Pride and Prejudice

 3/4

Starring: Jennifer Ehle, Colin Firth, Susannah Harker, Crispin Bonham-Carter, Adrian Lukis, Alison Steadman, Benjamin Whitrow, David Bamber, Julie Sawalha, Polly Maberly, Lucy Briers

Not Rated (probable PG for Thematic Elements and Momentary Sexuality)

When a book is put to film, it is usually condensed and altered to fit the new medium.  The reason is that 99% of the time there is too much material to squeeze into a two hour time slot without losing something. Such as character development or plot coherence.  With the 1995 BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's legendary novel "Pride and Prejudice," the filmmakers have done what Kenneth Branagh did in his brilliant cinematic version of "Hamlet:" film and release an uncut cinematic version of the story.  It lasts just a hair under five and a half hours (neatly divided into five segments).  While there is merit to presenting the material uncut, not all of it is inherently cinematic.  That causes some of the film to drag.  Though, maybe it's because I watched it one sitting.

The film details the trials of the Bennet family, a wealthy English family in the early 19th century.  Mr. (Whitrow) and Mrs. Bennet (Steadman) have five daughters: Jane (Harker), Elizabeth (Ehle), Lydia (Sawalha), Kitty (Maberly) and Mary (Briers).  Unfortunately, they have no sons to inherit their fortune.  Mrs. Bennet is obsessively, desperately trying to marry off her daughters.  Jane is instantly smitten with the new arrival, a rich heartthrob named Mr. Bingley (Bonham-Carter).  Elizabeth, on the other hand, has her eye on an army officer named Wickham (Lukis).  Also in the mix is the wealthy but reserved Mr. Darcy (Firth), but Lizzie hates him.

Like most movies based on classic literature, "Pride and Prejudice" depends on the quality of the writing and the acting.  From a performance standpoint, the film has it where it counts.  Jennifer Ehle, a theater actress at the time, makes for a perfect Elizabeth Bennet.  She's intelligent, strong-willed, loving and has a biting wit.  But she has a sense of genuine warmth that makes her instantly likable.  She has the talent to pull it off, and boy, does the camera love her.  She has good chemistry with Colin Firth, who plays Mr. Darcy, who she hates then loves.  Firth doesn't have great range, but he adds depth and feeling to his character.  The rest of the cast is solid, but special mention has to go to Adrian Lukis, who plays the charming rake Wyckham.  When we first meet him, he makes our heart flutter just like Lizzie's.  But when we find out what kind of man he really is, we want him ruined.  Or tarred and feathered.

I like the idea of presenting an uncut version of a novel onto the screen.  Characters can be expanded, the plot is allowed to marinate and develop nuance, and we're allowed to spend more time with characters we like (or at least find compelling).  But there can be too much of a good thing, however.  If the material isn't inherently cinematic (such as sitting around and talking), then not even the best acting or dialogue can prevent a sense of padding and restlessness from setting in.  That happens here on more than a few occasions.

Not having read "Pride and Prejudice" myself, I can't say how well writer Andrew Davies adapts the book.  But it does run into problems that tend to occur in movies using archaic or stylized English.  Things can get a bit confusing and the meaning of some of the lines doesn't come across.  Less defensible is that some of the minor characters are not precisely defined.  When they are referenced, I didn't know who they were talking about.

The film doesn't always look the best either.  Be it outdated technology, a bad update to DVD or incompetence on part of the cinematographer, the lighting of "Pride and Prejudice" is not very good.  Especially in the first episode, which frequently looks inappropriately muddled and overcast.  Whatever the reason, it's frequently distracting.

Still, this miniseries is a pleasure to watch.  But it could have done well with some tightening up.