The Value of the First 10 Minutes - Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books, and it has been recreated into cinema many many times. One of the 'newer' (I say newer because it is more new than the A&E 1995 version which I adore) versions in 2005 was something of a wonder to me. I was confused as to my feelings on the film, as it covered nearly the entirety of the book, however it did so at a speedy pace and without exploring thoroughly the emotion or character development of the major characters. Although they take care to explore the feelings of Lizzie, her sisters and her father are somewhat ignored and giving stagnant characterizations.

 My criticism set aside, I found that this film is a perfect example of the first opening image of films. The film begins with establishing shots of the scenery, Lizzie walking, and Longbourn. It takes a full 5 minutes for this establishing shot to be done. This may not seem like a long time but in this film every second is crucial and thought out. The film is very true to the book and the book is hundreds of pages long with extensive content that the producers, writers, and directors know the audience will expect to see their favorite sections. Every minute is necessary for propelling the plot forward and hitting as many points in the book as possible. This accounts for the speedy feel of the film. However, with this crucial scrutiny of every minute, how then did they allow 5 whole minutes of music with establishing shots and not a bit of dialogue?

 It is quite obvious if you consider the essence of film making. The most important part of the whole film is always the first 10 minutes. It is crucial to beginning the film with the most spectacular thing in the whole film in order to grab the audience's attention. I would say Pride and Prejudice fails in the splendor, but instead they focus on something they wish to communicate to fans: this film will be authentic with the book.

It begins with Lizzie's Character: walking and reading. Everyone who has read the books would instantly recognize her. And then it establishes Longbourne. It shows the great detail they spent on recreating the house in an authentic way. It is interesting to me that in in the various versions of Pride and Prejudice on the screen Longbourne often looks the same. It shows the creators' interest in creating an authentic recreation of a beloved book. This opening scene is meant to grab the fans who have read the book. It speaks to them, as a sort of love poem that says "Look at the care we took in making this for you."

Although the film has some short comings, which I briefly mentioned, the opening scene struck me. For the reason that it took 5 minutes and for the fact that nothing spectacular is happening. It is an example of how something outside of the typical expectations can speak volumes about the work.


Pride and Prejudice. Dir. Joe Wright. Universal, 2005. DVD.