My Favorite Film: Pride and Prejudice (2005)

I love costume dramas in general because the beautifully spoken dialogue is delicious and I can't get enough of it. My favorite movie provides this and oh so much more. 

Every scene is a painting. The tracking shots are moving landscapes bathed in light and color. Each tree and vista is carefully chosen and then captured at the ideal moment. My breath still catches even after repeated viewings. 

But, back to the dialogue--can anything be more perfect than Brenda Blethyn and Tom Hollander quietly conspiring about the future of Keira Knightly’s Elizabeth? Actually the answer is yes, when she so painfully and sublimely rebukes that plan. 

The crowning glory of this feast for eyes and ears is Darcy. Here is no peacock, but a socially-uncomfortableman. Matthew Macfadyen brings a new and fresh take on an iconic character.

"You still love us so, Sandy?"

I Wish, I Wish... Hanna and Certified Copy

Why is it so difficult for me to just enjoy what a movie has to offer instead of wishing for what it could have been?

Case in point #1:  Hanna

If there wasn't my revered Joe Wright (Pride and Prejudice) and Saoirse Ronan--who owned the film, I would have walked out of the theater and said, "Okay, whatever." But they were there and I walked away vexed. Instead of living, by proxy, Hanna's experience, I was continually sidestepping the plot holes, pretending not to see them (Hint: spoiler Homing beacon? Huh? end spoiler). I wanted more Ursula Le Guin's character Tenar from The Tombs of Atuan. "It was very strange. Living, being in the world, was a much greater and stranger thing than she had ever dreamed." I have to admit that I am not an action film aficionado--no crossing the t's or dotting the i's here. Bring on the handheld!

#2 Certified Copy

I rarely get to go to a bona fide art house cinema and was thrilled to be there. I watched and waited and wished to love it. I must have fallen asleep for a while because when I opened my eyes, they had shifted in their chairs and were now discussing how he snores when he sleeps. I was mortified to think that I might have just foreshadowed to the audience around me that piece of dialogue. Here I had beautiful actors, beautiful scenery, beautiful languages, but the self absorbed dialogue was no more interesting than what I hear around me on a typical day. The film left me as cold and detached as William Shimell's character.