Comparing Perfection - the two S&S.

If I couldn't decide between my two favourite Emma's, I have no chance of deciding when it comes to Sense and Sensibility. So the only thing to do is to tell you about each one. For this post, I'll concentrate on the most famous.

The first one I saw was the 1995 version with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet. It's quite possible I saw this before I saw Pride and Prejudice but I had no idea it was from a Jane Austen novel. Please excuse me, I was young and ignorant. The screenplay was written by Thompson herself and won her an Oscar. There is something about this movie that is able to tell a very twisty story and also capture the wit of Austen. Certainly not an easy feat! Every time I see an Austen film or read an Austen book there is always a character that reminds me of myself or of someone I know. I think that this is the reason why 200 years later, Austen is still popular. Because, while society has changed, she wrote stories about people and relationships we all know.

In this particular story, it is Elinor that I feel the most similarity. The oldest, most responsible sibling who is concerned about propriety and practicalities. She does not understand her sister and her mother's way of emotionally responding to every situation. She does what she needs to do. That does not mean that she does not have very strong feelings, it just means she is more capable of controlling them and keeping them to herself. I'm not going to bother going in to the rights and wrongs of this, I just need you to know that I 'get' Elinor. I might wish I could be as witty and forthright as Elizabeth Bennet, but in my heart, I am much more like Elinor Dashwood. 

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Anyway, back to the movie! Reading the cast list for this movie is like reading a British actors hall of fame. Emma Thompson, while a lot older than the book Elinor, is fantastic. There really is no doubt that she is an accomplished actress. This film is credited with making Kate Winslet a recognisable film star and it's easy to see why. It is so easy to get wrapped up in her romantic emotions and then feel absolutely heartbroken with her when it all comes tumbling down. Along with Emma and Kate, we also have Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, James Fleet, Imelda Staunton and Hugh Laurie amongst many others. Although criticised as too handsome for this role, Hugh Grant makes the perfectly awkward Edward Ferrars. Marianne might not have been swept off her feet by Colonel Brandon, but I think Alan Rickman plays him superbly. You can just tell there is a romantic heart beating under his smooth, guarded exterior. Staunton and Laurie play the Palmer's with hilarious results. Grumpy Hugh Laurie is always a favourite with me! 

There are some notable exceptions from the book including Lady Middleton and her children, and Lucy's sister Anne Steele. Anne is the one who inadvertently reveals the secret engagement, thus disinheriting Edward, but Thompson manages to make it like it never happened that way. There is also an addition of the youngest Dashwood sister. Margaret does not really have much of a role in the book but Thompson creates a lovely interpretation of her. While this has been criticised I think it adds beautifully to the closeness of the family and makes the story more realistic.

                                                       Source: Jane Austen Film Club

Some of my favourite scenes involve Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman discussing first Willoughby and then Edward Ferrars. They are such great actors and they work so well together. My very favourite scene though is when Edward comes to see the family at home and they do not know he is not married. The whole family's reaction is priceless and no one can forget Elinor's outburst on receiving the news. Dawn French parodied it hilariously in the Vicar of Dibley.

I really do love this film. I find myself squirming in all the scenes Willoughby and Marianne are together. I want to slap Lucy Steele whenever I see her gloating over her engagement to Edward Ferrars (as if she didn't know Edward loved Elinor!). Mrs John Dashwood always has me seething. Everything like it does in the book. Which is certainly a sign of perfection!

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So, this film about a story about two very close, very different sisters is a wonderful part of my Austen collection. Do you love it as much as me?

                                                                   
Finally, because these things make me giggle... in Love Actually, Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant play siblings and Emma's character is married to a character played by Alan Rickman!

Hanging out at Hartfield

I've posted a couple of my older Austen film favourites and I thought I should post about one of the newer adaptations that I adore.

I always thought that the Gywneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam version of Emma from Miramax would be my favourite Emma adaptation. It is a lovely film with the most beautiful costumes and a great cast. With so many new adaptations being produced in the last few years I have decided there is no reason to have favourites and I can enjoy them all in their own way. That could be because I can't possibly choose between them.

This new Emma, produced in 2009 by the BBC, has four 1 hour instalments which gives it a two hour advantage over the Miramax version. Lots more time to tell much more of the story. Emma is played by Romola Garai (Vanity Fair, Daniel Deronda), Mr Knightley by Jonny Lee Miller, and Mr Woodhouse is none other than Michael Gambon. I have to say I was mildly unconvinced after the first episode. This adaptation has a very modern feel. The dialogue and language, facial expressions and physical movements have all been translated to appeal to a much more modern audience than most period dramas. It was Romola's facial expressions that really threw me the first time around. But by the third and fourth episodes I was sold on this lovely adaptation.

                                                                         Source: Telegraph

 Thanks to my husband's influence, I now thoroughly enjoy watching behind the scenes documentaries and the Emma ones were fantastic. It's wonderful to see how much thought goes into costumes and sets and this adaptation does both brilliantly. Each character's costume and home were created to tell even more of their story. Emma's costumes in particular are exquisite. She is of course the richest of Jane Austen's heroines so we must expect she will have the best outfits. There is a lot more use of colour in this adaptation and hardly any pastel which is very refreshing for a period drama. Even the men get some colour!

