How the 2005 adaptation of 'Pride and Prejudice' still bewitches us body and soul, 20 years later

Almost 20 years ago, Mr. Darcy strode across a misty field in a loose white shirt and enough yearning to knock a legion of Jane Austen fans dead.

All to tell Elizabeth Bennett, “You have bewitched me body and soul and I love ... I love … I love you. I never wished to be parted from you from this day on.”

That stunningly romantic scene is from director Joe Wright’s 2005 adaptation of “Pride & Prejudice.”

For those unfamiliar, Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” was published in 1813 and explores class and romance in Regency-era England. It remains deeply beloved more than 200 years later.

And Wright’s adaptation, starring Kiera Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen, has become a classic that still electrifies audiences on every re-watch.

A standing ovation for Mr. Darcy’s hand flex. Yes, we know you’re thinking about it.

To honor its 20th anniversary, the film will be re-released this week in theaters across the country.

We spoke with Wright about his memories of the film and why it has such staying power two decades later.

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We know you love a good period piece, but when you look back at that stage in your career, was it terrifying or exhilarating to produce a film from such a well-known piece of literature?

“I guess it was exhilarating … I was very young and … I'm not sure that I really understood the weight of responsibility that I was taking on by bringing this story to a new audience. I was in love with the book and this kind of honest portrayal of young love that Jane Austen had come up with. You know, she was 21 when she wrote the book. So I was … so excited about it. I felt like I discovered it for the first time ... and I wanted to convey that excitement to an audience.”

There's been a debate over the years on which “Pride and Prejudice” adaptation is the best. It usually comes down to your version or the BBC's miniseries from the 1990s with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. Why do you think yours has been so successful, not only at the time when it first came out, but even 20 years later?

“I've no idea. I mean, I think people just kind of connected with the … liveliness of that family. I think what we were trying to do was to kind of take this stuffy, dusty, sort of overly primped aesthetics out of the period drama and ... find a different language for telling the same story, one that the audience could connect to and recognise themselves in.”

Anyone who's seen the film knows there's tension between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. For most of the story, it seems like she despises him. But then their eyes are always drawn to each other across the room. And it culminates in this angry but passionate argument in the rain. Mr. Darcy proposes and is rejected. What do you remember about filming that scene?

“I remember being very excited because both Keira and Matthew arrived fully prepped … I remember this kind of emotional combustion that happened, and they really kind of went at each other … they were overlapping dialogue and they were kind of irreverent. And there's a kind of collision between the two of them.”

“And that moment, that kind of complete contradiction of everything they've been saying to each other, this collision, this argument, because love sometimes is not gentle, you know, it's a fight. And ... then bursting to the surface is their desire for each other in this moment in which they look at each other's mouths and [are] desperate to kiss, but, of course, can't.”

Many people may now know Matthew Macfadyen for playing Tom Wambsgans on HBO’s “Succession.” But he said in an interview last year with CBS that it was actually pretty hard for him to play Mr. Darcy because he was nervous that he was miscast. Were you surprised when you heard that? Does that make any sense to you?

“I think he felt like he wasn't handsome enough. I think that was his problem … And I think women … understood how gorgeous he is. But in his eyes, he just wasn't worthy … And I think what the audiences responded to was a kind of honesty and a kind of sadness in his eyes and his trying to repress his feelings for her, but not being able to because his love is so vast.”

What about that hand-clutch scene, the flexing of the hand? Mr. Darcy helps Elizabeth into the carriage, their hands touch, and then there's a close-up of him physically responding in his hand. People still just love that scene.

“Well, I think it's about the fact that our bodies are often smarter than our minds, you know, and even when our mind thinks through pride or prejudice, the person in front of us is not the right person for them. Our bodies will tell us something different.”

People are still talking about this movie 20 years later. As you well know, Netflix also has a new adaptation coming for TV soon. Why do you think this story has so much staying power?

“Because I think it's psychologically true  … There are stories that are psychologically true. And I think this is one of those stories that it is as much about our inner life as it is about our outer life. And I think that's why people respond to it.”

This interview was edited for clarity.

Hafsa Quraishi and Kalyani Saxena produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Micaela Rodriguez. Saxena also adapted it for the web.