A love letter to Pride and Prejudice (2005)
In summary this is an article in which I just fangirl about Pride and Prejudice (2005) and especially Mr Darcy!
As someone who has read the Pride and Prejudice book, I honestly think that the 2005 film did a great job at adapting it from page to screen. Obviously there were a few bits that could have been better such as Lizzies inner monologue and the emphasis on how much Lizzie actually did loathe Mr Darcy at the beginning. But nonetheless it is still a fabulous adaptation which makes me fall in love with Darcy all over again each rewatch.
Firstly, I absolutely adore the opening scene! The shot of Lizzie walking in a field with the golden haze lighting whilst reading a book is genuinely gorgeous. One of my favourite parts of the opening scene is that the book Lizzie is reading is actually Pride and Prejudice itself!! It is the final page from the original book, all they changed were the names of the characters. I think this is such a cool little detail for the production team to include. During the opening scene when Lizzie arrives back home, another aspect I adore is the way that the camera goes through the house to introduce the rest of the family and then the camera re-meets Lizzie out of the backdoor. It is only a small aspect of the scene but for some reason it one of my favourite parts of the film. I think it makes the scene so much more fluid and in a way matches the aesthetic that the music is producing.
Another small detail enjoy is how the film shows the passing of time by having Lizzie spin on a swing and the audience see the farmyard change over the different seasons. When I first watched the film this scene instantly reminded me of the time-passing sequence in Twilight: New Moon. Both scenes have the exact same feel. Another aspect of the scene I am fond of is the fact that Lizzie is on a swing, often associated with children, just as her best friend announces she is getting married. The juxtaposition between the childlike innocence of the swing and the matureness of marriage for some reason makes the scene so much more powerful.
When Mr Darcy and Elizabet Bennet first meet each other at the ball, the tension between the two of them could have been cut with a knife. As Mr Darcy walks in, he does a double take to Elizabeth and this part always gets me as I always interpreted it as Mr Darcy instantaneously being drawn to Lizzie despite not even knowing her. Obviously, later on in the ball scene we hear Mr Darcy state that Lizzie ‘is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me’, showing that despite his attraction to Lizzie at the beginning ,he has reminded himself of the difference in their class ranks forcing him to supress his feelings. I mean what a great introduction to an enemies to lover trope!
This wouldn’t be a good Pride and Prejudice (2005) review without the mention of the infamous Mr Darcy hand flex!!! I have seen many different interpretations of the hand flex. Some people saw it as an act of disgust due to difference in class between Lizzie and Darcy. However, I believe that the hand flex was a product of Darcy’s infatuation with Lizzie. At the time the film was set, men and women from different classes (especially the difference between Darcy and Lizzie) did not touch hands or even go near one another that often, as the higher classes were seen as superior to the lower ones. This is why the hand flex is so important! We know that Darcy is aware of these societal restrictions as he enforces them upon Bingley and Jane, yet he breaks them in order to touch the hand of Lizzie. I think it truly shows how captivated Mr Darcy was with Lizzie, and that the hand flex was almost a sign of him being overwhelmed with his decision to touch her hand but also showing that he did not regret it. The fact that the hand flex was also improvised by Matthew MacFadyen (Mr Darcy) just makes it 10x better. The hand flex will go down in history as one of the most significant scenes in cinema history (or at least for me it will!).
Another detail which is just short of being as good as the hand flex, is during the ball at Netherfield (Mr Bingley’s house) when Mr Bingley touches part of Janes dress as they walk away. It is a very small and quick detail but I absolutely love it! Once again, the difference in class levels and societal restrictions should have influenced Mr Bingley not to touch Jane yet he still does! I think it does truly show how much Bingley loved Jane, he almost had a need to be near her and close to her at any possible time. Just like Darcy, the societal/class divide between Bingley and Jane is not strong enough to keep the two of them apart (unless with the help of Mr Darcy of course). I just think it perfectly represents that their love stretches further beyond the constraints of society.
Deeper into the film we get the iconic and the incredible first Mr Darcy proposal scene. My gosh what an exhilarating scene. The acting, the dialogue, the rain, the costume, the eye contact and the setting make this scene so unbelievable, I absolutely adore it. I think the funniest part of the whole proposal is that the actual proposal is just Mr Darcy summing up every reason why he shouldn’t be proposing such as the Bennet family’s class, the judgement of his family/society and the way he doesn’t really like Lizzies family. To add onto the irony of the scene, Mr Darcy spent the first half of the film and then the ending half of this scene advocating for Mr Bingley to not marry Jane for the same exact reasons, yet he tries to marry Lizzie despite all the objections he himself has created.
