While I was on a frequented website, I came across a list of films that were described as movies that one would want to see before committing suicide. It wasn't really about committing suicide or anything of the sort. It was just a really emphatic way of describing what you might call a "movie bucket list". This was just a list of what was, in the opinion of the author of the list, some really,
really good movies that you really should see, presumably before leaving this life. Now, with so grave (no pun intended) and expressive a list of films, for myself, I had to narrow down the list a bit. The list featured 692 titles. (I like movies as much as the next person, but, I don't have quite that many favorites. In fact, I'm not sure if I've actually seen 692 movies.)
Being the "over thinker" that I am, and having the predilection for the strange and unusual that I do, I actually put to myself the question: "What movies would I like to see if I were contemplating ending my life?" Asking myself this question, I set about the task of narrowing the list. The second film from this list that I chose was "Pride and Prejudice".
The film "Pride and Prejudice" was released in 2005, and directed by Joe Wright. The film starred Keira Knightley, Talulah Riley, Rosamund Pike, Jena Malone, Carey Mulligan, Donald Sutherland, Matthew Macfadyen, and Brenda Blethyn. The focus of this story is young Elizabeth Bennet, a strong-willed, vibrant young woman living in the caste driven society of Georgian England. The second of five daughters born to a lower class family, she must contend with a mother who's singular obsession is to marry off all of her daughters. With her own rather well developed opinions about men and love, she finds herself feeling justified in her beliefs when she meets Mr. Darcy, a man governed by traditional prejudices held by the wealthy of Georgian English society, and the wealthy best friend of the visiting Mr. Bingley, a man of apparently moderate wealth himself. But, things become complicated when Elizabeth's older sister, Jane, falls in love with Mr. Bingley, a turn of events which brings her into further contact with Mr. Darcy. In the course of her encounters with Mr. Darcy, she discovers that her understanding of men and love is not as accurate as she first believed. In fact, all that she believed about Mr. Darcy wasn't entirely accurate. She slowly discovers that there is more to Mr. Darcy than what she concluded from her first impression. And so does her heart.
"Pride and Prejudice" is a film that I would classify as an "escape" movie. Though it's a story that takes place in the setting of a caste driven society, as this particular version of the film portrays it, there is a level of innocence shown here that, compared with life as we know it, whether in history or the present, seems almost surreal. The way the characters interact with each other, the traditional courtesies, and the language that everyone uses all have an elegance about them that fascinates me. In the film, one of the Bennet daughters, Mary, made what amounted to an out-of-place comment and drew from Elizabeth the most elegant way to tell someone to shut up that I've ever heard. It was awesome.
I don't know about anyone else, but I was kind of caught up in the characters and how they interacted with each other. I mean, even when they were angry with each other, the exchanges were elegant, eloquent and passionate. Everyone seemed so straightforword and uncomplicated in their feeling and expression. I was entranced. It just sucked me right in. It made me forget about everything around me. I was somewhere else for the duration of the film. This film did far more than take the edge off. It created (or helped me create) a place free of the dysfunction and complication that is normally found in life. Not a perfect world and not with perfect people in it, but, one where those things that are not perfect are expressed and dealt with in a far more elegant fashion than what is experienced in everyday life. The characters were just as engaging as the story.
Pretty much all of the major characters had "a little something" for me. And they all served well to engage me in the story. (I'm sure this is owed just as much, if not more so, to the actors and actresses as it is to the story itself.) Elizabeth Bennet, though strong-willed and a bit opinionated, was what I would call something of a refreshing character. Considering the men that she had to interact with in her "limited experience", it's easy to see why she felt the way she did about them. A great many of them were exactly as she saw them. Such behavior was typical of the culture and tradition of the time. But in spite of all this, for the greater majority of the time (and in spite of her encounters) she managed to maintain a relatively cheerful demeanor, which I couldn't help but find refreshing. I usually don't care much for stubborn, opinionated women (in movies), but, I couldn't help liking her.
Her sister, Jane, the beautiful one, was the kind of girl a lot of guys dream about (character, time period, culture, and society notwithstanding). She wasn't vain. And she wasn't stuck-up because of her beauty. In fact, she payed little attention to it. She was apt to think well of everyone, almost to the point of naivete, and was quick to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. But, she still had the capacity to see what was right in front of her. She wasn't plagued by denial, and she had a great capacity for common sense. And she was cordial to a fault. Like I said, the girl a lot of guys dream about.
