Last Valentine's Day, I covered Titanic, one of my favorite movies of all time. This year, I am covering Pride & Prejudice at the recommendation of my friends Chloe and Ava Williams. For them, Pride & Prejudice is their Titanic.
Other than the disaster aspect of Titanic, I do see similarities in the stories and directing. Both have impeccable directing and cinematography and compelling love stories that have the viewer rooting for the couple, even if all odds seem to be against them. There are countless adaptations of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, though Joe Wright's 2005 adaptation seems to be a favorite among fans of the story.
It could be due to Matthew Macfadyen's role as Mr. Darcy, though Colin Firth is also a beloved actor, and he played Mr. Darcy in the 1995 adaptation. However, the 2005 film is the one I see all over social media, and the one that my friends swear is one of the best films ever made. I will be talking to Chloe about the film later this month for my monthly newsletter (here's January's!), but for now, this is my interpretation.
Directing & Cinematography
Upon watching Pride & Prejudice for the first time, I was immediately captivated by the stunning visuals. I believe directing and cinematography go hand in hand with the screenplay itself when it comes to storytelling. For Wright's film, he did an astounding job utilizing his directing skills to tell the story through visuals alone. Each shot stands on its own, and there are many aspects throughout the movie where, even without the dialogue, it's easy to follow the storyline. I don't typically go into directing and cinematography on Movie Mondays, but I was so impressed with the job Wright did that I couldn't ignore it.
The opening scene of the film is one of my favorite parts. It begins with a stunning sunrise and then follows the main character, Elizabeth, on her way home. When she gets there, we lose her and instead follow her family around her house, which allows the audience to become acquainted with the people in her world before we really know her. The scene moves very quickly before we are thrust into the assembly ball, where we meet the other people in Elizabeth's world the moment the doors to the ballroom open. I absolutely love this first-person point of view Wright uses, where it appears we are entering the ballroom ourselves, inviting us into the ball with the characters.
This leads into a later scene where the characters are at a different ball. The camera moves around quite chaotically here, creating a disorienting feeling. When Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy dance together, the camera follows one character, and then, as they come together in the center of the room, it switches to the other, putting the viewer in the dance with them. This gives a very different effect than if the camera had remained still and zoomed out, simply showing them dancing. In Pride & Prejudice, Wright did not aim to simply show but to tell us through his art.
There's also strikingly beautiful lighting throughout the film, and while there are far too many scenes that I loved for me to mention in this newsletter, I really enjoyed the ending. Almost two hours in, we get a beautiful shot of Mr. Darcy arriving through the smog at dawn. It's like watching the hero or white knight arrive to save the day. Before the dialogue between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy even begins, we know a significant conversation will happen between the two where they will likely make amends. When they do, the sun is shining in between their faces as they finally admit their feelings toward each other.
“Only the deepest love will persuade me into matrimony, which is why I will end up an old maid,”-Elizabeth, Pride & Prejudice.
A lot of the film seems to occur at what the Instagram generation refers to as the "golden hour," though this is also a term used by photographers and cinematographers. This is a time of day, sometime around sunset when the sun is shining in a way that lights everything up in a golden tint. This shot is the perfect way for Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy to come together because the sun is like a ball of light and love in between them, representing the love inside of them that is burning for the other.
The Expectations Of Women
I couldn't ignore the expectations of women in Jane Austen's story because I'm always fascinated by how much the world has changed throughout the centuries. In Pride & Prejudice, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet expect to marry off each of their daughters once they're of age. It doesn't seem to matter what they think, but while most of them seem eager to meet a suitable partner, Elizabeth isn't so interested; that is, of course, before she falls in love with Mr. Darcy. When Charles Bingley shows interest in Jane, Mrs. Bennet is thrilled that not only has her daughter found a husband, but that he is also very wealthy.
One scene that stood out to me was when Mary cries to her father after he told her to stop playing piano. She also tells him how she hates balls, even though she's supposed to enjoy going to them. Mary doesn't seem to fit in with the others, and she certainly doesn't fit into her parents' expectations. I feel very sad for Mary because there's no worse feeling than being trapped in what other people expect of you while you yearn to do what you really love.
"I'm 27 years old. I have no money and no prospects. I'm already a burden to my parents, and I'm frightened."
After Elizabeth turns down Mr. Collins' marriage proposal, he proposes to her sister Charlotte instead, and she accepts. Elizabeth's mother is furious at her, while her father agrees that she should not have to marry Mr. Collins. Meanwhile, Charlotte makes her decision not because she loves Mr. Collins but because she feels like she's running out of time.
I find it comical that being 27 and single is looked down upon when, in today's society, being married or starting a family at 27 would still be seen as fairly young. Most people are not getting married or starting families until they are at least in their 30s, but the expectations for women were much different back then, especially since Charlotte's own mother was putting so much pressure on her.
The Appeal Of Mr. Darcy
My friends were not happy to hear that I did not initially see the appeal of Mr. Darcy, and I found Bingley and Wickham before his villainous status was revealed, to be much more charming. However, as a part of this week's newsletter, I set out to analyze why I think people find Mr. Darcy so appealing despite the negative first impression he makes on Elizabeth and viewers. We're introduced to Mr. Darcy when he enters the assembly ball. We don't immediately see his face, but the back of his body as he stands tall, causing the crowd to move out of the way for his arrival, already establishing him as a very powerful character. Mr. Darcy is quite stoic and keeps a straight face as he meets the Bennet family.
He is cold, standoffish, and incredibly rude to Elizabeth when they meet, as he refuses to dance with her. From this moment, she despises Mr. Darcy, and when she later meets Wickham, she seems much more charmed by him. She even believes him when he tells her Darcy's father left him money, but Darcy wouldn't give it to him. She uses this to justify her hatred toward the character. Later, when Bingley abandons Jane, when it is clear they are going to get married, Elizabeth finds out it is Darcy who encourages him to leave because he doesn't think Jane is the right fit for him. This further villanizes the character and makes it more difficult for me to understand how anyone could like him. However, when he admits his feelings for Elizabeth, his character shifts.
We learn his tough exterior is a facade, and he's much softer than he puts on. For the remainder of the film, he is kind to Elizabeth, even when she stands her ground and swears she can't stand him. Mr. Darcy later explains to Elizabeth that Wickham gambled his inheritance away, and what he actually denied was Wickham's request for more money after he lost all of his.
Mr. Darcy later rights his wrongs in order to win Elizabeth's love by sending Bingley to her home to reconcile with Jane and helping her younger sister Lydia marry Wickham. His hard work pays off as the next time Mr. Darcy confesses his feelings to Elizabeth, she reciprocates them, and the two are married by the end of the film. Mr. Darcy comes across as much more appealing as he rights his wrongs to prove his love to Elizabeth, but wouldn't it be even more appealing if he had just been a kind person to begin with? Though, I guess human beings are all flawed, and we can't hold grudges against them for making mistakes.
“I love you…most ardently,”-Mr. Darcy, Pride & Prejudice.
However, my conclusion is that people like to believe there is a much kinder and softer human underneath those who come across as very cold and harsh. Mr. Darcy has deep feelings for Elizabeth, and especially in love, people want to believe those who have wronged them or disrespected them are doing it out of love and that maybe they will right their wrongs, too. That's what makes Mr. Darcy so appealing. Of course, this is just my interpretation based on what I've seen in society. Luckily, I'll get to dive deeper into this idea when I talk to one of Pride & Prejudice's number-one fans later this month.