Despite the whole proposal pretty much just being a large insult it is still somehow romantic. I don’t know if it is because of the dramatization with the rain or the fact the Mr Darcy cannot stop looking at Lizzies lips, even when she was insulting him! The woman he loves rejects him and then insults him and Darcy cannot help but look desperately in love with her. ‘I love you…Most ardently’ are some of the best words ever wrote in history (Thank you Jane Austen), the delivery of the line is perfect, the way he abruptly says ‘I love you’ to clearly get his point across and then ‘Most ardently’ to reinforce his strong feelings towards Lizzie is what makes the scene so oddly romantic. Additionally, during the argument between Darcy and Lizzie, the use of shot reverse shot emphasises every emotion present. For example, as the topic of Darcy’s involvement with separating Jane and Bingley comes up, his face is stern and defensive. The camera then cuts to Lizzie with a similar look on her face but when Lizzie says ‘My sister hardly shows her feelings to me’, the shot back to him shows a completely different Darcy, one who now fully knows that he has messed up the situation with Bingley/Jane and consequently with Lizzie.
Near the end if the scene, the tension between them is filled with friction but also with attraction! It is clear that no one has ever held Darcy accountable for his pride and also his prejudices against the Bennet family until Lizzie did , which is one of the many reasons as to why he loves Lizzie so much. They both have a great sense of pride and prejudices against one another which causes them to clash however as they embrace and understand each other their similarities is what unifies them in the end.
Moving on from the proposal scene, a few moments later we see Darcy deliver a letter to Lizzie explaining everything she accused him of. My favourite part of this scene is the way that Lizzie just stares into the camera almost with a ghastly look on her face. As she reads the letter and uncovers the truth, we see her whole demeanour change. Her eyes fill up with tears and her prejudices against Darcy slowly dissolve, Lizzie finally begins to accept her love for Mr Darcy. The use of a voiceover paired with the scenes of Darcy riding away show how the distance in their relationship is greatening creating a sense of lost hope. However, in reality this letter is what brings the two characters closer and opens Lizzies eyes to the possibility of being attracted to Darcy.
Some more small details I love towards the nearing end of the film are : Mr Darcy pacing when waiting to find out why Lizzie was crying, Darcy helping out Lydia and not wanting any credit, the way Lizzie treats Whickham at dinner and that the first time we see Darcy smile is in the company of Lizzie. Moreover, I absolutely adore the scene after Darcy catches Lizzie snooping around his manor. The part that makes the scene for me is ‘I’m very fond of walking’ ‘Yes! Yes, I know’. Every single time I watch that scene I just want to scream!!! Its the fact that he knows Lizzie so well despite the little amount of time they have spent with each other. It also shows how Mr Darcy has changed himself to be a better fit for Lizzie as he was willing to walk with her, (Members of the wealthier class did not do much walking, that was mainly completed by poorer people like Lizzie).
As far as proposals go, this film does them so well (when they aren’t insulting their soulmate and their family). Mr Bingley’s proposal to Jane is so sweet and innocent. It is just two people so incredibly in love with each other finally confessing and being united. I genuinely think that Jane and Bingley were truly meant for eachtoher, their personalities matched one another so well and the way they were infatuated with each other from the moment they met is like the cherry on top!
‘You have bewitched me body and soul, I love…I love…I love you.’ - No better words have ever been uttered since. I know that it is not in the original novel but my gosh I cannot help but love it. Even thought Jane Austen did not write it, it is just as poetic and incredibly romantic as something she would have wrote. The second and successful proposal scene between Lizzie and Mr Darcy is very unconventional as the words ‘Will you marry me’ are never uttered once. Instead, Mr Darcy asks it in his own riddle-like way and Lizzie replies in her own equally unconventional way. She kisses his hand and says ‘Your hands are cold’. Why is this a big deal? Well as we discussed earlier men and women from different classes should not have touched, but Lizzie and Mr Darcy embrace and love one another. The phrase ‘Your hands are cold’ is an acknowledgment to the fact that they are touching and breaking the typical societal conventions which restricted romance. Finally, my favourite part of this scene is the beginning when Mr Darcy is walking towards Lizzie. That might be one of my favourite shots from any film ever! As I briefly mentioned earlier, people from higher classes did not walk a lot, if at all, instead they used horses and carriages. Only people like Lizzie walked, this is significant because Mr Darcy voluntarily walking across a muddy and foggy field for Lizzie means so much more than it would today. In the book it is established that Mr Darcy most likely walked around 3 miles to meet Lizzie, that is probably more than he has walked in his entire life and he did it all for Lizzie. Not only did he break societal norms and go against his families expectations, he also changed himself for the greater good in order to be a perfect match for Lizzie. That one short shot of Darcy walking sums up their entire relationship dynamic!
I absolutely adore this film, even though some tweaks could have been made which I established earlier, I still believe it is a great book adaptation. Matthew MacFadyen was the perfect actor for Mr Darcy, just as Keira Knightley was for Lizzie. This movie is just insanely romantic, even in oddly confusing ways at some points, and it has definitely raised my standards 100x more!
I swear this movie is a whole personality trait of mine 🤣