Welcome to the August meeting of the JANE AUSTEN MOVIE CLUB!
This is the place to discuss, debate, detail, decry, deride, deplore, defend, delight in, or decree to be divine a different Jane Austen film or television adaptation the first Tuesday of every month.
This month’s topic: the 1996 feature film of EMMA (a.k.a. “the one with Gwyneth Paltrow.”)
Whether you’ve seen this adaptation recently, or watched it once years ago, please join in!
I’ll throw out some ideas to help the discussion get started, but feel free to leave a comment on any aspect of the film you wish.
A few possible questions:
Did you think this version was funny? Romantic? Thought-provoking? Beautiful to look at?
What did you think of the casting? (Cast list below.)
In particular, what did you think of Paltrow? Or her accent?
How about Ewan McGregor? His hair? His lack of light saber?
How about Alan Cumming? Juliet Stevenson? Sophie Thompson? Toni Collette? Jeremy Northam?
Did you think this film captured the essence of Austen’s novel? The essence of Emma’s character?
Was this adaptation too clean and pretty for you?
Did you love (or hate) the gowns?
Here are some credits, to aid in the discussion:
Directed by: Douglas McGrath
Screenplay: Douglas McGrath
CAST:
Gwyneth Paltrow … Emma Woodhouse
Denys Hawthorne … Mr. Woodhouse
Jeremy Northam … Mr. Knightley
Toni Collette … Harriet Smith
James Cosmo … Mr. Weston
Greta Scacchi … Mrs. Weston
Alan Cumming … Mr. Elton
Sophie Thompson … Miss Bates
Phyllida Law … Mrs. Bates
Polly Walker … Jane Fairfax
Ewan McGregor … Frank Churchill
Juliet Stevenson… Mrs. Elton
All opinions welcome!
So…let the discussion begin!
(And if you have any suggestions for what our movie next month should be, suggest away!)
Cara
Cara King, author of MY LADY GAMESTER,
starring Ultimate Atalanta and her annoying sidekick Tom
Saw this in the theatres. NYC. there were only 2 guys in the whole theatre. The rest were all females.
I was already a huge Ewan fan by this time (still am) and I thought his preening interpretation was interesting. Always hated his wig in this film. Why, oh why?
Love all the gowns in this. Thought Paltrow was pretty good and has an excellent figure for the empire gowns but one Paltrow hater once remarked to me that she looked like Wendy Darling (Peter Pan) so now I cant get the image out of my mind. heh.
From the moment I saw Greta Scacchi as Mrs. Weston, I had difficulty taking this version seriously. We kept waiting for her to get her kit off, as she does in nearly every film she’s in….
As for the film overall: Nice to look at, but a bit too chocolate-boxy for me. The only piece of casting I really admired was Juliet Stevenson. Jeremy Northam is certainly easy on the eyes, but he was more Mr Beaumaris to me than Mr Knightley.
As a rosarian speclialising in Tudor, Stuart, Georgian and Regency plants–the outdoor scenes made me mental.
The treatment overall seemed more appropriate for a Georgette Heyer than a Jane Austen novel, in my opinion, that is.
I expect other people’s mileage will vary.
I really have mixed feelings about this movie. There were a few moments–usually when no one was talking–when a shot looked absolutely right.
I thought the casting, except for the two main characters, was brilliant, particularly Alan Cummings and Juliet Stevenson. Loved her aside to the camera about the lace at the wedding. I wish there had been more of that sort of inventiveness.
Paltrow was … forgettable (and I’ve loved her in other movies such as Sliding Doors). As for Jeremy Northam… well, the man just sends me to sleep. In fact I did nod off during this movie the first time I saw it. Generally my impression is that it tries too hard to be pretty and doesn’t give the excellent supporting actors enough to do. And it reduced a brilliantly-plotted book to a sort of lagging Bridget Jones’s Diary.
Well, this is what I wrote down about it when I read/watched all the Emma’s I have. . .
funnier – loved Mr Knightly – liked these Bates more – loved Mr Knightly – had the riddles scene from the book – started off very quick compared to book, but then slowed down a bit – loved Mr Knightly – liked the scene where they shared feelings (guess I mean the ending scene here)
Ah, did I mention I liked Mr Knightly? LOL I’m tied with this one and the 1997 one with really liking them, because they both are pretty good (I felt) when it came to coming from the book, but the 97 one might be a tiny bit more like the book, but this one felt lighter and more fun. And I liked Mr Knightly. LOL
—
So, now all I have to read and watch is Mansfield Park (well, since the last movie Tuesday LOL) And my favorite book list now, minus MP of course, are —
1 – Pride and Prejudice
2 – Northanger Abbey
3 – Sense and Sensbility
4 – Emma
5 – Persuasion
Well, I listed S&S and Emma as 3 and 4, but it might be tied for 3rd place there. . .
And as for favorite heroes purely from the books. . .
1 – Mr Darcy
2 – Mr Tilney
3 – Colonel Brandon
4 – Captain Wentworth
5 – Edward Ferrars
6 – Mr Knightly
and the heroes based on the movies. . .
