The dance scene is justas good as the 2005 Pride & Prejudice one. But I particularly love this one because of the detail about Emma’s gloves. She takes them off. Even after she asks Mr Knightley to dance, she doesn’t put them back on. Touching a woman’s bare hand was a very intimate form of physical affection, and generally considered a big no-no at the time (especially public occasions). The gloves are off, their barriers are down…and while it may seem like a sweet dance between two friends, it becomes unbearably intense as it goes on. They get closer, the camera gets closer, and they begin to lose focus of the world around them, even the dance itself. And I just lovethe glorious close-up of their hands touching, like they don’t want to let go just yet. The skin-to-skin contact is everything. Thank-you, Autumn de Wilde!
