Keira Knightley gives "her best performance yet" in Joe Wright's adaptation of the Jane Austen classic Pride & Prejudice. It snagged her a Golden Globe and Oscar nomination for Best Actress although she was eventually beaten to the globe by Reese Witherspoon for Walk The Line. Nonetheless this period romance went down well on both sides of the pond.

Too Proud To Beg

While Austen's work derives much of its tension from the buttoned-down customs of 18th century society, Matthew Macfadyen (Mr Darcy) finds it all "quite releasing" - or so he says in The Politics Of Dating. Apparently, knowing "the rules" of how to approach a woman is much less stressful than having to improvise chat-up lines. Meanwhile, Joe Wright talks about the "dancing scenes" within the film and how they are "a great way of forming collisions between the characters".

He elaborates on that point in a featurette on The Bennets, focussing on the "dynamics of love and jealousy", which are at the heart of the story. Naturally the cast are on hand to offer their interpretations although these tend towards the obvious, eg "Elizabeth is very human," says Keira. That's also her attempt to explain the longevity of Austen's work, but she hits closer to the mark in a separate tribute to the novelist, saying, "She puts across this absolutely gorgeous fairytale in a rather realistic way." The Life And Times Of Jane Austen also offers a brief biog and whistle-stop tour of her last home in Hampshire.

Hearth And Home

The Stately Homes Of Pride And Prejudice is an interactive feature offering two-minute films venturing behind-the-scenes of five key locations in the film. Among them are Chatsworth House in Derbyshire and Basildon Park in Berkshire where Mr Wright rallies the extras for Mrs Bingley's ball. Meanwhile the six-minute featurette On Set Diaries catches the actors letting off steam between takes. It really gives a sense of the familial bonds between them although Tom Hollander gets a little too close for the Bennet girls' comfort when he describes a game of sardines in a cupboard as "one of the happiest days of my life!"

A too-smoochy ending tacked on for US moviegoers also forms part of the package, but Wright doesn't mention it in his commentary for the main feature. He says only, "I like not lingering on her at the end of the film," and before that explains that he likes to "play with audience expectations" by sometimes "denying the audience that close-up they want". He certainly isn't shy about revealing his artistic intentions, pointing out that all those "through the window shots" are "about veils of perception - seeing people through the windows of your own understanding". Perhaps he's reaching a little too deep for meaning, but for the most this isn't a self-conscious commentary. Instead Wright delivers an engaging analysis of all the themes and subtext.

An interactive family tree provides a bit more background and a section of galleries put the focus on costumes, props and production design. It's a shame these matters aren't handled in more detail since they form such an important part of the film's ambience. Generally the featurettes are very fleeting, but for all those Austen fans, this DVD should still take pride of place in your collection.

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