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April 10, 2006

Pride & Prejudice (2005) - 7

The emotion and comedy of human relationships has somehow stayed fundamentally the same over the last 200 years since Jane Austen wrote this novel. While the film is set in the 18th century it still remains entertaining and relevant to our own times. Like her other works (eg. Sense and Sensibility), the story is about a family who needs to marry off daughters because they cannot inherit their father's estate. The interplay of love, emotions and the practicality and expectations of marriage make for deep emotions of both pain and joy. The film follows Elizabeth Bennet as she navigates the intricacies of her relationship to Mr. Darcy, who she is determined is to proud to be love or marriage material. But as she learns more about him, she realizes that her assumptions have failed her and as should be the case a happy ending follows. But it is not a cheap ending, it challenges her pride and prejudices. This story is still relevant and well told.
Keira Knightley was deservingly nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Elizabeth.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I concur. This film was the most fun I had as a cinema-goer. Just incredibly, and beautifully shot. Nothing all that difficult in terms of its content, but this is one I'll probably return to and watch ever couple years. Good stuff.

Paul

Jason said...

I want to see this. I'm a big fan of the BBC version, too.

Also, I want you to borrow a movie I reviewed recently on my site (Jin-Roh). I think you'd like it.