Pride and Prejudice (2005) movie review and ramblings

Pride and Prejudice (2005) with Keira Knightley and Matthew MacFadyen was a real treat. I have been remiss in reading the classics, and did not know the storyline going into this movie, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is one of those romance movies that reminds you what it feels like to be so in love that you physically ache to be with that person. OK, if you have never allowed yourself to fall that deeply in love, I am sorry for you. To be drawn to someone on such a level, to "love so much it hurts" is something we should each feel at least once in our life. It does not have to be a smart choice or the person our friends would choose for us. It does not even have to be the sort of love that can carry us through marriage, thick and thin, better or worse; it just needs to be deep down to our core love.

I am not talking about lust or stalking or anything dark and sinister. I am talking about youthful love. This is about feeling that your are in the wrong place if you are out of sight of your love. Imagine or remember feeling pulled like a magnet, flutters inside at this person's touch or voice. When this person touches your hand, feeling electricity.

It is in all of the love poetry, in all of the truly romantic movies. The truly amazing thing is to have felt it, and to be able to relive that feeling when you read a great poem or book, or watch a great movie.

"Better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all" So true, because once you have experienced that feeling, you can relive it, and dream of finding it again, and imagine having found it again, if only for a moment before really knowing someone, and seeing that it is not to be. That is worth losing it. Never regret having loved. Never regret moving on. Only regret ignoring your true feelings, for or against love. If the love is not there, do not linger pretending or wishing it was. If the love is there, do not waste a moment of it. Carpe Amor

And yes, I am a sap. But that is what I have to say about Pride and Prejudice.

This movie is a bit like watching Shakespeare. The language is difficult to wrap your mind around initially, but be patient. This is a great comedy and if you relax and let yourself get into the language, you will have a great time. There are subtle interactions between the characters. So much is said in a look. The actors do a terrific job of this. I think if this had been played in French we would have still understood the story.

The costumes are great too. So many period pieces use luscious fabrics and impossible to fathom patterns. Pride and Prejudice uses beautifully simple costumes. The Bennets are not wealthy and they are down to earth people. Elizabeth Bennet wears wonderful dresses that look like cotton, wrinkled and plain, yet she is stunning. The viewer can imagine these dresses were hand made by someone, with the tools of the time. They look so real. I cannot explain it. I loved the costumes. They are not the most flattering (to the men or the women) but somehow they pulled me into the movie.

The settings in this movie are beautiful too. I would like to know where this was filmed and go there. There is a scene where Elizabeth is standing on a cliff and the camera is far away. It is a vast hilly countryside. Everything looks so wonderfully untouched.

In my visits to England I have only been through a very small portion, but now I want to go all over and find these hills. Then I want to sit on that cliff (not as close to the edge as she stood LOL) and simply be.