Pride & Prejudice is one of those cases where I liked both the book and the film, considering them both beautifully written and edited, but prefer the book due to all of the details and dialogue, much of which had to be manipulated of cut in the film, for various reasons. In my opinion, this book would be a dream to make into a big budget film because there is so much material to work with, thus giving a high degree artistic license to the film maker. In this essay I will discuss what I think were some of the most challenging situations in adapting the book to a film.
The halting of the music and dancing and the utter silence in the room upon the entrance of Mr. Bingley, Miss Bingley and Mr. Darcy at the first Ball was a brilliant visual way of describing their status and importance.
English: Français : Une gravure de 1833 illustran...
Detail of a C. E. Brock illustration for the 1895 ...
English: "Mr Darcy with him" - Mr. Darcy and Mr. B...Also, Miss Bingley's dress was of a more modern style (the Empire, as it's called) than that of any of the other girl's dresses, portraying her very up to date fashion and her ability to purchase the very latest and expensive fashion.
The scene at the first Ball where Lizzy and Charlotte, sitting under the staircase, overhear the conversation between Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy where Darcy states his dislike of Lizzy, was a creative way to show both conversations and still have all the actors in the middle of the screen. When I read the book and was thinking how the director might portray it, I pictured a wall between the men and girls, in a very tight shot, sort of like a split screen. The director's shot was much more creative and we didn't lose the feeling of the Ball continuing on in the background during the...