This version of 'Pride and Prejudice ' is one of the greatest adaptations of any classic book that has yet been filmed. This is due in large part to the masterful screenplay written by Andrew Davies. He has managed to lace together all the pertinent dialogue scattered about the chapters into cogent conversations without resorting to anachronistic modernisms. This allows the film to flow seamlessly and in a very satisfying manner.
A great cast of actors has been given a fine script and they all turn in great performances.
I wondered at the wild, over-sexed behavior of the youngest Bennet daughter, Lydia, here acted by Julia Sawalha. She is allowed to display her wide-ranging, formidable comedic talents. I especially loved the little snort she emits in an early scene, displaying that she is truly her mother's favorite daughter and very much like her.
Mrs Bennet, played hilariously by Alison Steadman, is a vulgar, loud and ostentatious woman and I liked her very much in this part.
Mr Bennet, the long-suffering patron of this family is played with laconic humor by Benjamin Whitrow, a piece of perfect casting. Jennifer Ehle is splendid as Elizabeth Bennet, the heroine who gets her man in the end, as they always do in Austen's novels. I won't belabor the countless nuances of her characterization other than to say that she is deeply satisfying at every level.
Her elder sister, Jane, is played by Susannah Harker ('House of Cards') with a sweetness that stops just short of simpering.
The middle daughter, Mary, is an early prototype for the first suffragettes. Lucy Briers had quite a challenge to make anything of Mary who is often relegated to the background. But Briers sets the tone for one of the most hilarious scenes in any film I've ever seen; the dinner party at the Netherfields Ball where she entertains the guests by singing and playing atrociously. Note Anna Chancellor (Miss Bingley) in this scene. I burst out in loud guffaws at her reactions.
Anna Chancellor was an inspired piece of casting for Miss Caroline Bingley the aristocratic and condescending sister of Jane Bennet's beloved. Miss Bingley is an interesting character. The Prejudice against her is immediate, on the part of Elizabeth, as Miss Bingley is aloof and fork-tongued. But she is really a good person who tells the truth. It's just that she is a product of her highly sheltered and sophisticated environment and "comes off" snooty and vindictive.
Colin Firth is ideal as Mr Darcy the romantic interest of Elizabeth Bennet's life. Tall, handsome, well set-up, intelligent and gentle, Firth's portrayal possesses all the traits of a high-born gentleman. He is NOT a snob but he is aloof and easily bored. Not unusual in a very intelligent person. However, Elizabeth's Prejudice, out of ignorance of Darcy's life, seems a worse misdemeanor than his Pride which seems like arrogance but isn't.
David Bamber ('Heavy Weather') portrays the obsequious Reverend Collins with oily unctuousness. Collins is funny, yes, but also maddening in his obtuse inability to comprehend the feelings and thoughts of anyone besides himself. Only his new wife, Charlotte Lucas, comprehends his nature and finds happiness in her life with him.
Charlotte is one of those characters, along with Jane Bennet and Mrs Gardiner, who occupy points of equilibrium and sensibility to their environments. When any of these 3 women are holding forth one senses serenity in the atmosphere that stops the whirling dizziness of most of the characters' states-of-mind.
Barbara Leigh-Hunt turns in a masterful performance as the monstrous bitch Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Such spite and malice as Lady Catherine possesses is spat out with acidic nastiness. Her first scene when she meets Elizabeth is also extremely funny.
There is a minor masterful performance from Harriet Eastcott, who plays nursemaid-companion to Lady de Bourgh's sickly daughter. Without uttering a word Ms Eascott conveys volumes as to the put upon, subservient and terrified situation of Mrs Jenkinson.
One of the great delights of this mini-series is how it takes its time to actually observe this long-dead society. The ball scenes are gorgeously executed. The choreography of those intricate and beautiful dances is hypnotizing. There are long periods where the camera watches these dancers, moves about among them. It is beautiful to behold. The actors must have been sorely challenged to deliver their lines in such a natural manner and yet having to time them to fit the complicated steps they have to perform.
All the technical aspects of this film are superb, especially the editing. The forte-piano playing of Melvyn Tan glues the entirety together. Simon Langton's direction is so good as to be invisible.
I cannot praise this version of 'Pride and Prejudice' enough. It is one of the two great Jane Austen adaptations on film, along with Roger Michell's wonderful version of 'Persuasion' with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds.
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