PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES

UK, 2016, 107 minutes, Colour.
Lilly James, Sam Riley, Jack Huston, Bella Heathcote, Douglas Booth, Sally Phillips, Charles Dance, Lena Headey.
Directed by Burr Steers.

Well, the title tells all. The film is based on graphic novel by Seth Graham Smith – who gets equal credit for book origin with Jane Austen.
We know that if a butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazon, there could be quite some chaos halfway around the world. It is not known what the repercussions were of so many thousands of Jane Austen devotees suddenly raising their eyebrows as they heard of this particular and challenging title. It could have been more than quite chaotic.

Many novels are adapted, as well as the plays of Shakespeare for instance, to contemporary settings. With Jane Austen, it happened in the 1990s with a contemporary American high school version of Emma, Clueless, which received enthusiastic reviews. This time, Jane Austen’s period, the setting, characters and manners are all retained, costumes and decor getting particular emphasis. Of course, it is the contemporary zombie conventions that enthusiasts will be upset about.

We know where we are quite early in the film when Darcy (Sam Riley) is introduced as a colonel, a zombie hunter, and we are giving a lesson on British history, especially British colonialism which is suffering the backlash of imperial attitudes by the seeds of the living dead transported back to the mother country. The main specification about the zombies that they have to eat the brains of the living to be transformed! At a game of the whist in a country mansion, a zombie is revealed – with Darcy coming quickly to the attack with his blade.

Move to the Bennett family, with Charles Dance as the mild-mannered Mr Bennett, Sally Phillips as the mother whose goal is to have her daughters married, the attractive Jane (Bella Heathcote) and the older daughter, with a touch of the cynical, Elizabeth (Lilly James of the Downton Abbey, Cinderella). While they go about their domestic chores, well-mannered in the style of the times, they actually are expert in martial arts for combating zombies and, in a number of scenes, demonstrate their prowess.

There are also the Bingleys, with whom most of us are familiar, Douglas Booth as Mr Bingley, attracted to Jane, inviting her to the Bingley household – and even though she is armed with a blade from her house, she is attacked by zombies on her horse journey and thought to be infected. Lizzie assures everyone that she is not. Mr Darcy turns up and the two begin their battle between pride and prejudice.

One character from the novel who gets more emphasis in this film is Mr Wickham (Jack Huston). He is a soldier, has an antipathy towards Mr Darcy, having grown up in the household, is involved in the war against the zombies, is initially attracted to Lizzie (and she to him) but, as in the novel, he makes his departure with Lydia.
Actually, he has a far more significant role in the zombie stories than we might be initially led to believe, going into the Inbetween section of London where there is a revolt by the zombies and a fierce attempt to break out, with Lizzie and Darcy putting aside the usual dislike and realise, of course, that it is love not hatred that bonds them together, making a narrow escape before a kind of apocalyptic conclusion.

Stuff and nonsense one could say – but, in fact, it is a version of Pride and Prejudice, and one might read some social and political commentary in the presence of the zombies in Britain at the beginning of the 19th century.

1. Jane Austen’s classic story? Plot, characters, 18th century style, values, culture? (And the reaction of Jane Austen fans?)

2. Popularity of graphic novels, zombies? The blend of the two mentalities, graphic novel and Jane Austen?

3. The sets, the beginning of the 19th century, history, the cut-outs illustrating British history, the situation, colonialism, the return of the zombies? The source not in France! Plague, the visuals of the job zombies in 18th and 19th century costumes, the fights, the weapons, the traps, the killings, the revolt of the zombies, apocalyptic?

4. The introduction, Darcy, a colonel, fighting the vampires, his test for the presence of zombies with flies? In society, the game of cards, the bets, the discovery of the zombie, his death? The guests later returning as zombies?

5. The transition to the world of Jane Austen, the Bennett family, the quiet father, the mother busy about marrying off her children, the girls, amongst themselves, ladylike? Yet the martial arts, their fighting, practice, tough, the dangers?

6. The arrival of Mr Bingley and his sister, the attraction to Jane, Jane and her visit, the horse ride, fighting with the zombie, the scratch on her hand from the revolver, being sick, Lizzie and her arrival and care, denying that Jane was a vampire? The arrival of Darcy, his flies – and Lizzie catching them, returning them? The family, the return home, the promise of the ball? Bingley and Jane? At the ball, Mrs Bennett hoping for a rich catch? Darcy hearing, interfering with the engagement? Its effect?

7. Darcy, his style, his story, his sister and Wickham treating her badly? With him and his father, the father’s death? The clashes? Darcy’s pride, meeting Elizabeth, clashing with her, the dance, but saving her from the attack? Darcy’s bitterness towards Wickham, confronting him, the fight? Lizzie saving Darcy, the speech, the coma, the ending and love?

8. Wickham, military, accompanying the fighters, chatting with the women, his story, Mr Darcy, the company with Lizzie, proposing? Her hesitation? And absconding with Lydia? His going to the Inbetween section of London, the truth about his being a zombie, the revolution, the leader, rabble rousing? The confrontation with Darcy? The fights – and his riding at the end to lead the attack?

9. Mr Collins, fop, Lady Catherine de Burgh, humour and chat? Attraction towards Elizabeth, the dance? The meeting with Lady Catherine? The end with the wedding?

10. Lady Catherine, the warrior, the patch over her eye, aristocracy, listening, the plot? The end?

11. The film as a small allegory, of colonialism and infection of the British, of the 19th century?