Reviews

It is said that we all have an inner child within us, just waiting for any possible excuse to surface and allow us back into our own childhood when everything seemed possible and we had none of the worries that creep upon us as we grow accustomed to the harsh reality of an imperfect world. In order to really enjoy this film as it ought to be enjoyed, it is necessary to find that inner child again and just sit back and enjoy being wrapped up in a fairy land, seen through the eyes of children. This beautiful film may not have benefited from some of the technology used to provide the special effects or visually stunning films we see these days, but for me, this only adds to its charm. That such a film can have been made a relatively long time ago and yet still be the tireless classic it is today, speaks for itself how truly remarkable it really is. I find myself completely lost in this film every time I watch it, and I suspect many viewers may at first think, like Mr. Banks, that people do not climb smoky ladders or dance on rooftops or ride fairground horses but by the time the film is over, also like Mr. Banks, I am sure they will have changed their mind. Because, you see, children do climb smoky ladders and dance on rooftops and ride fairground horses....in their own little imaginary dream world, and, as an older person who finds this film completely irresistible, it is so nice to escape back to those care free, dreamy, childish days myself...

This film was so awful I felt it was degrading to even bother watching it. It is a complete and utter insult to anyone with any common sense. Pride and Prejudice it most certainly was NOT. As a film in its own merit without comparing it to the Jane Austen novel, it was barely passable.

Mr. Darcy spoke so fast you felt he was rushing through the sentences to fit the whole film into its running time. He had so many conflicting moods and moments that you didn't warm to him at all, he didn't seem to know himself what he was meant to be like. He spoke sentences like he was reading them straight from the script.

Elizabeth was so flighty and stupid. I hated the dresses she wore. She often looked a mess and completely irritated me all the way through. She had none of the clever wit that she is supposed to possess.

Mr. Bingley...well! What can I say?! He was such a dolt that no woman with an ounce of sense would want to be seen in his company, let alone get married to him! His complete lack of sense or manners was disturbing to say the least.

Jane was pretty but that was all. I never felt drawn to her character or even interested in her fate.

I couldn't work out which of the girls were Kitty or Lydia, they were like vague shadows with no substance. I realised, of course, who Lydia was when the elopement had taken place with Mr Wickham, but even that was unsatisfactory in the extreme. Mr. Wickham looked awful, and not at all the dashing handsome swindler he is supposed to be. We didn't even get to meet him properly or get to know what he was really like, whilst his past relation to the Darcy estate was hurriedly introduced so there was no time to allow this to sink in or take full effect.

Lady Catherine was much too softly spoken to make a forceful, spoilt woman and her arrival at the Bennet house in the early hours of the morning was just ridiculous. I call it house, pig sty may be a better word. Animals wandering through the house?!

The dances were so crowded it was difficult to follow the story at those points.

Altogether, one of the worst films I have ever sat through. If this is the future of period dramas I am mortified.

Jane Austen would turn in her grave.