“Pride and prjeudice” on set diaries.
“The only choice girls of upper-middle-class or middle-class families had was to marry. That was it, that was the job that they had to do. The only way they could better themselves was the kind of marriage she takes. The refusal of Mr. Collins it´s funny, but actually it´s a huge thing to do, to say no to somebody who really would give your family the security that they need”.
(Keira Knightley)
Some of the more modernized lines did not come from her pen. One of those was when Lizzie says to Charlotte, `But he’s ridiculous!´upon discovering their union. “That wasn’t my line,” she informed me in a surprisingly candid response. “I don’t think that worked, really. I also didn’t write the part in Mr. Collins’ sermon, when he says ‘intercourse.’ I believe that was Tom Hollander who did that. I don’t think he should have done it, but I forgive him, because he gave such a good performance.”
(Deborah Moggach, Screenwriter)
“I just love Brenda (Mrs. Bennet) in this scene, just hating him. `My small rectory abuts her state´. I always think that line is really rude. I don´t know why but it just sounds rude. `A parsonage of no mean size´sounds rude as well. I think Mr. Collins has got a filthy mind. He´s all about sex, Mr. Collins, really. Or, rather, sexual frustration.”
(Joe Wright, Director)
“That flower was Tom´s idea. I found him hunting around in the flower patch. Flower patch? What´s that? And I think it´s a lovely idea. It tells you the whole story. There´s something sad about Mr. Collins. There´s no goodies or baddies. I think he brings great pathos to it as well.. He´s really trying to do the right thing. He´s just trying a little bit too hard. I do feel very sorry for him at that moment.”
(Joe Wright, Director)
“This is a gag that Matthew and Tom made up together. I don´t think I would´ve suggested it to Tom. I especially like the elbow there. That’s just physical comedy at its best. I love it”.
(Joe Wright, Director)
“My first feature and a dinner party scene which l’ve already told you is not the nicest scene to shoot. And also because the walls are all painted and very precious, obviously, we couldn’t attach anything to the walls, so it was a nightmare to light.
Paul, my editor, is very proud of the choreography of the soup spoons.
There’s lots of fives in this film. The candles remind me of the five daughters.”
(Joe Wright, Director)
“We met a number of actors for Mr. Collins and each played it in a different way. One actor came in and played him as Tony Blair! Tom came in and you always want someone to surprise you, to not play it as you specifically imagined. He came in and played him as this weird little guy who couldn’t quite manage to communicate in the way that he wanted to, and couldn’t understand why not everyone respected him as much as he respected himself. They didn’t take him seriously and he’d tried all his life to be taken seriously, and I thought that was exciting and something I hadn’t seen. It surprised me, and I liked to be surprised”.
(Joe Wright, Director)
