P&P 200: Why you should watch Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice film adaptation...

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice 200 celebration continues...

There's something magical about this Pride & Prejudice (2005) film that no matter how many times we've seen it...in 8 years since its wide release (November 23, 2005) here in the U.S...it just never gets old (at least for me, it never did). There's always something new to discover in every viewing that you failed to noticed in your previous ones. I know I must have seen this film probably about a million times now or so (since 2005) and whenever I watch this movie, I'm always immersed by Elizabeth & Darcy's classic love story (or rather always distracted by the sight of a certain gentleman, whom we love and admire most ardently <3 ). ;-)  So, there's always scenes that I may have missed and I'm always amazed at discovering them for the first time like I've never seen them before. One of those interesting moments that I never noticed before (in the countless times I've seen this film) was when Jane was leaving for London and her family was waving goodbye (see #10 reason below...the last screen capture/image) to her. I just noticed that Betsy, one of their maids (even maids and extras were interesting to see in this film) waved goodbye to Jane too. I never noticed that she was standing in the background just behind Mary, lol. That's what's amazing about this film...it may only be a little over 2 hours long, but it always left me wanting to see more. It just gets better and better at every new viewing...every single time!

Here are some reasons why you should watch this movie (if you haven't already...) more than once:

Working Title co-chairs and Pride & Prejudice producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner reflect, “People remember the two most recent television adaptations, but the only other film version, from 1940, emphasized romantic comedy. Over the decades, Jane Austen’s central depiction of Lizzie and Darcy has been appropriated as the core of many other films – including a couple of our productions. We felt that it was time to bring Austen’s original story, concentrating on Lizzie, back in all its glory to the big screen for audiences everywhere to enjoy.”

Producer Paul Webster concurs, noting, “Pride and Prejudice has provided the template to so many romantic comedy movies that it comes as a surprise that no film proper has been made for 65 years. The two BBC versions are seminal -- the second one was the most successful BBC drama ever – but we were intent on making a big-screen version, one that doesn’t conform to the television drama stereotypes of a perfect clean Regency world.”

~*~

"People should come and see Pride & prejudice 'cause it's absolutely beautiful. Because it's pure escapism and it's one of the most amazing love stories ever told." (Keira Knightley)

~*~

"It's timeless as well as it's about falling in love and making mistakes...and working out who you are and who you're supposed to be and who you're supposed to be with...and judging other people too quickly...you know all those kind of things." (Matthew Macfadyen)

~*~

"These are the characters who we identify with and want to be like. They're inspiring characters." (Rosamund Pike)

And 10 more reasons (in no particular order) why you should definitely see this movie...

1. The superb ensemble cast (Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Donald Sutherland, Brenda Blethyn, Judi Dench, Penelope Wilton, Rosamund Pike, Tom Hollander, Jena Malone, Carey Mulligan, Talulah Riley, etc. A great balance of newcomers and veterans) who were believable and played their characters with emotions, vulnerability, humor, and ...This incredible ensemble P&P cast made this film worth watching multiple times.

2. Keira Knightley was superb as Elizabeth Bennet and she was 19 when she was filming this movie and 20 years old (similar to EB in the original source, Austen's Pride and Prejudice novel) when this film was released in September (UK) and November (US/Canada) 2005. To date, Keira was the youngest and the only EB actress to be the same age as her book counterpart when her P&P version was released. You can relate to Keira's Elizabeth Bennet character more because she was the exact same age as Jane Austen's original creation Elizabeth Bennet.

3. Matthew Macfadyen was superb as Mr. Darcy (with his dreamy blue eyes and Darsexylicious voice, he was simply irresistible!) and was close to Darcy's age (in the novel) when he was filming the movie (he was 29 and Darcy from the book was 28...and he was 30 when the film was released).

4. Stunningly gorgeous visuals and lush cinematography

5. Brilliant direction by (newcomer at the time) director Joe Wright

6. Beautiful and timeless Original Soundtrack composed by Academy Award winner Dario Marianelli (Atonement and Anna Karenina)

7. Memorable and Quotable lines from this version written by Deborah Moggach (and a few additional dialogue written by Emma Thompson, uncredited) that were not taken/adapted from the book...

"A Mrs. Bennet, A Miss Bennet, A Miss Bennet, and a Miss Bennet, sir." (Netherfield Butler)
"Oh, for heaven's sake! Are we to receive every Bennet in the country?" (Caroline Bingley)
"I love you. Most ardently." (Mr. Darcy)
"You have bewitched me body and soul and I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on." (Mr. Darcy)
8. Beautiful locations in the stately homes outside the English coutryside including the most visited tourist spot (of the British countryside), Chatsworh House (in Edensor, Derbyshire) as Pemberley

"I felt there was a certain realist element to [the book] so I decided to shoot the film in a realist style. I tried to put the audience right in there within that environment so we shot the whole thing on location. You’re then able to go in and out of doors and in and out of windows and really see and feel the environment for a full 360-degrees rather than something very static and stage-bound." (Joe Wright)

9. Beautiful scenes in the film (not in the book, but still similar in approach, just different locations): Mr. Darcy's first proposal in "the rain" and his second proposal in the "misty morning" scenes.

10. Requires repeat viewing as there's always something new to discover in every viewing that you may have failed to notice in your previous viewings. The more you watch it, the more it gets better and better and never gets old!