So, we are at the movie of the original book. I hope you enjoy this, as after this, things are going off the rails.

“In this adaptation of Jane Austen’s beloved novel, Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) lives with her mother, father and sisters in the English countryside. As the eldest, she faces mounting pressure from her parents to marry. When the outspoken Elizabeth is introduced to the handsome and upper-class Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen), sparks fly. Although there is obvious chemistry between the two, Darcy’s overly reserved nature threatens the fledgling relationship.”

My spoiler-free review: This is a somewhat good adaptation. However, that may be because I am just coming from the TV adaptation, and this movie had to cut out a lot to fit into a movie’s length. But also, Keira Knightley looks like she was born for period drama.

For this, I have four thoughts.

Firstly, why do the Bennets look poorer in comparison to Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy than they do in the book? I have two guesses as to why this may be. Firstly, to show the difference in class, after all, in the book, Mrs. Bennet is obsessed with how much both of her men make and how well off her daughters would be if they got married. Secondly, the fact is that the Bennet sisters will not inherit anything from their father when he dies. But these arguments can be addressed like so. To deal with the first  problem, the Bennets are on the same level as Darcy, when Lizzie is defending the idea of Mr. Darcy proposing she says, “he is a gentleman, and I am a gentleman’s daughter.” And for the second, the Bennet sisters will lose everything because of Mr. Bennet’s bad planning. If he had put money by then, there would be some for his daughters. But he spent his money, so the house should look like money was spent on it.

Secondly, the way that Mr. Darcy and Lizzie’s romance is shown. In other versions, Mr. Darcy is shown as all aloof in the beginning and later grows to love her. In this movie, we see how Mr. Darcy seems to love her immediately, and Mr. Darcy talking about her beauty was just Darcy being embarrassed. Mr. Darcy is so unbelievably awkward.

Thirdly, Mr. Collins and Charlotte Lewis. To start with, Mr. Collins is a lot less greasy and is more awkward. He seems to think that he had been told that he needs to marry and that is what he is going to do. Now, Charlotte says “I’m twenty-seven years old, I’ve no money and no prospects. I’m already a burden to my parents and I’m frightened. So don’t you judge me, Lizzie.” The way that she lays out her reasoning stops Lizzie from complaining. It also lays out Charlotte’s circumstances for a modern audience.

Fourthly, Wickham, this movie has kneecapped his whole story. To start with, the actor they have playing him looks young enough that there is less of an ick factor than in the books. For context, Wickham is around 26 to 29 in the book, but the movie Wickham looks like he could be 18. Also, in the part where Mr. Darcy is telling the truth about Wickham and Georgina, Mr. Darcy says that Wickham proposed and was turned down, unlike in the book where he seduced her and tries to run off with her. This leads to where Lydia and Wickham run off; there is less tension about what will happen.

Thank you for coming along with me next week the chaos of the Pride and Prejudices and Zombies movie. And until next time.

Happy reading to all and to all a good night.