A New Version of Pride and Prejudice Renews Interest in Jane Austin's Classic Story

Focus Features Accomplishes What A & E Wasn't Able to Do

When Universal Studios released a newer, reinterepreted version of Jane Austin's classic epic Pride and Prejudice there were skeptics, there were pundits, naysayers, to be sure.  I should know because I was one.  Yet, surprisingly, the famous version heralded in through A & E featuring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle was soon a distant memory by this reviewer.  This story finally receives the treatment that is deserves. 

Not only are all of the characters fleshed out here, but this interpretation has a few extra scenes that enhance the experience for the viewer. I did watch the A & E version, of which I think lent itself more to the aesthetic of the time in which it was filmed than it did that of the original story. This movie needed some depth, and we see a side of the Bingley's, as well as Mr. Darcy, that we hadn't before.  In spite of it's shorter running length, 2 hours and 9 minutes, 8 of which appear to be credits, this interpretation is a far departure from earlier incarnations of this masterpiece by Jane Austin.

For those into DVD extras there isn't that much more material here than there is on the A & E version of the film. What is amazing is that, given that this film is much shorter than the A & E version, it actually contains a lot more, and they have expedited the speed of the film without loosing any of it's substance. Donald Sutherland speaks of working with the Bingley family almost as if in character, which is a bit weird, and "Behind the Scenes at the Ball", of which one would expect to be about the ballroom scenes, is actually a short about what it was like for the cast to work together, particularly for the sisters in the Bingley household, of which the youngest two weren't professionals like Keira Knightley, so there is a big sister/mentor type of relationship there that may be of interests to some.