Lost in Austen

I was so thrilled when I learned of Lost in Austen, the BBC miniseries. I mean who more than I, a devoted Jane Austen fan, would enjoy a fantasy trip to the world of Pride and Prejudice. Oh the possibilities, you could befriend the beloved Elizabeth, or tell off some vile character like Mrs. Bennet, Lady Catherine, or Mr. Collins. And indeed the 4 part miniseries indulges many of these fantasies; it thrusts 21st century Amanda Price into the Regency world where she navigates her way around ridiculous situations and the tried and true problems of time travel.
However, somewhere along the way this fantasy trip falls flat. Maybe it is because it tries to do too much. And more importantly it lacks what is best about Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth (she’s been catapulted to the future in place of Price’s character). The story goes too far and then doesn't offer explanations for many goofy plot turns. Why, for example, is Darcy taken to the future and then back in regency England and then forgets all about it? Also, Amanda Price doesn’t seem to have a central goal in the miniseries. She tries to manipulate the events in the story based on her knowledge of the novel and puts herself into a number of circumstances for comical reasons, but she never achieves her stated goal: to try to preserve the novel’s outcomes.
And the Darcy isn’t very good. That’s always the problem with any remake of Pride and Prejudice. Who can compete with Colin Firth’s version? (although I thought Matthew MacFadyen who was just seen BBC’s Little Dorrit, was a good Darcy) . One good point of the movie was the Mr. Wickam played by Tom Riley -- I liked the twist taken with his character and the clever way it was shown that our prejudices may have been wrong about him – plus the actor was much more interesting to look at than Darcy.
Overall, I thought, bummer, I wish it could have been better. But maybe there’s hope, and BBC will put Amanda Price into Persuasion where she will interact with Anne Elliot and tell off Anne’s awful sister Elizabeth.

Becoming Jane, Again

It was at the library, that is why I got it again. I didn't really like it that much the first time, so why did I watch it again?I still found it weirdly inappropriate for the world of Jane Austen, boxing? Prostitutes? Naked buts? Come ON. I watched the extras and all of the actors dutifully shared their knowledge of the time, costumes, manners or the world of Jane Austen, yet the movie seems to stray from this, in so many ways. Anne Hathaway who plays Jane too.

Other thoughts
Super sexy brother Henry -- I could see him in something else
Not as good as PBS’ attempt at a Jane Bio, Miss Austen's Regrets

Emma

The 1996 Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow is such a delight. Wow, it came out over ten years ago and back when the movie first came out I do recall, I found the movie too slick and snappy and missing key elements of the weighty novel. Right now I am listening to Emma on librivox.org, so I can more accurately compare the novel with this movie. I see now that it made sense to take out a lot of the stray plot elements and also was surprised how much of the movie’s dialogue comes right out of the novel. Gwyneth Paltrow is a charming Emma and the sexy Jeremy Northram is probably way too cute to play the staid Mr. Knightly but he is fun to watch in the part. Oh, and I forgot that Ewan McGregor plays Frank Churchill (making me think he often plays goofy fops (see entry on Stay). Oh and don’t forget Sophie Thompson, Emma Thompson’s sister, as the chatterbox Miss Bates; she is a hoot in this movie, and her mother in the movie is her real life mother, Phylida Law. It was a lot fun watching Emma again.

The Jane Austen Book Club

I know, I know, it seems my blog has been taken over by Jane Austen. Oh well, I think the season will be over soon. The Jane Austen Book Club, based on the book of the same name, is actually better than the book. It's so light and peppy and fun -- I was thrilled. All the female characters are charming and enjoyable to watch and the main lead male, Hugh Dancy is, well, yummy. I thought it would hardly have anything to do with Jane, but I was pleasantly surprised by all the Jane Austen references, and the way the characters showed why Jane is so great. The bit about Ursula Le Guin was funny. I have always been resistant to science fiction and fantasy novels, so people are always telling me that I should read Ursula LeGuin, and so far I have resisted -- I liked how the romantic pair showed how they loved the other by reading each other's favorite books. This is a movie about and for book lovers. How can that be bad?

