Pride and Prejudice

It was by chance that I picked up the Pride and Prejudice dvd (directed by Joe Wright) while buying some stuff at a drugstore. I didn't have any idea about the story nor the fact that it was written by Jane Austin, back then. The photos on the dvd cover just looked nice. It looked like a decent romantic film and I was in the mood for a romantic story specifically of an old English setting where there are a lot of rules and societal codes that fill characters with repressed emotions that had to vent somewhere along the plot causing havoc to all. Yup, that was the story I was in the mood for when I picked it up (not to mention the dvd was on sale). It has since then, become one of my favorite classical films of all time.

I specifically love Joe Wright's interpretation of it because of a lot of things unique to his style. I loved that he emphasized the many breakfasts that the Bennet family have, which made me miss the big family I have back home. I yearn for the comfort and seemingly endless chatter that comes in big families. I liked the many scenes where characters were shot through windows, behind windows or looking through windows. For some reason, this appeals to me. For me it sort of suggests that what we really see in this world is seen through our own "windows" and sometimes, if we so choose, we could separate ourselves from the world around us and can stand behind the security of our walls and just peer through our "windows". The color palette too is quite fresh yet classic and the surrounding scenes evoke a feeling of being transported in time where there were not much distractions and one can spend the whole evening watching the candle burn. Sometimes I long for the old days where simple things were the main event and relationships were nurtured through letters, visits and having tea. Below is a mosaic I made containing some of my favorite images in the movie. They might as well have been imprinted in my mind by now. Almost every scene is a masterpiece in composition. I love the shadows, the lights and the way actors turn their backs to the viewers so as not to really reveal everything. As in real life, one must still keep an air of mystery. I must say that among all these, my favorite shots are those of the faces of the actors showing their facial expressions. I am so taken by the way they stare; their stares could burn, could melt your heart, could fill you with passion and drown you with delight. Sometimes, it makes you regret why time has to move. Why can we not hit the pause button on those moments, where we ourselves were in scenes like these? And as much as we want to picture every detail of those stares now, we can't, because like laughter, those moments are fleeting. And so I contend myself with these, images from a movie so delightfully made.

.