She’s still too young.

Just saw this…quickly, both proposal scenes, and the scene where Lizzy and Mr. Bennet discuss whether she should marry Darcy.

I turned a blind eye to the liberties they took with plot, characterisation and period inaccuracies and came away quite enjoying it. KK and MM are believable as the two leads, if you can forgive the director for fast forwading some parts of the story and condensing some of the key moments in the book, then you’ll grow to like the pair as the film develops.

It isn’t a perfect adaptation, but for two hours of romantic escapism, it satisfied my curiosity. I quite like PP3 but I love B&P! But then I’m totally biased given my love of Bollywood dramas and Ashwarya.

I guess your site is now the only one where I do feel comfortable posting a review. I saw the movie recently and overall the experience has made me understand both the positive and negative sides.

My own opinion tends to be slightly less then impressed. I do love some things about the movie:

- Tom Hollander’s Mr. Collins- absolutely awesome. Didn’t think I could feel sorry for him but as I was watching I thought he was too good for Lizzy and way above this movie’s version of Charlotte. He was the only one where it looked the character was natural.

- Simon Woods’ Bingley- Yes, I do hate DM’s interpretation but the character itself is so fluffy that I think its really hard not to love him. Just like a newborn kitten. Although I really don’t see how he could have mistaken Jane’s intentions- she was bloody obvious. So I guess that’s why DM had to add the “unmitigated ass” dialogue. Although besides the rehearsal scene by the river, I really don’t get any reason why he should have been friends with Darcy.

- I didn’t agree with DM’s interpretation of Darcy but was once again the acting was good. I didn’t get the feeling that this Darcy was an intellectual but his vulnerability came through rather well. I think another thing that probably did this Darcy a disservice was the props given to him. He was a sartorial mess and the images associated with Pemberly did little to convince me that this man could manage an estate as grand as that. He seemed more like 18 then 28.

-Dame Judi Dench- Great Rosings scene and kudos to her for acting through that disaster of a midnight visit. Why did they make her say something about a pretty wilderness- how could she even tell in the darkness plus it had really nothing to do with her talk with Lizzy.

Dislikes-

Jane Bennet- Yes, she was beautiful but where was the quiet contemplative nature I had come to associate with her. She didn’t seem at all shy or modest during the balls or really during any type of interaction. What was that midnight trip to London following Bingley’s leaving about? Seemed like she was chasing him rather than mourning his loss. Although having to utter the trite “A thousand times yes” did fit DM’s characterization. I also missed Jane’s unique ability to see the good in everyone which was why I cringed during her calling Caroline pernicious after her engagement, and also earlier on where she doesn’t try to defend Darcy. It seemed that she was just another lovelorn girl.

Lizzy- I can’t even associate the decorum of Elizabeth with DM’s characterization. Once again she pushed the youthful angle and this combined with KK’s delivery just made my head spin and ache after the screaming. I got more of a combative energy from her rather than JA’s archness. However, I do concede that sometimes the props given to KK to work with weren’t the best. I know the sculpture scene was included because of Chatsworth but I’m wondering how realistic was it to expect a girl to wring the essence of a human being from a block of marble. Maybe DM thought she was improving on the original text wherein a lowly housekeeper triggers Elizabeth’s change of mind. But this scene left me literally stone cold. Plus her running away- not only rude but also cowardly. I particularly don’t understand why we see such a change in the movie between the first and second half- during the first half the family is very close but by the end she’s screaming at them to leave her alone and she doesn’t even mention to Jane about Darcy’s proposal. It just seemed really uncharacteristic and furthermore an unnecessary change to JA in order to heighten the [melo]dramatic effect. Once again the intelligence I associate with Elizabeth came off more as cleverness and flirtation.

Mr. Bennet- Truly hideous. Why so somonolent and henpecked? If Lizzy and Darcy were dumbed down then Mr. Bennet was given a lobotomy. Plus I wasn’t the only one to giggle at the end when he had his final scene with Lizzy and the pearly whites came through. Why does Lizzy look up to this man- I know there was some knowing looks exchanged during the dinner with Mr. Collins but it looked to me like DS was just becoming tipsy. Does it really make sense for him to humiliate Mary- the humiliation really didn’t come through because it looked like nobody was paying attention- and then run after to comfort her?

Charlotte- I’m a true Charlotte fan both in the book and in the other adaptations. This one was just horrid. Rather than being level-headed and rational- she was no better than an of the other girls. Plus the calculating to get Collins was overdone. Overall, DM took a character that had dignity and made her desperate for no discernible reason. I don’t think there was the beautiful line of “I am not a romantic you know. I never was.” Rather there’s some pseudo-junk about her being a burden on her parents. And stomping away. Just all around a forced and cringeworthy scene.

I’ll come back and say more later.

Mimi