Pride and Prejudice (2005)

The Keira Knightley P&P was my first movie introduction to the story (I mean, I was 10 when it came out, and being born during the 95 one) but I go back and forth on which adaptation is my favorite. They both offer different thing, and I do love Colin Firth, but I also like Keira Knightley. Could I do a mashup? It’s a classic novel, and every adpatation, film or television or stage, has something I love about it, and I’ll never be able to pick a favorite, but it is much easier to commit to a movie than a mini-series.

If you haven’t read Pride and Prejudice, put this down and go read it now. And then read Emma, which I prefer to Pride and Prejudice, but I know that makes me weird.

Anyway, the book:

With its ‘light and bright and sparkling’ dialogue, its romantic denouement and its lively heroine, Pride and Prejudice is Jane Austen’s most perennially popular novel. The love story of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, who misjudge, then challenge and change each other, is also a novel about the search for happiness and self- knowledge in a world of strict social rules, where a woman must marry well to survive.

Come on, you know this story. If you haven’t read the book–do it. It truly doesn’t take that long, and then you’re cool.

Now, the 2005 movie:

As I mentioned last week, it’s another Joe Wright-Keira Knightley-Jacqueline Durran trifecta, and I’m not even mad. Oh, and there’s also Matthew Macfayden as Darcy. Donald Sutherland as Mr. Bennet…ok. Wait…Rosamund Pike was Jane? HOW DID I NOT REALIZE THAT? Gone Girl, my girl….yes. I guess that explains why she narrated the audible Original of this, LOL. Carey Mulligan as Kitty, which seems about right. Judi Freaking Dench as Catherine de Bourgh. Wow, for a directorial debut, Joe Wright really landed this.

The film was nominated for 4 Oscars (Costume for Durran, Actress for Knightley, Score, and Art Direction) but didn’t win any of them, which is lame. I checked, and the costume award that year went to Colleen Atwood for Memoirs of a Geisha (alright…I guess) and Best Actress went to Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line, which okay is fine.  The film also has a 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is great–again, especially for a directorial debut.

You can stream Pride and Prejudice on Hulu.