Love is universal, and Jane Austen is the master of the love story. Joe Wright’s adaptation beautifully tells the beloved tale in a way that will keep audiences coming back for years to come.
By Talia Ryckman-Klein
On this day twenty years ago, Joe Wright’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s beloved novel, Pride & Prejudice, was released. There are few things as comforting as reading Jane Austen and, subsequently, watching an adaptation of a Jane Austen novel, and this particular adaptation is all of that and more. Pride & Prejudice is a story so celebrated and so revered (rightly so) that many of us knew the plot before having even read or seen the work itself. So what is it about this film that keeps audiences coming back year after year? Well, it’s quite simple. Pride & Prejudice is a tender and moving love story, a love story about romantic partners and about family, with universal themes at its core. Audiences see themselves in at least one of, if not more than one, of the characters, and it keeps its audience laughing, crying, yearning, and more.
It’s difficult to put a fresh spin on a story that not only has multiple film and television adaptations but has been an internationally celebrated and iconic work of literature for hundreds of years. But with a screenplay adaptation by Deborah Moggach (with Emma Thompson credited as also having helped to refine and add insight to the dialogue), this adaptation sets itself apart from its predecessors (though all great in their own way). What Deborah Moggach managed to do, along with a well-matched cast, is make the text feel brand new, and in doing so, added even more depth and feeling. When watching some of the film's most iconic scenes such as; “you have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you” and “I love you. Most ardently” and Mr. Bennet’s moving speech, played beautifully by Donald Sutherland (who had previously played the role in the 1995 BBC adaptation) to Elizabeth (Keira Knightly) at the end of the film, these scenes feel entirely new, and just as moving (if not even more so).
Actors like Rosamund Pike as Jane Bennet, Carey Mulligan as Kitty Bennet, and Claudia Blakley as Charlotte Lucas, to name a few, add new depth and dimension to their supporting roles, crafting characters that feel brand new. Of course, Matthew Macfadyen as Mr. Darcy and Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet, as the film's leads, make two of the most iconic characters in literature feel different and distinct from any preceding adaptations. It’s in the intimate details that this cast adds to these beloved characters that help to make the film so great. It’s in the intimacy of the hand flex scene (now widely regarded as one of the most subtle but most powerful moments in the film), or the way in which Mr. Darcy quietly regards Elizabeth at the ball, or the way the Bennet sisters behave together, that creates a film that is filled to the brim with warmth and feeling.
But it’s not just the script and cast that solidify this as one of the most celebrated adaptations of Austen’s works; it’s also in the incredibly atmospheric nature of the film. As soon as the film begins, we hear the beginning of what is to be a phenomenal score by Dario Marianelli and Jean-Yves Thibaudet (one of which I listen to regularly). The score instantly creates a warm and heartfelt atmosphere, one that is felt throughout the entirety of the film. This sentiment is only elevated by the beautiful cinematography by Roman Osin, with sweeping shots of the English countryside, extravagant manors, and misty fields at dawn. All of it comes together to create an entirely engrossing setting.
For the film's runtime of 127 minutes, you feel as though you’re there. Whether you’re watching in a packed cinema or in the comfort of your own home, you’re whisked away for 127 minutes into the magic of this world, and by the end, you can’t bear to leave. Pride & Prejudice is a story that speaks to many universal themes, but it’s the magic of Jane Austen and Joe Wright’s adaptation that makes it the celebrated film that it is today. Pride & Prejudice is a film that we can turn to for an escape, for comfort, to be moved, to feel seen, to laugh, to cry, and to yearn (let’s face it, we all love and need to yearn), because at the end of the day, there’s nothing like a good love story. Love is universal, and Jane Austen is the master of the love story. Joe Wright’s adaptation beautifully tells the beloved tale in a way that will keep audiences coming back for years to come. The magic of this film is impossible to resist, so why try? For 127 minutes, allow yourself to be swept away to the world of Jane Austen and into one of the most celebrated love stories of all time.
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