What screams romantic confliction more than standing on top of the mountain as the wind blows in your face? (Photo courtesy of IMDB)

If I ever get proposed to, I want the person I marry to walk across a foggy field at dawn to apologize for his aunt’s behavior à la Mr. Darcy in Joe Wright’s 2005 adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel, “Pride and Prejudice.” That is my standard, and I expect nothing less.

The film, which is currently being re-released in theaters for its 20th anniversary, is one of those adaptations that just gets the mood and atmosphere of its source text right. Is it the most faithful adaptation to the novel? No. But the leading duo of Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet and Matthew Macfadyen as Mr. Darcy injects just the right amount of tension into the film.

For Elizabeth and Darcy, the line between yearning and hatred is razor thin. The infamous hand flex? Yes please. Almost kissing after a dramatic rejected proposal in the pouring rain? Of course.

I can confidently say that I have watched this film four times already this year, and I have no intention of stopping.

The film coasts along dreamily, allowing months to fade together through the spinning of Elizabeth on a swing. The passage of time is never stable, which might be confusing for some, but creates the aura of perpetual spring.

Wright’s cinematography is stunning, flipping between chaotic, claustrophobic family scenes at Longbourn Estate and the Bennet household, and stunning, idyllic landscapes that make the English countryside feel like a little Eden.

The score, composed by Dario Marianelli and Jean-Yves Thibaudet, always starts out soft in soft, lilting piano music before rising over the course of the film. It’s also the perfect music to write to, speaking from personal experience (yes, I’m listening to it as I write this).

The characters also play piano in the film, with one of my favorite scenes coming as Elizabeth is asked to play by Darcy’s aunt, the “esteemed” Lady Catherine de Bourgh, played by none other than Dame Judi Dench, despite Elizabeth’s protestations that she’s “not afflicted with false modesty” and truly plays “poorly.”

As she stumbles through the main theme of the film, a variation of which also plays as Darcy walks towards Elizabeth before his proposal at dawn, Darcy comes and stands at the piano to watch her. This scene mirrors the other pianist in the film, Georgiana, Darcy’s sister, whom Elizabeth watches play the same theme masterfully (and then reunite with Darcy) through a cracked door.

This bridging between playing the piano in the film and the score fully immerses the viewer in Wright’s world, allowing the emotion of the film to bubble over through the music.

It’s transcendent.

No words will ever do this film justice, and this paltry attempt at a review cannot convey how this film makes me feel. No matter how many times I watch it, I giggle.

Thanks to the mastery of Jane Austen, Wright has the perfect material to poke fun at his characters, specifically Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Collins, the Bennet sisters’ cousin who makes a comical proposal to Elizabeth, but we also laugh with them, giggling under sheets as they go to bed and gossip about the militia.

With a star-studded group cast, including Rosamund Pike as Jane Bennet, Donald Sutherland as Mr. Bennet, Kelly Riley (who plays Beth in “Yellowstone”) as Caroline Bingley and Penelope Wilton (of Downton Abbey) as Mrs. Gardiner, Wright pays homage to Austen without being restricted by the novel.

This film gets a, “You are too generous to trifle with me. I believe you spoke with my aunt last night and it has taught me to hope as I had scarcely allowed myself before. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes have not changed, but one word from you will silence me forever. If, however, your feelings have changed, I would have to tell you, you have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love… I love… I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on,” from me.