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Austen Powered

With age, it has become rare that I am so effusive of praise for a movie. I am compelled, however, to share with you, dear reader, my high praise for the latest adaptation of Jane Austen's beloved classic Pride and Prejudice.

Ms. Austen's venerated magnum opus follows the struggles of the Bennet family in 18th Century England. It was a time when people generally "acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." Unfortunately, the great majority of women could not hold property. Their path to prosperity was through marriage. Unfortunately for the Mr. & Mrs. Bennet, they have no sons—only five daughters. Thus, their home cannot be passed to any of the daughters unless they marry a male cousin, who stands to inherit the property. Pride mainly follows Elizabeth Bennet who refuses to marry for money and chooses to wait for a deep love.

This film must be laid squarely upon the shoulders of the actress portraying Lizzie Bennet. As the female lead, Keira Knightley enchants, ensuring a measure success for the movie. The ensemble, as a whole, is marvelous. Matthew MacFadyen is pitch-perfect as her brooding—and initially scorned—paramour, Mr. Darcy. Of special note among the supporting cast are Donald Sutherland as the benevolent and loving Mr. Bennet and the Dame Judi Dench as the acerbic and forbidding Lady Catherine de Bourg.

Joe Wright's direction, Deborah Moggach's screenplay, and Dario Marianelli's score provide the performers with sufficient substrate to achieve near perfection. Though I have never read Ms. Austen's novel, I conjecture that Ms. Moggach's adaptation preserves the essence of the central love story. Mr. Wright expertly manages the production, eliciting and capturing great performances and complementing the material with his choices. Every excellent nuance of Mr. Marianelli's music sweeps us along the currents of emotion on screen, allowing the shoreline of the viewers' world to recede into the distance.

Throughout the movie I eagerly awaited the dissipation of the misunderstandings between Mr. Darcy and Ms. Bennet, because I love a happy ending in a romance. Along the way, I was enraptured by the ebb-and-flow-and-ebb-and-flow development of the relationship between our two leads. I cringed at the misunderstandings. My heart swelled with joy as they revealed their true character to one another. As the denouement arrived, my heart palpitated with the same joyful relief felt by all the lovers in the story.

Ironically, while Ms. Knightley inhabits the character of Elizabeth Bennet with such charm and ferocity that it is difficult not to fall in love with her myself, I wonder how Mr. Darcy's ardent love developed. This is my sole complaint about the movie. Mr. MacFadyen's performance leaves me no doubt that his Darcy is consumed by his love for Elizabeth, but I struggled to understand how his fiery passion grew. Perhaps, I overanalyze love and its bases, but I couldn't help but wish for a more detailed explanation of Darcy's love for Elizabeth. I imagine that the legendary BBC adaptation can explain things for me. Ms. Austen's source material probably contains the explanation I seek. Perhaps, this omission in this film adaptation is not a flaw to be criticized, for it begs a reading of Ms. Austen's beloved novel. Is it so wrong for a film to lead one down the path of edification and erudition? This adaptation whets the appetite for a return visit to Ms. Austen's world through reading her words, watching the more richly detailed BBC production, listening to the soundtrack, or buying another ticket to see this movie again. This movie leaves me wanting more. Perhaps, that is its greatest triumph.