THR: Can you break down the famous hand flex carriage scene from both Darcy’s and Elizabeth’s perspectives?
Joe Wright: The hand scene was really a kind of articulation for me of this idea that sometimes our bodies know best. That our minds might be a little slow to catch up, and that both Darcy and Elizabeth’s bodies, their hands, their whole nervous system, is aware of the importance of that person in their lives and in their futures. She certainly isn’t, but he has a growing awareness at this point. And when he flexes his hand as he walks away, it’s a kind of almost a shaking off of that feeling of that reality.
Also, in case you missed them…
A Pride And Prejudice Movie Moment Went Viral On TikTok, And The Director Had No Idea The Internet Was So Obsessed (via Cinema Blend’s March 2022 article )
2005’s Mr. Darcy has TikTok bewitched, body and soul. Following the video, a whole side of TikTok was talking about Mr. Darcy’s hand flex left and right – so much the topic itself on the platform has nearly 10 million views. P&P director Joe Wright was recently asked by Insider about the big Pride and Prejudice resurgence.
Here was his response:“I would have never imagined that Darcy’s hand flex would be iconic on TikTok.” #MatthewMacfadyen was also educated on the viral status of the hand flex. He shared how the scene was filmed on NPR”s Fresh Air podcast:
𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 [𝐡𝐚𝐧d 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐱] 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝? 𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭?
“No. It’s credit to Joe [Wright, director] ‘cause I think he’s just...he doesn’t miss a trick and he’s so alive to things and he saw me do it in a rehearsal or take and I remember him just going ‘get that!’ So, they just did an extra shot on the hand you know, where they sort of did a tracking shot. So, yeah...”
plus, a throwback of Keira Knightley & Matthew Macfadyen talking about their characters' first skin-on-skin touch and Darcy clenching his hand via DVD extras...
“They don’t really touch. Women don’t shake hands with men. So the first time Darcy touches Elizabeth is when he helps her into the carriage. Which is a really beautiful moment because it’s the first skin on skin touch. I think today, we don’t think twice about that at all. I shake people’s hands, I give them a kiss, whatever. It’s interesting to think, if you don’t have that tactile nature, how important one touch can be.” -Keira Knightley
“I did find myself clenching my hands quite often. I had this secret: I thought that in Darcy’s encounters with Lizzie, whenever she gets at him, really hits him with a sort of verbal body blow, he couldn’t react right then. He’d be totally infuriated. But it would tickle him so much.” -Matthew Macfadyen