Mary Bennet, one of the younger sisters, pragmatic, and socially awkward, was what would probably be considered something of a nerd today. She enjoyed reading and intelligent conversation more than the typical diversions of the time. She hated the typical form of social gathering of the time, the ball, and didn't think much of dancing, though she did practice playing the piano a lot. In fact, in her own way, she was something of a closet rebel with respect to the customs and preferences of the society she lived in. But, perhaps more so its preferences than its customs. Those customs that were founded in the practical and common sense she seemed open to. Despite her social awkwardness, she was more mature than Kitty and Lydia.
Kitty and Lydia Bennet, the youngest of the five, are typical in their behavior for girls of their age. Both very immature, one following behind the other, without a single care in the world except how they can best attract the attention of young men. Mischievous and giddy, they thought nothing of making themselves a source of embarrassment to the family. Though pretty much devoid of malice, they were almost totally self-centered, oblivious to all but there own interests. Pretty much what you might expect of young girls spoiled by their mother.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennet were what I would call a couple possessed of their own variety of charm. Mrs. Bennet, in a number of ways, was almost as immature as her two youngest daughters, whom she spoiled and indulged in their behavior. She was absolutely obssessed with marrying off her daughters as quickly as possible. It seemed to consume her every waking thought and moment. And, she was particularly skillful at engineering meetings between her daughters and prospective suitors. Mr. Bennet was a character that I wouldn't mind emulating. Most people that I know would find the way his wife pestered him about marrying off their daughters and went on and on about her nerves and how stressed out she was about finding husbands for them rather annoying. But, I found the character of Mr. Bennet to be layed back and quite easy going in the way he related to his family. I especially liked the way he related to his wife. The way she followed him around getting on him about doing this or that would have annoyed anyone else I know. But, not only did he not get annoyed, but he handled her (and his daughters) with ease and charm. Every answer came with a genuine smile. And, in this, you could see he was genuinely happy. He truly loved and enjoyed his family with a calm humor. To say nothing of his precious "Lizzy", his favorite, Elizabeth. I thought this guy was awesome.
Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley seemed to me like character opposites. But, at the same time they seemed to make good friends. Bingley seemed like a nice enough guy, affable to everyone he met. But the thing that bothered me about him was that he was so easily led. That feature about him proved to be a hindrance when it came to his pursuit of Jane. His sister, piece of work that she was, was easily able to curtail his pursuit of Jane with very little effort. What redeemed Bingley to me was the fact that his love for Jane was strong enough to eclipse his sister's influence on him. Darcy was influenced and governed by the prejudices of his society. He is described in the movie as "proud and unpleasant". And it showed in the way he interacted with everyone around him. He behaved the way he did because he thought that the traditions that he lived by were right. What I thought was a redeeming quality about him was that he was open enough to learn the error of the ways he was born and raised to. I also rather liked that it was his love for and interaction with Elizabeth that showed him what was wrong with the way he was.
Caroline Bingley was the object of my contempt. Beautiful as she was, I couldn't stand her. I felt like cringing every time she opened her mouth. If you looked up the phrase "stuck up", her picture would be there. She seemed to bask and bathe in the air of her "superiority". What's more, she seemed to enjoy using sarcasm to rub everyone's face in what she saw as their own shortcomings. That woman made my flesh crawl.
And on the opposite end of the spectrum was Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth's closest friend. I liked her. I thought she was really sweet. She struck me as very level-headed and practical. She seemed rather wise as well. The thing that impressed me the most about her was that, being married to a man out of practicality rather than love, she was devoted to him and to the life that he provided for her. She found her own happiness in that life and happily allied herself to her husband's interests. Her husband, Mr. Collins (played by Tom Hollander) was something of the comic relief. Despite his being the heir of the property that the Bennet family lived on, he was looked down on by pretty much everyone. Charlotte devoted herself and supported him nontheless.
"Pride and Prejudice" is an excellent story of how caste founded prejudices are overcome by love between two people on opposite sides of social lines. The environment in which this story takes place is one that, by virtue of history, is a significant diversion from the one we live in in the present. This is definitely a film that will take one's mind off of what's troubling them for a couple of hours. This particular make of the film was something of a pastoral experience. I saw the make of this film from 1940 starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. It was a good watch, but, I found the 2005 version a lot more enjoyable because the pastoral quality about the film appealed to me. With reference to the idea of seeing this movie before I part this life, suicide as a means being mentioned in the title of the original list, the escape that this movie provides might placate me enough to change my mind. (If it didn't, I would go out feeling a lot better than did before I saw it.)
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