Pride and Prejudice, Joe Wright, cinematographic reinterpretation, emotion, camera, realism
« Pride and Prejudice » is initially a novel of manners written by Jane Austen. The plot takes place in the 19th century. It focuses on the Bennet family, especially Elisabeth Bennet, the main character of the story. The extract we're studying here takes place in the beginning of the story, in the chapter 18. Elisabeth was impressed by George Wickham's great manners, getting closer to him. She notices that he knows Mr. Darcy, but seems to feel uncomfortable around him. After he tells her their story, she agrees with him that Mr. Darcy and his sister are full of pride and have a deplorable behaviour. Later, Elisabeth attends a ball and is disappointed not to see Mr. Wickham. She's convinced that Mr. Darcy made Mr. Wickham uncomfortable, that's why he isn't at the ball. Surprisingly, Mr. Darcy invites Elisabeth to dance with him instead.
[...] In this scene, we notice than both the novel and the movie find their way to explain what is going on. But they do it differently. The movie even changes some dialogues to fit to a more spontaneous interaction. The movie guides the reader through the characters' mind, while the movie shows how hard experiencing these interactions was. To conclude, this cinematographic adaptation is a bit different from the book because it couldn't be alike anyway ; but this adaptation adds more depth and realism to this scene. [...]
[...] The descriptions must be detailed enough so that the spectator can transpose the mental imagery they created of the scene while reading the book, on the movie: In a lavishly ornamented room, all women are wearing white dresses, suggesting that they're new to the high classes' social events - which makes sense considering Elisabeth's age - . Only the leading man (Mr Darcy) and the leading woman (Elisabeth) are shown unblurred in this medium long shot, signaling to the spectator that they're the protagonists among all the others. [...]
[...] ] she began to imagine that their silence was to last through the two dances, and at first was resolved not to break it; till suddenly fancying that it would be the greater punishment to her partner to oblige him to talk, she made some slight observation on the dance ». During this scene, in the movie, Elisabeth is staring at Mr. Darcy, the camera does a tracking shot focusing on her. Her gesture is polite and refined, but her lips are slightly open: The spectator can understand that she's thinking about the next words she'll say. [...]
[...] Wickham uncomfortable, that's why he isn't at the ball. Surprinsingly, Mr. Darcy invites Elisabeth to dance with him instead. The « Pride and Prejudice » movie extract we focus on has to enact this ball scene. But should and can the cinematographic reinterpretation of « Pride and Prejudice » be exactly similar to the novel? We'll analyse this question by exploring how the historical dimension is reprensented in the movie and the novel, then by observing how the emotions are expressed in the movie and the novel. [...]
[...] Pride & Prejudice, The Dance Scene - Joe Wright (2005) - Should and can the cinematographic reinterpretation of « Pride and Prejudice » be exactly similar to the novel? « Pride and Prejudice » is initially a novel of manners written by Jane Austen. The plot takes place in the 19th century. It focuses on the Bennet family, especially Elisabeth Bennet, the main character of the story. The extract we're studying here takes place in the beginning of the story, in the chapter 18. [...]
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