The latest in a never-ending tide of Jane Austin adaptations, this one stars Kiera Knightly as the iconic Elizabeth Bennet. The movie has come under some fire for being too “sexed up” from the original book. It’s a legitimate complaint (if true), especially since it’s still set in the original time period. If you’re going to be true to the times than you need to be true to the times.
Looks very much like a literary adaptation, doesn’t it? You can easily imagine it on the movie tie-in version of the novel. Two females are on display prominently here, Knightly and Austin, both of which deserve every inch of space they get. Somebody said when the poster was released the Knightly looked ugly, but I have to disagree. I think she looks great.
I don’t know if “sexed-up” is the term, but it definitely seems more openly passionate than the book was. But then again it has to be, since it’s going up against a contemporary remake in the form of Bridget Jones’ Diary. Other than a few overt emotions I think the trailer works rather well for a period piece. We definitely get the hint that Elizabeth hates Mr. Darcy, the man her mother wants her to marry for his money. That’s repeated quite a few times. The visuals are quite nice but I don’t know… Something about it just seemed off to me. Perhaps Knightly’s Elizabeth does seem a bit modern for the period. Too independent maybe? If I were a better writer I could probably think of how to put this.
Completely Flash-based, this website has little new or groudbreaking. The one thing I thought was a nice touch was under “Downloads” you can..umm..download P&P themed stationary. That’s a cool idea and might appeal to literary minded folks. Other than that there’s the usual stuff hiding behind “Characters”, “About the Film” and “Gallery”. “Behind the Scenes” has a couple cool features showing production and costume sketches and their finished products as well as a Script-to-Screen feature that’s neat. It takes a clip from the film and shows you scrolling text of the script so you can follow along. Nice idea and pretty good execution.
Overall
It’s designed to appeal to everyday movie goers as well as literary buffs who can’t get enough Austin goodness. The overt emotions and passions in the trailer are designed to attract those looking for a good “war of the sexes” movie while the other bits are meant for the book lovers. It’s a pretty good campaign that walks a fine line fairly well.
