell, a London publisher, in 1797.
   Mr and Mrs Bennet live with their five daughters at Longbourn in Hertfordshire. In the absence of a male heir, the property is due to pass by entail to a cousin, William Collins, who has been presented with a living near Rosings, the Kentish seat of Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Charles Bingley, a rich young bachelor, takes Netherfield, a house near Longbourn, bringing with him his two sisters and his friend Fitzwilliam Darcy…
    from The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature (eds. Drabble & Stringer)

First impression of this latest P&P, latest in long line of adaptations (films, TV, radio, stage): we begin with a motey sunrise, and what a strange way to inscribe the ampersand! Little else diverges from expectation. Fundamentally yet another chocolate-boxy Sunday-afternoon period costume-drama literary-adaptation in standard 'heritage-cultural' mode, frocks and wigs aplenty, sumptuously-appointed period detail, cast stuffed with top-calibre talent both British (Brenda Blethyn; Judi Dench) and Commonwealth (Donald Sutherland, scenestealing in tired-old-wolf mode); 'deb' feature-director Wright sneaks a few sub-Altman (Altboy?) touches into the camerawork – those little zooms do rather grate – camera sometimes hand held, but in the wake of The Libertine these touches seem somewhat tame; indeed, in wake of Libertine and A Cock and Bull Story now even harder to take this kind of chocolate-boxy Sunday-afternoon period costume-drama literary-adaptation   at all seriously, despite valiant efforts of cast.

Diverting on a scene by scene basis, but often feels like we're being whisked through illustrated summary of longish, dense novel… Punctuated with dreamy-romantic bucolic interludes in which Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) mooches about in damp romantic landscapes – and damn it if that Mr Darcy (Matthew MacFadyen) doesn't keep – popping – up! Cold-fish, steely-baritoned, oddly 2-D (in a physical sense) MacFadyen seemingly cowed by shade of Colin Firth? Easily out-charisma'd by Rupert Friend (from The Libertine; likewise Tom Hollander, fine value as an impishly square clergyman) as dashing, caddish (so we're told) Mr Wickham, the latter one of several characters somewhat ill-served by script (credited to Deborah Moggach, supposedly heavily re-written/polished by Emma Thompson, who insisted on no payment or formal credit but gets 'Special Thanks' in the end-roll). We await the next version, which may hopefully at least nod to the PJF krypto-revisionist school: if naught else, a potential source of elusive fresh air.

Neil Young
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18th October, 2005

PRIDE & PREJUDICE : [6/10] : UK 2005 : Joe WRIGHT : 127 mins
seen at The Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (UK), 18th October 2005 – public show