“Pride and Prejudice” A Fresh Beautiful Take of the Austen Classic Novel
- Matt Palmer
- Apr 15, 2025
- 4 min read
Starting on April 18 for one week, the Dietrich Theater will be hosting a small Jane Austen festival. The films the theater will be featuring include: “Clueless,” “Jane Austen Book Club,” “Sense & Sensibility” and the 2005 adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice.”
So, for this small festival, I decided to take a look at “Pride and Prejudice,” which will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
In this adaptation of Jane Austen’s beloved novel, Elizabeth Bennet 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. Darby, sparks fly. Although there is obvious chemistry between the two, Darcy’s overly reserved nature threatens the fledgling relationship.
The Joe Wright-directed “Pride and Prejudice” is a charming, traditional interpretation of Austen’s acclaimed novel. This film also features incredible costumes, beautiful set design and the cast did a great job portraying the characters.
The love story centered on Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy is extremely memorable since we see how the two characters grow throughout the film and the chemistry between actors Keira Knightly and Matthew Macfayden really helped bring the beloved romance to life.
Their story is also quite compelling as these two characters slowly warm up to each other. In the beginning, they didn’t quite get along as Elizabeth initially judged Mr. Darcy based on his arrogance and Darcy’s wealth contributed to his pride. And, as the infamous love story goes on, they learn to overcome their initial biases and see each other’s true selves.
The 2005 film’s cinematography is also truly beautiful and it actually helps enhance some of the romantic atmosphere. For it being a first time watch for myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the film and I think this is a good adaptation of the beloved novel. I have read online, however, that some film viewers have enjoyed the 1995 adaptation more.
Make sure to check for show dates and times for the Jane Austen festival on the Dietrich Theater website! The show dates and times for “Pride and Prejudice” are as follows: Friday April 18 at 7 pm; Saturday April 19 at 1 pm; Sunday April 20 at 4 pm; Monday April 21 at 7 pm; Wednesday April 23 at 1 pm and Thursday April 24 at 7 pm.
Trivia: At the beginning of the film, Elizabeth is shown reading a novel titled “First Impressions” - this was Jane Austen’s original title of her novel before she altered it to “Pride and Prejudice.” Director Joe Wright wasn’t initially keen on Knightley playing Elizabeth, believing her to be too attractive. He changed his mind upon meeting her, deciding her tomboyish attitude would be perfect for the part.
MPA: Rated PG for some mild thematic elements (running time 129 minutes)
Writer’s note: Hope everyone enjoyed my small baseball review series and my small book to screen series! Sometime down the road, I will be working on another book to screen series. Coming up on the review front, I will be checking out quite a few films that will be featured during the upcoming Dietrich Theater’s Spring Film Festival. I will also be taking a look at a couple films featuring the late Val Kilmer, more new/recent releases and so much more! So make sure to keep on checking my Wyoming County Press Examiner reviews page on Facebook to see what other reviews I have planned!
At the beginning of the movie, Elizabeth is shown reading a novel titled "First Impressions" - this was Jane Austen's original title of her novel before she altered it to "Pride and Prejudice". Additionally, the text of the visible pages is readable when paused; it is the last chapter of "Pride and Prejudice," with names changed.
This movie is set in 1797, the year that Jane Austen wrote the first draft of "Pride and Prejudice." This is unusual, as most movie adaptations set it in 1813 when it was revised and finalized.
While editing the scene with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy's first dance, Joe Wright discovered that they had inadvertently gotten the entire scene in one take via a camera in place to take establishing shots. The single take version is in the finished movie.
Joe Wright set this movie in 1797 because he disliked the empire-waisted gowns of the late regency era. After doing some research, he discovered that Austen wrote the first draft of the novel in 1797, when this style of dress would only be worn by the most fashionable members of high society.
Dame Emma Thompson did an uncredited and unpaid re-write of the script. She received a "Special Thanks" credit at the end of this movie. One of the two scenes that Thompson wrote was the scene in which Charlotte Lucas tells Elizabeth Bennet that she will marry Mr. Collins. The other one is the scene in which Elizabeth Bennet tries to tell Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner and Mr. Darcy about Lydia's elopement with Mr. Wickham. Here, Keira Knightley's walking in and out of the room was Thompson's idea, according to Joe Wright's DVD commentary.
When Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) is at the lake after rejecting Mr. Collins's (Tom Hollander's) proposal, a flock of geese flew off the pond immediately after director Joe Wright yelled, "Action!" This was unplanned.
Joe Wright cast Donald Sutherland after seeing him in Cold Mountain (2003). Sutherland reminded Wright of his father.
In the book, Elizabeth visits a portrait gallery in Pemberley. This was changed to a sculpture gallery for the movie in part because they were filming at Chatsworth, which has a spectacular sculpture gallery, and also because Joe Wright felt it was a more dynamic way to stage the scene.
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