AZ and I pulled ourselves out into the again chilly winter to see the newest rendition of Pride and Prejudice. I've got an unmanly soft-spot for Jane Austen (I note that this is not necessarily unmanly for the techie sort).

It's a nice rendition, but it got me thinking about the impact of technology on the way these movies are made. There are many tight shots, close work under covers and doorway peepings that accentuate the store, which combine with some of the most appropriately dizzying shots of dances and conversations (small cameras on lightweight cranes, perhaps), which make the world more real and visceral than the older films of this work might have. They bring the viewer closer into the world of the characters.

This integrates nicely with the rare breed trust style of livestock used liberally in the film, rendering the outside world as real as the interior world of the characters. Old school livestock, in a word, is awesome. Funny horns, mottled hides....

There are minor flaws, of course. I'm sure the fog on the ground in the proposal scene was rendered (and badly so). And the Darcy character's ambition was too broadly cast, too early, for my taste. But Austen sure could write a social romance, and this one brings it to the screen well.

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Posted by esinclai at January 07, 2006 09:32 AM |