While I grew to love Romola's Emma by the end there were some other performances I also enjoyed. Tamsin Grieg as Miss Bates is surprisingly heartbreaking. Her guilt in having sent Jane Fairfax away and her loneliness are perhaps extensions of the original story but add a great deal to this adaptation. Christina Cole as the snarky, bitchy Mrs Elton is so easy to hate, perfect for that character. Blake Ritson as Mr Elton is decidedly creepy, especially in the proposal scene. Although it's hard to go past Toni Collette, Louise Dylan makes a lovely, silly, air-headed Miss Smith. My favourite minor character must go to Dan Fredenbaugh as John Knightley. I would have liked him as a brother-in-law, crankiness and all!

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So we must of course talk about Mr Knightley himself. I loved Jonny Lee Miller in this adaptation. I especially loved him in the dance at the ball and the proposal scene. I love how he plays Mr Knightley as a man of the world, and very wise and knowledgeable but when he finds himself in a moment of intimacy with Emma, he falls apart like an awkward school boy. The line when he tells her "If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more." I just about died. Then when Emma places her hands on his face he seems almost unbelieving that his dream is coming true. Sigh. Yep, pretty sure I'm in love with that scene, and Jonny Lee Miller.

                                                                  Source: Jane Austen Film Club

As a side note, did we all know that both Jonny Lee Miller and Blake Ritson have played the role of Edmund Bertram in Mansfield Park? Funny.

Finally, I just want to add a few words about Michael Gambon as Mr Woodhouse. I've read it somewhere that this story is not just about Emma and her love story with Mr Knightley, but also the story of love between Emma and her father. Mr Woodhouse lost his wife to death and his oldest daughter to marriage, and he is absolutely terrified of losing Emma. I know that Emma Woodhouse is disliked by some but this adaptation really shows the good qualities she has, and one of them is that she really just wants the best for the ones she loves. She really would do anything to keep her father from being hurt in any way. Michael Gambon plays her father beautifully with just the right amount on anxiety and caring. I have to admit that Gambon had me crying like a baby in his last scene when Emma is leaving on her honeymoon. "Two weeks? It's an eternity!" Sob.

So there it is, I think my love is plain for all to see... I thoroughly enjoy watching this adaptation and watch it whenever I get the chance!

I wonder what Jane would think?

I do wonder sometimes what Jane Austen would think about what has become of her novels. She really knew no success from them in her short life. Now, movies and tv adaptations are made regularly, and people everywhere are taking her work and making it into all sorts of other things. (Check out my Pinterest for some of these!) Usually I'm not a fan of modern adaptations. Something I've been watching recently has changed my mind a little though...

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

I kept seeing these around the blogosphere but it was only the other day when I finally had a chance to watch them. This web series, created by Hank Green and Bernie Su (apparently very big in the web video business), is set as a video diary of Lizzie Bennet. Lizzie, with the help of her friend Charlotte, create these videos so she can talk and obsess over her parents and the love lives of her and her two sisters - responsible, sweet Jane, and flirty, wild Lydia. There have been 34 videos uploaded so far with an extra 3 Q&A videos. Apart from the four girls, Bing Lee and his sister Caroline have also made appearances. Darcy is yet to be seen and is widely anticipated by the growing fandom. The first episode alone has had over 340 000 views since April. The videos are supported by a website with background information and a Facebook, Tumblr, Google + and Twitter accounts belonging to Lizzie Bennet. The videos have also spawned an offshoot from Lizzie's younger sister, the Lydia Bennet Diaries.

You can also find more info here: http://lizziebennet.com.

Ok, so they're no BBC. But I'm quite enjoying this somewhat awkward, but clever, modern take on the very well-known classic. What's really great for me is that they are encouraging people to read along with the book. YouTube comments are filled with people who have started reading Austen for the first time after watching these videos. That in itself is success in my eyes. I'm very interested to see where they go with this series. I'm particularly enjoying watching Charlotte and I can't wait to see what they do with her character. Lizzie's play acting of her parents is hilarious, even if I do find her a touch too abrasive at times. Lydia is extremely entertaining and irritating all at the same time. Jane is exactly what I would imagine her to be if she lived in 2012. And of course... when will we get to meet Darcy?!

So here it is, episode 1. I hope you like it!

I am half agony, half hope.

1995-96 were very good years for Austen adaptations. Six adaptations were made in that time including my beloved P&P I wrote about in my first post. After reading P&P I started reading through her other novels. I watched Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility and Gwyneth Paltrow in Emma and read through their originals voraciously. But I didn't know anything about Persuasion until I saw this...

                                                                         Source: Wikipedia

And I fell in love with Amanda Root and Anne Eliot.

                                                                    Source: Jane Austen Centre

So let's back up here and preface this with the same thing I said in P&P. I saw this before I read the book and it was the first adaptation I saw of the book as well. That imprint thing is probably at work here. But Amanda Root made me want to read this book. She is Anne Eliot in my eyes.

