US 'Pride and Prejudice' more 'sugary' than UK version

The US release of Pride and Prejudice is apparently a full eight minutes longer than the UK version.

According to Matthew MacFadyen, who plays the role of Mr Darcy, UK audiences disliked the "sugary" ending where Keira Knightley and MacFadyen's characters embrace, so it was cut out for the film's British release.

Donald Sutherland, who plays the father of heroine Elizabeth Bennett, told USA Today that it was decided American audiences would want a "sweeter film," which is why the film is so much longer. In all other versions bar the US one, the film ends with Mr Bennett's line "If any young men come for Mary or Kitty, send them in, for I am quite at leisure."

Apparently, some members of the Jane Austen Society of North America were not best pleased with the US version, saying that the ending was "inconsistent" and that it "insults the audience with its banality." A UK petition for the addition of the scenes on the DVD version has already begun.