I'm going to jump in here, not really in defense of the movie, because I'm the one who made the comment above about no movie Darcys smiling enough, but I don't think that Darcy's interest in Elizabeth is perhaps as flagrant as you consider it to be in the book. Are there clear signs that he likes her and is interested in her? Yes, there are, but he also sends plenty of contradictory signals too, and I've never thought he behaved like a man ready to propose. If Elizabeth had been less prejudiced she would have recognized the possibility of his interest, but I don't think she could ever have been expecting a declaration, not unless she was exceptionally vain.
This is going to start a whole new thread of argument, I know, but I don't personally feel that the movies are as unbalanced as you consider them based on Darcy's lack of smiles alone. To me, it just makes Darcy more somber than he ought to be.
This is going to start a whole new thread of argument, I know, but I don't personally feel that the movies are as unbalanced as you consider them based on Darcy's lack of smiles alone. To me, it just makes Darcy more somber than he ought to be.