wonderful adaption

After freezing my behind off out in the cold to wait in line for more than an hour last night, I want to say that it was SO worth the wait.

It's difficult for me to write about this movie, because I loved it so much that I didn't know where to begin. Well, let's start from the story itself. I guess anybody who's mildly interested in this movie would already know what it's about, but here's a little recap again(taken from yahoo movies):
"The story takes place in the class-conscious England of the late 18th century. The five Bennet sisters--including strong-willed Elizabeth and young Lydia--have all been raised by their mother with one purpose in life: finding a husband. When a wealthy bachelor takes up residence in a nearby mansion, the Bennets are abuzz. Amongst the man's sophisticated circle of friends, surely there will be no shortage of suitors for the Bennet sisters. But when Elizabeth meets up with the handsome but snobbish Mr. Darcy, the battle of the sexes is joined."

I would say the movie stays close to the original plot for the most part. Some parts are missing, but that is expected in order to fit the story into a 2-hour movie. I liked it that the movie toned down Mrs. Bennet's constant embarrassing tones and behaviors, and limited the screen time for the ever annoying Wickham, since I really can't stand the two of them.

The cinematography was beautiful and eyes-captivating, the sceneries and sets were breathtaking, and every shot of the movie was so carefully calculated and seemed so free-flowing that you would think a lot of scenes were shot in one long swoop. I especially loved the ballroom dancing scenes. There were a lot of people in the room and could be very confusing, but the director successfully did his magic and had us focus on the main characters at all times without straining our eyes.

The casts were superb, especially Keira Knightley as Lizzy. I never really liked her, hated her in "Pirates of Caribbean" and "Love Actually". But here, she's the one person who really shined and carried most scenes. As the headstrong Elizabeth, she's intelligent, playful, cheery, yet passionate all at the same time. At the scene where she confronts Darcy's confession, you can really see the fire in her eyes, and it gets your blood boiling along with her. At the end, when she talks to Mr. Bennet about her love for Darcy, wow, it was so sweet and powerful that it almost made me cry. Unfortunately, with Knightley shining so bright, I feel that Matthew MacFadyen as Mr. Darcy was a bit over-shadowed by her. With Colin Firth's Darcy being so successful, it's hard for anyone to fill his shoes, but MacFadyen did it very well. You can't quite compare the two Mr. Darcy's, since MacFadyen played it with a slightly different tone. His Darcy is still dark, but there's a certain silly-ness about him that made us laugh, in a good way. He showed a lot more emotion through his actions, facial expressions and body language than Firth ever did. The way he went to see Lizzy for no reason at all, the scene where he touched her hand, and how when they're the only ones in each other's eyes while dancing in a room full of people; yikes, he will make your heart melt!

One thing though, loyal fans of the novel might not be so fond of the ending. Instead of a wedding, the movie invents a brand new ending scene that doesn't quite fit into a Jane Austen movie. I liked it though, it's romantic enough. :)

Tell you all a little secret, since my post from last night, I've actually watched this movie twice already. Call me crazy, but a little Jane Austen is always the best cure for those of us who have lost all hopes in classical old-fashioned romance.

http://wintervalley.blogspot.com/2005/11/pride-prejudice.html