Jane Just Plain Rules

Now I feel sad -- Miss Austen Regrets' portrayal of my dear Jane made me lament her short life once again. This Jane seemed more like the Jane of my imaginings than, well certainly more than Becoming Jane. I liked her snippy and funny comments -- many of the lines came straight out of her letters to Cassandra ("shocking acts of dancing") -- and her hunger to write and find solitude. This Jane wanted to have fun and dance and have too much to drink; she even had a hangover. When Cassandra burned Jane's letters after her death, I wanted to grab the letters out of the fire and save all the rich wonderfulness of her words. Ah me -- and then her problems with money and the position that she is put in to try to help her sister and her mother. "I'm to be my own husband, it seems" she complains about her situation. I think I will reread Persuasion now and try to hear the voice of Jane reflecting on her life.

As You Like It
I also saw the HBO movie version of this Shakespeare play -- one of my favorites. I'm pretty sure it is only a movie that English teachers and their students will watch.

Jane Lite Rules Mansfield Park

After viewing my third of the new PBS Jane movies, I've decided this ensemble should be called Lite -- as in fat free -- just the bare bones romance. This Mansfield Park in particular really stripped away of all of the funny characters and side stories. Mrs. Norris isn't so awful, Mary Crawford not so bitchy, and Fanny's brother and seaside family are barely a blip on the screen. That's ok I guess, but one of the main things I love about Jane Austen is all of the odd-ball self-involved characters that riddle her novels. Oh well. Jane Austen Lite is better than no Jane Austen at all.

Jane Rules Northanger Abbey

Northanger Abbey has always been my least favorite Jane Austen. In it's favor last night's PBS version had a cute Katherine Moreland, a charming George Tilney, and an imposing castle. Both Persuasion and Northanger Abbey move at a quick pace and are likable, but I didn't feel like I got to know the great quirky side characters that make Jane Austen so great.

This weekend I also saw Savages with Laura Linney and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. It's about a brother and sister who have to care for their ailing father. The previews made this move seem whimsical and charming, so I was not expecting it to be as grim as it was. I think it's going to be one of those films that needs mulling over.

Last I saw the A&E miniseries about Charles II called The Last King with Rufus Sewell as Charles. It's a bit of a boddice ripper, but those who like movies about the English monarchy will like it, I think.

Jane Rules -- starting with Persausion

Well, at least she rules the air waves for the next couple of Sundays. Yes, all of Jane Austen films are being made anew (except Pride and Prejudice -- they are reshowing the A&E version). Tonight was Persuasion and while, in my humble opinion, it didn't come close to the Amanda Root version that was longer and payed more attention to some of the kooky characters like Anne's ridiculous sisters, I liked this breezy version; I liked the actress who played Anne and thought the Frederick was a less dour and much cuter than the other Captain Wentworth. Hey, what about that weird street open mouth kiss at the end? That seemed to come out of nowhere.

A Jane Austen Fanatic goes to Becoming Jane

When a Jane Austen fanatic, such as myself, goes to see a movie imagining what the real Jane Austen was like, well she enters the theater with both excitement and fear.
What will she find? How can she separate the Jane she knows and created in her own mind from the Jane played by Anne Hathaway on screen?
Well, the experience wasn't as jarring as it could have been. I was able to keep my own image of Jane safely maintained and enjoyed this movie-screen version of Jane (a totally different one than the one I know)-- way too passionate, way too pretty, and way too love-struck teenager.
Apart from this disconnect, I enjoyed the movie. I liked the lovely scenery, the snippets of scenes from Jane Austen's novels, and the sassy and sexy talking Tom LeFroy played by James McAvoy, last seen in the Last King of Scotland. He didn't seem like any kind of Jane Austen hero that I ever knew but what the hey.
Don't get me started on the implausibilities in Becoming Jane because I could go on -- about a weird parental scene at the beginning of the movie, or virulent boxing, or the cricket playing Jane, or writing Pride and Prejudice in a night on so forth. But I will spare you.
All in all, my Jane, still in tact, Anne Hathaway's Jane, cute and ultimately not that memorable.