ARE THE SHADES OF PEMBERLEY TO BE THUS POLLUTED?!
Joe Wright's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE came out towards the beginning of my freshman year of high school. I approached it with a healthy dose of skepticism (although, perhaps, slightly inflated for a 14-year-old who had seen the 1995 miniseries one too many times). How on earth could anyone attempt to top Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle as Darcy and Lizzie? Impossible! I know now, of course, that the idea is not to make it better, but rather to tell the story in a different way and shine a light on new aspects of the novel.
Wright's version is quite simply, beautiful. The cinematography is nothing short of spectacular, with dappled sunlight filtering through the stylish camerawork. Long shots of rolling countryside, short cutaways examining stolen looks between our romantic leads, the dancing scenes (oh, the dancing scenes!) The world fades away between Lizzie and Darcy's contentious dance at the Netherfield Hall ball until they are the only ones left in the room for a short while. Be still my heart!
I ended up sneaking back into the theatre with my friend to watch the film as soon as it ended. 14-year-old dance with danger, be damned! Listen, if 15-year-old Lydia can run away with Mr. Wickham, I can pull a double feature at AMC Montgomery 16. I promptly saw the film three more times in theatres and have watched it approximately 100 times since. It never grows old for me and embodies all that is comforting about a film.
I cherish both of these film adaptations for different reasons and no longer feel the adolescent need to rank them viciously against one another. I welcome the different choices, the different castings, the different themes. A miniseries is a different art form than a movie anyway, so is it really fair to compare them? 2.5 hours versus 6 hours means plenty of content needs to go by the wayside. The film makes plenty of use of showing off the warmth of the Bennet home, the youthful giggling and swooning, the silliness of it all. But it's still serious business to the 14-year-old within. I will forever love and appreciate all that Pride and Prejudice has done for me. After all, what are men to rocks and mountains? The sooner we learn this lesson, the better.
Kate Duffy
August 3, 2023
