Pride & Prejudice (U)

It looks gorgeous and was already threatening an Oscar for Kiera, who lifts the part of Elizabeth above all great expectations. BAFTA, it appears, couldn’t consider her. Too beautiful..? If ever How’s that for rejection by committee - of correct-thinking arseholes. But all for the greater good. Happily the whole production was stunningly beautiful - how did they miss that? The countryside alone, the backlit summer meadows, the lake and beautiful Jane language is enough to set your heart athrob. The scenery stops in its own tracks, the cinematography is just breathtaking, and their faces stay in tune with fragile hope, longing and loss throughout. They take you with them every step. Manners, misunderstandings, courtship, love, pride and prejudice are all here, of course - condensed into two hours for the screen. Elizabeth and Darcy play their hearts out for you… It is heartbreaking and uplifting, and where it is funny, it is funny.

“…serene and beautiful…The classic battle of the sexes in literature, now on screen…” City Screens

Never mind that. Matthew MacFadyen turns-in the best - Complete awkward, brooding screen Heartthrob personified - ever. As for Joe Wright, he never managed such beauty and attention to useful detail on screen again (lucky sun & rain? too). A cinematic big screen epic in every word, snub, caricature and gesture. Don’t dare miss it now.