Pride & Prejudice
2005 · Directed by Joe Wright
Original language: English
- drama
- romance
The story
A story of love and life among the landed English gentry during the Georgian era. Mr. Bennet is a gentleman living in Hertfordshire with his overbearing wife and five daughters, but if he dies their house will be inherited by a distant cousin whom they have never met, so the family's future happiness and security is dependent on the daughters making good marriages.
What it’s like
Soft English light through wide windows, muddy hems, and rain-washed fields in a green that feels almost damp to the eye, with Joe Wright's handheld camera drifting through crowded drawing rooms and then swooping out over misted country lanes and open moorland. Its palette runs to cream, dove grey and brass, and the score by Dario Marianelli leans on delicate piano and strings, with lingering silences in the quieter scenes. The pace is brisk at the balls and dinners and unhurried in the long walks, letting glances and small silences carry the romance. The tone is witty and warm, with a gentle comic irony about manners and money, and the arc follows two proud people slowly, grudgingly revising their first impressions of one another. Intensity is very low: there is no violence or gore, and sensuality stays restrained, with a few kisses and a brief rain-soaked declaration. Suited to a rainy Sunday, a comfort rewatch, or anyone who wants a romance that is charming, sociable and easy to sit with, for viewers who love period costume, sharp dialogue and a slow-burn courtship.
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