Before the Fall

First time I found out that people had already made a gay themed Pride and Prejudice I was instantly hooked. The whole P&P gay thing was my idea for a novel that I'm working on (in my head), although hadn't had the time to start on it.

I've always been a Pride and Prejudice fan. It's the first book in the Austenverse that I've read as a kid. I've fallen in love with the characters especially with the main lead Lizzie Bennet. Mr. Darcy, of course, will always be my fictional boyfriend. I have always identified myself with Elizabeth ever since I've read the novel and watched the 1995 and 2005 version, including the rom-com version, Bridget Jones' Diary.

Okay... so about this movie; I am both impressed and disappointed. Let me start off first by saying the "good" stuff about the film. The cinematography is visually stunning. The nature scenes are breathtaking and gorgeous to look at, it felt like you could almost feel and smell the breezy wind right through you, giving that vibe to the audience is an achievement. The storyline's good although it lacked the certain qualities of Austen's novel such as the social satire and wit that made the novel a universal hit. But I'm aware the director (Geisner) is not going for that direction, instead, he's focusing more on the romantic tension between Darcy and Lizzie and what could happen if they were transformed in the 21st Century as a same-sex couple. Darcy is as brooding as ever, in here he is depicted as a closeted gay man struggling to come in terms with his own identity, which is EXACTLY what he would look like if he were reinterpreted as a queer man.

As for my bad impressions, sad to say there are more bad moments than good but at least tolerable to bear with. My biggest complaint is the camerawork, it's often shaky here and there. Some angles were great, some angles were okay, some angles were just plain hard to look at. It looks as if it was done by a teenager with minimal knowledge about the basics of filmmaking. The dialogue was okay, but I expected more from it, it is after all an Austen adaptation so I expected it to have more depth and quality in the usage of their words. The two gay men, which are obviously the film's version of Lydia and Kitty, made me flinch in disgust; they're stereotypical and annoying (I get that their original counterparts really are annoying but I did not expect this kind of exasperation), I don't know if the writer of the screenplay intended them to be the comedic relief but it seemed they're just there to mess up the lives of everyone around them, they're like Jar Jar Binks twins in human flesh. Lastly, my second biggest complaint is the main lead, Ben Bennet. I don't see any hint of Lizzie in his character other than the "pride" and "prejudice" part which is obviously the most vital part of the story. He lacks charm, humour, liveliness, and (most importantly) sarcasm. My insult to his character: he resembles more of a Bella Swan than a vivacious woman with a pair of fine eyes.

If this wasn't a Pride and Prejudice film, I would've said more nasty stuff about it, my Austen spirit led to forgive it as a whole. I'm used to watching great films and I've seen far better LGBT themed movies than this, but set aside all the flaws and imperfections, I think it's a good film (if not a great one), it is imperative proof that beloved classics like Pride and Prejudice could be "queerified" if done with justice and regard to the original source.

I am 94 years old, born in 1923. In 1938, at the age of 15, I entered a major Ivy League university, graduating in 1941, something of a record at that time. On December 11, 1941, at 18 years of age, I joined the U.S. Navy because I was angry about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Because of my talent, education, personal ambition, and considerable political pull, I received a commission in the U.S. Navy, being assigned to Naval Intelligence. World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and thereafter saw me retire at the rank of Naval Captain. Through it all, twice I was shot up pretty good, and twice I was told by doctors -- in effect -- that I was a hard man to kill, followed of course by what we would now call PTSD and very bad memories, but not to forget those endlessly repeated very bad dreams experienced to this day.

The good news is that you seldom find a senior career intelligence officer and combat ship captain in retirement who is poor. The skills, experience, knowledge and insights acquired, and priceless personal contacts thereby garnered frequently transfer favorably to the world of business.

Which brings me to "Before the Fall" (2016), written and directed by Byrum Geisler.

Ah yes, my marriage. Strip away the time frame, the civilian dress, the historical peculiarities, and especially the lack of reference to war, to killing, and to the absence of marshal mayhem generally and the eventually righted miscarriage of UCMJ justice that I personally engineered out of a sense of simple justice and out of my passionate, my absolute consuming interest in the object of my desire, you will find the accurate beginning of the latticework of my life-long love affair, who unhappily died before I did.

The clown responsible for the UCMJ miscarriage of justice was eventually keelhauled by the Navy in a fashion similar to the tender mercies of the Virginia state bar as described in "Before the Fall". To my complete satisfaction.

I salute Mr. Geisler and his crew and staff for their subtle and sophisticated rendering of a slice of life drawn, in my opinion, and especially in my experience from real life, gay or straight.

Or gay AND straight, because from this movie, both apply.

Parenthetically, the cinematography is excellent.

I give this fine movie an IMDb rating of 7.0.

It helps to have read Pride and Prejudice, but that isn't necessary. The film stands on its own.

Where it stands fairly well is in its direction and editing. The film is crisp and goes where it needs to without a lot of fuss. Cinematography shows off the scenery quite well.

Where it fails is twofold: one, the script -- and, thus, characterizations -- and, two, the chemistry between the leads. The film indulges in embarrassing cliches, such as the two gay best friends who are ostensibly meant to be taken ironically, I suppose; but they come off as a couple of losers. Cringeworthy, even. The women don't fare very well, especially Darcy's girlfriend. Their acting is fine; it's just that the women -- and some of the men -- appear to be in a different movie. The girlfriend is a homophobic shrew....which gives rise to a related problem, that of open homophobia clearly expressed. While it's certainly understandable that these attitudes exist, why this film, ostensibly about a slow-brewing romance, indulges homophobia to the extent it does is problematic. We've all heard these things before; and rather than make us dislike more the characters who are homophobic, you are aghast that the script is so in-your-face about this. Less of this would have been better.

The two leads are fine; yet in so far as they are physically quite different so too is there zero chemistry. Bennett is all sincerity and feelings while Darcy is all brooding and impenetrable. They are oil and water and it just does not work. The ending -- and this is a sort of spoiler but not really, as the ending is clearly what you think it will be, especially if you know the novel -- where they kiss has to be the most unromantic moment I've ever witnessed in a film.

Huge plot hole: a neighbour believes she sees Darcy hit his girlfriend -- he doesn't -- and hears him threaten to harm her. No one challenges this, not even the police officer, by saying "Where were you when you heard the threat?" She was in her own house next door and all the windows were closed; even if she had been outside she couldn't have heard a thing. This is just sloppy.

One final point: the music / soundtrack. It's like you're in a shopping mall. I get that scoring a film costs money. But the producer could have avoided this simply by using less music but of better quality.

Solid with a somber, low-key tone. It begins slowly, but draws you in due to the fine performances and lush photography. Very good, and definitely worth a look.

This film is based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and it borrows quite a bit from its source, but it is very much its own story. The differences are enough to allow it to be judged on its own. The gorgeous Virginia and Great Smoky mountain scenery only enhance the beauty of the film. The characters are believable in their flawed reality. There is comic relief at times, even campy silliness with a couple characters, but they really don't detract from the poignant plot progression. These people feel very real, perhaps even like people we know. Yes, all of them; the main characters, the friends, the girlfriends. Most of us know people like this, might want to step into the story and have a stern talk with them (or more). The slow pace may put off some viewers who would be impatient for the story to move along, for the characters to just "get over themselves." Let them be. They will work it all out the best way they can.