Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” has been made into movies and TV series so many times that it’s questionable whether another version was needed or, for that matter, even wanted.

But the latest incarnation of her classic romance is one of the best, pulled out of “Masterpiece Theater” dullness that dooms most such period pieces and turned into a vibrant, fully alive film about the collision of the business of marriage with the uncertainties and high emotion of love.

The first smart move by director Joe Wright and writer Deborah Moggach was to set the story in the early 1700s, getting it out of the uptight Victorian era in which it is generally seen. Then Wright has the good sense to make the film realistic looking. The mud and dankness take the sheen off the familiar story, making what goes on seem a little more real.

The second bit of inspiration for this production was to hire Keira Knightley to play Elizabeth Bennett and Matthew MacFayden to play Mr. Darcy.

Knightley first came to wide attention in “Bend It Like Beckham” and became a star playing opposite Johnny Depp in “Pirates of the Caribbean.” Those kinds of pictures don’t exactly suggest serious drama, but Knightley’s youthful enthusiasm and willingness to play Elizabeth for all she is worth rather than holding back in some prim re-creation of a bygone era gives the movie its heart.

MacFayden is an English actor who’s largely unknown to American audiences. But he’s as good as the shy, proper Mr. Darcy as Knightley is as Elizabeth.

The central duo is surrounded by a strong supporting cast, including the great Brenda Blethyn as Mrs. Bennet, whose chief concern in the world seems to be getting her five daughters married off to men rich enough to support the extended family, and Donald Sutherland as a very laid back Mr. Bennet, who, contrary to the mores of the time, wants his girls to be happy rather than merely attached to their men.

The interplay between Blethyn and Sutherland is amusing, as are Mrs. Bennet’s flustered actions when a suitor comes to the rambling Bennet house for a visit. Those are the most obvious examples of something else Wright and Moggach have found that others often overlook. “Pride and Prejudice” is, on one level, a comedy of manners, and this version gets some of the humor.

But it is primarily the story of a pair of intertwined romances.

Charles Bingley (Simon Woods) is the neighborhood aristocrat, a rich young man who moves back and forth from London to the country who has an eye for Jane Bennet (Rosamund Pike), Elizabeth’s sister. Mr. Darcy is Bingley’s best friend who meets and irritates Elizabeth at a dance.

As those familiar with the story already know, from that point on “Pride and Prejudice” becomes a cat-and-mouse game of manipulation and yearning involving not only the four primary players but a socially inept parson, an unscrupulous soldier, an imperious grand dame, Elizabeth’s aunt and uncle and two of her sisters.

Wright and Moggach stay close to Austen’s source material, telling the story pretty faithfully. But they give the material plenty of spirit and keep the pace moving about as well as can be expected. That’s not to say that “Pride and Prejudice” is an action movie, but it’s not filled with long stretches of dullness either. That makes it about as good as any Austen adaptation is going to get.

If you like classic romance, catch this version of “Pride and Prejudice” and marvel at how Knightley and MacFayden bring it fully to life.

Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.