Talk about a diverting way to spend an afternoon. While there may not have been a special edition popcorn bucket in sight (a miniature stack of books? a tiny pianoforte? an itty-bitty humble country parsonage, perhaps?) or any livestock in attendance (though, of course, plenty of horse’s asses and squawking young ladies available on screen), this weekend’s much-anticipated 20th anniversary re-release of Joe Wright’s “Pride & Prejudice” made for a most pleasurable afternoon at the cinema.
And while this writer turned out for a Friday afternoon screening on the Upper West Side — all the better to watch the beloved Jane Austen adaptation alongside a like-minded crowd who simply couldn’t wait for a Saturday or Sunday screening — she was hardly alone in her endeavors.
While Ryan Coogler’s also crowd-pleasing (if very different, if still pretty horny) “Sinners” topped the weekend’s box office for its opening and droves of chicken jockey-ing moviegoers are still turning out for “A Minecraft Movie,” Wright’s Keira Knightley– and Matthew Macfadyen-starring gem held its own. The film made an estimated $2.7 million over the weekend, good enough to earn it a spot in the top 10 (number eight!), and pushing its total domestic take to over $40 million. Think of it this way: That’s just a touch under its original 2005 opening weekend take of $2.8 million.
Beyond the initial disappointment of a startling lack of merch to memorialize the event, Friday afternoon at the movies with a hearty array of Austen fans was nothing short of delightful. The crowd was surprisingly mixed, and while there was an expected number of millennial women in pairs and trios (guilty as charged), there were also older pairs of pals, mothers and daughters, couples, and a somewhat shocking number of single men of all ages. Austen, it seems, still holds very wide appeal.
Before the first run of trailers queued up, nearly everyone was seated, filling up about 1/3 of the recently renovated theater (read: plush seats!). Trailers ran the gamut: Angel Studios’ “The Last Rodeo,” the newly released “The Legend of Ochi,” and the live-action “How to Train Your Dragon” didn’t quite seem like smart fits, but a trio of others sure did. Celine Song’s “Materialists”? Brilliant for the rom-com crowd. The upcoming “Juliet & Romeo” musical? Perfect for those who love the classics.
The most inspired, though? Laura Piani’s upcoming “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life,” which drew big laughs from the group. We expect they’ll be plenty of audience crossover when the festival hit arrives in theaters next month.
At a certain point, however, my reporterly note-taking had to end (all the better to enjoy the actual experience at hand!), and it did so almost the moment the film started. As soon as Dario Marianelli’s iconic score kicked in — tinkling and light, playful and fun — and we follow Roman Osin’s camera through the first of many single-takes (or nearly so), getting to know the various members of the Bennet family as we travel around the family home of Longbourn, the film cast its spell.
Twenty years on, two things immediately stick out about Wright’s film: The incredible performances from tip to toe and the buoyant sense of joy that’s present in even dark moments. Those insights might not feel entirely profound — all of the actors are good? the film is fun to watch? — but that “Pride & Prejudice” is able to charm and delight in equal, if not greater measure, than it did two decades ago is remarkable. Good stuff endures, and “Pride & Prejudice” is great stuff.
With 20 years of affection in place, seeing the film on a big screen allows for more time to spent admiring and noticing lighter touches: Every grimace from young Mary Bennet (Talulah Riley), the eye-rolling inanity of Kitty and Lydia (Carey Mulligan in her first role, Jena Malone absolutely killing it), how absolutely vicious future “Yellowstone” star Kelly Reilly is as Caroline Bingley, how absolutely deranged Judi Dench’s Lady Catherine de Bourgh is (she would have been so good at the pianoforte, if she … ever played it?).
Every scene is a joy because every performance is perfectly pitched, and there’s not a shred of fat on Deborah Moggach’s screenplay (which received an uncredited development assist from Emma Thompson). It plays the hits and then some. And those hits? No, sadly, no one in my audience cheered at the best known bits — the hand flex, the suddenly-empty ballroom dance, the near-kiss after the world’s worst proposal, the misty walk toward the world’s best proposal — but that left more room to marvel at personal favorites.
Consider the moment Elizabeth (Knightley) arrives at Pemberley after rejecting Darcy’s (Macfadyen) rain-soaked first proposal (and then maybe regretting doing just that). She’s resisted going to the estate with her aunt and uncle, mortified at the possibility of seeing Darcy, but when they arrive, she can’t help but be in awe of it. She stands up out of the carriage, gazes around, and lets out a stilted little laugh, as if to say, “All of this could have been mine? And I said no?”
She’s in disbelief at what she sees, tinged with a touch of joy. What a treat to gaze on something so fine! For lucky fans who turned out to see Wright’s film this weekend, the sentiment rings very true indeed.
“Pride & Prejudice” is in theaters now, thanks to AMC.