In case you do not know the story here's a brief synopsis. Anne Eliot and Captain Wentworth were in love eight years earlier. They planned to be married but Anne was persuaded by her mother's friend, Lady Russell, to not accept him. Wentworth, while he had excellent prospects of doing well in the Navy, had no money. As the daughter of a baronet, this was unacceptable. Eight years have passed and Wentworth is now richer than rich. Anne Eliot's father, a vain and frivolous man, is now in debt and has to rent out his house. He rents it to none other than Wentworth's sister and her husband. Wentworth is now looking for a wife and while he and Anne are now in the same vicinity, he is still very angry and hurt over their history and is looking for a very different kind of woman.

Of course, I don't think I really appreciated this book when I was younger. P&P is all about young, adventurous love. In Persuasion, the main characters are a little bit older and some are a bit regretful of the decisions they made when they were younger. Anne is wiser and although she is still quiet and reserved, she's not going to make the same mistake twice. Or be persuaded to marry another man because he appears to be the right man. Another difference between P&P and Persuasion is that P&P is all conversations and Persuasion has a decided lack of them. It is all about reflection and introspection. This is wonderful in the novel but far more difficult for an actress to portray when she doesn't say very much. This is why I love Amanda Root because she does it so well. She is able to show the quiet strength and wisdom that makes Anne Eliot so appealing.

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Her strength is very apparent in the scene above when she is the only one able to deal with the incident at Lyme and remain calm while everyone else descends into hysteria or shock.

I cannot talk about Persuasion without discussing the letter. The most wonderful letter that ever was written, that Wentworth writes to Anne. In the book the moment is very intense and it plays out beautifully on the screen. With their soft, whispered voices interweaving as Anne reads the letter. Then, when Anne comes downstairs and they see each other, Amanda Root's subtlety really comes into play. Anne barely even smiles and yet you can tell by the look in her eyes what her feelings are for Wentworth. That intensity of all those years apart, the pain and the anguish, all in those few seconds. Exquisite.

                                                                    Source: Sony Pictures
                                                            

Seriously. Go and read that letter. It will make your heart ache.

Of course, this version does have it's problems. Both Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds (who is also wonderful) are maybe a bit too old for their parts. There is also some issues with the story of the deceptiveness of Mr Eliot, who actually isn't poor, but he just wants to use Anne to keep her father from marrying again. He could of course be disinherited if Sir Eliot fathers an heir. This does not come across well in this particular version. 

So there it is, my love for Persuasion, the 1995 version, and Amanda Root. I wish I could express to you the feelings I have when watching it, but alas, you will just have to watch it yourself!

                                                                           Source: Cineplex
                                                                

The One That Started It All

I think it's appropriate for my first blog post to be about the thing that started this obsession in the first place. About 15 years ago someone showed me the 1995 BBC TV adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. 

                                                                    Source: Wikipedia

It was love at first watch. I know it is loved by many, even with it's faults (of which I see none). I'm going to be honest and say I really didn't know anything about Jane Austen before this, which I find a little bit sad. By the following Christmas I had persuaded my parents to buy me a set of Jane Austen's books and I was off and revelling in this beautiful world.

Since then I have read P&P several times and watched the 1980 and 2005 versions, Lost in Austen with it's P&P characters, and I've even seen a few clips of the 1940 version (Darcy is a ladies' man!). I think the first adaptation you see will always imprint most clearly on your brain as the representation of those characters. For me, Colin Firth will always be my favourite Darcy. And it has nothing to do with the wet shirt scene! He is so stiff and unlikeable in the first half. It really is no wonder that Elizabeth prefers Wickham. But by the time Elizabeth arrives at Pemberley you should really start to see him soften. Colin Firth plays this so perfectly. He frowns less. He talks more. His facial expressions are so subtle and perfect. The scenes at Pemberley are some of my favourites, especially the long look!

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In the 1980 version, Darcy doesn't even smile until the second proposal which is almost the very last scene. He is so stiff, it makes you wonder if he really likes Elizabeth at all. I find that the actors who play this role tend to struggle with the change from stiff, proud Darcy to the more friendlier, but still formal version at Pemberly and with Elizabeth. I think Colin Firth does it the best. I seriously think that Darcy struggles with social anxiety... maybe that's why I feel an affinity to him?

Jennifer Ehle is wonderful as Elizabeth Bennet. She's so funny and you really feel the character in her. Her facial expressions really make the whole thing work. She also has some of the nicest costumes. The rust-coloured bonnet and blue and tan pelisses are some of my favourites. This dress is also completely wonderful:

                                                              Source: BBC

Of course, you can't see it very well in that picture, so just take my word for it... or go and watch it!

The rest of the cast is also adorable and in my mind can never be replaced.  There was always a problem with this version having a rather washed-out look to it. Now I have a remastered HD version and it is so beautiful. The colours are now brighter and the costumes and sets stand out much clearer. Even my husband enjoys watching this version with me.

My love for this version comes from a place of nostalgia, but I'm guessing it will last for a very long time!