Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Picture: C
Sound: B- Extras: C+ Film: C+
Is it this critic or are we all sick of Jane Austen
adaptations? There are complicated
issues involved at this time about the plethora of adaptations, but it goes
something like this. The heroines of
Austen’s novels are so because they break norms and stand up, paving the way
for women’s rights. The problem is that
the radical or innovativeness of this is limited to over 100 years ago, a place
too many darker forces in this world are trying to roll back women’s rights
into. The establishment overly embraces
this as if it was current and is really a backhanded way to roll back things
via “good girl syndrome” and the like.
Austen’s Pride & Prejudice had not been put in a feature film
for decades, but here it is.
The story is about caste systems and the oppression of
women, like many of her books, including the fact that the only way women could
get out of being trapped is by marriage.
Director Joe Wright takes on the material and though is as thorough as
you can be with a two-hour film, it is the same old same old and that is even
with a great cast that includes Keira Knightley, Rosamund Pike, Jena Malone,
Donald Sutherland, Brenda Blethyn and Judy Dench. They are even all good, along with other less-known actors who
also fare very well in this company.
However, as expected, the film is dull, flat, run-on and
almost a spoof of itself. Knightley is
Elizabeth Brenner, one of four sisters in search of a future and possible matrimony,
but most of the guys approaching them are dorks, idiots and even sleazy. Elizabeth is the oldest and most outspoken
(within somewhat conformist realms) and will not tolerate the usual, but is
even confused about what she wants. To
her credit, Knightley (a big moneymaking star, Hollywood hopes) is able to hold
her own against Dench, which is not easy and all without going into “Domino”
mode.
The Academy has even forgiven Knightley for her
performance in Domino enough to nominate her for Best Actress at the
expense of other actresses who gave better and more memorable
performances. Though Knightley is good
here and this is one of her better performances to date, this is far from what
will be her best work in the long run if she continues to have the career that
is shaping up. If anything, she is just
getting the token “young good girl” nod Winona Ryder before her personal
problems eclipsed her career. It is as
token to too much of an extent to negate any possibility that she got it for
being bold or daring. This is something
the film sometimes thinks and it never rings true. Wright feels vindicated by this nod, but we can only hope this is
the swan song of Austen adaptations in general, but something tells me we will
not be that lucky.
The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image was shot in
Super 35mm film and looks very soft, more than it would on film, making it a
very disappointing in playback.
Needless to say the color is not great either and though I did not find
the work of cinematographer Roman Osin, it still had to look better than
this. The production design is not bad,
but the Super 35 is too generic a format to bring out the best in it. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is more like it,
with decent surrounds and well-recorded enough dialogue. Extras include four featurettes and Wright’s
decent audio commentary.
- Nicholas Sheffo