1 – Mr Darcy (Colin Firth)
2 – Mr Knightly (this one, as already mentioned LOL)
3 – Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman)
4 – Mr Darcy (Lawrence Oliver)
5 – Captain Wentworth (well, don’t know his name, but the Persuasion from this year)
And now I’ll be quiet. LOL 🙂
Oh, my vote would be for S&S 1995. . . Sure, I just read the book two weeks ago and saw the movie right after finishing, but I sure wouldn’t mind seeing Alan Rickman again! LOL 🙂
Lois
I really enjoyed this version much more than the Kate Beckinsale version, but that may be because she annoys me. I thought Gwyneth was lovely as Emma, and Jeremy Northam suitably dreamy as Mr. Knightly. However, I thought Polly Walker was a bit long in the tooth for Jane Fairfax and what was up with Ewan McGregor and his hair? Still, out of all 3 versions, I prefer Clueless.
I too liked both this “Emma” and the Kate Beckinsale version that was on A&E at about the same time. I liked some things better in each and over all would love to see a longer adaptation of Emma that could go into more detail, like the A&E “Pride and Prejudice”. I liked both Paltrow and Northam as Emma and Mr. Knightley and thought the romance was quite touching. (To me, Jeremy Northam manages to be very different, yet equally dreamy, in “Emma”, “The Winslow Boy”, and “An Ideal Husband”, three movies I watch frequently and not entirely because of him :-). I thought the supporting cast was great too. But though I think Toni Colette is a wonderful actress, I thought the portrayal of Harriet Smith in the movie missed the point in the book. Harriet is supposed to seem sweet and refined, so that Emma, not seeing beneath the surface, mentally “casts” her as a nobelman’s daughter and tries to mold her for a life the girl underneath isn’t really suited for.
p.s.
I also vote for the Emma Thompson/Ang Lee “Sense & Sensibility”. I just rewatched it–it’s so exquisitely nuanced!
Yeah, the hair. . . I saw that Ewan McGregor did/was doing another movie where the hair had to be a certain way, so they had to go for a wig. . . ah, guess they didn’t have many wigs to choose from. LOL But forgot something. . . when he first meets Emma (and us for that matter) I busted out laughing because he said something about joining or whatever the dark side. . . *snort* foreshadowing, maybe??
And I busted out laughing when a certain Mr. Beveridge’s Maggot song played. Yeah, okay, I’m sure there are other country dance songs they could have used, but still, I thought that was rather cool to hear again in another movie. 😉
Lois
Toni Colette is such a wonderful actress that she quite overshadowed everyone else in the movie. When nobody dances with her I wanted to weep. In general, I thought she could have played all the parts, which is not something you want from an actress playing Harriet Smith.
I thought Gwyneth Paltrow was fine and Jeremy Northam a snoozer. I much preferred the Kate Beckinsale version, which gets at some of Emma’s less endearing qualities, Mr. Knightley’s anger, and the feel of Highbury.
Ooh, what a wonderful difference of opinion! And much agreement, too.
Seton, I saw this one in a theater too, but there were only three people *total* in the theater when I saw it! 🙂 And I agree — Paltrow has the perfect figure for empire gowns. (Which, of course, is why when many of us put on empire gowns, we look rather…oh, never mind.) 🙂
Margaret, have you seen the deleted scenes from Emma? Who knows, maybe there’s one where Greta Scacchi drops her clothes. 🙂
Janet, I loved Alan Cumming too — he’s so bizarre, so creepy and oily! I liked Juliet Stevenson too, but I’m not sure I was ever overwhelmed by her performance — though I’ve never really known why.
As for Jeremy Northam… well, the man just sends me to sleep.
Oh, that’s okay, Janet…it just leaves more Jeremy for me. (Sorry, Lois, but HE’S MINE!) :-p
Cara
I enjoyed this version. Yes, a bit more pretty than realistic, but I don’t mind Regency escapism…or Regency realism either.
And count me as one who loved Jeremy Northam as Mr. Knightly. Admittedly played rather beta but then I like betas…and alphas too.
Elena, Austen movie ho
My favorite part of this film was the titles. I’m not being mean, I thought they were very well done.
Gwyneth was okay, but Jeremy leaves me unruffled. Nothing I can do about that, it’s a chemistry thing.
Emma’s house is good at getting across the loneliness and isolation, but Highbury was a bit disappointing. It didn’t seem to gel as a community.
Sophie Thompson and Ewan Mcgregor both did their characters proud.
Toni Colette is always good, but this isn’t my favorite role of hers.
All in all, this version’s watchable, but I’m ready for another adaptation!
Elizabeth Kerri Mahon wrote:
I really enjoyed this version much more than the Kate Beckinsale version, but that may be because she annoys me.
You know, I think on some level she annoys me too — which may be why I liked her best in Cold Comfort Farm, in which her character was supposed to be a little bit of an acquired taste. (Though I did like her in Underworld!)
And Clueless might just be my favorite Austen adaptation too… Though I like this one a lot.
For one thing, I love Jeremy Northam — funny, charming, loves his dogs… 🙂 Sure, maybe technically he’s a little too young and handsome, but I guess that’s not a bad thing in my mind. (When guys are heroes they always seem to win some hot young thing by the end, so why can’t women?)
I liked Paltrow quite a bit. I think the difficulty — well, one of the difficulties — with adapting Emma is that Austen tends to do a lot of telling as well as showing — and she often tells us one half of the equation, and shows us the other. So if you just go with the “scenes” in the book, Emma can easily come out too unlikable. (Ditto for Marianne in S&S.)
Sure, Emma’s not supposed to be an easy character, but we’re not supposed to hate her. After all, all the good and intelligent characters in the book like her — so we can conclude she’s got some good stuff in her, and not just looks and money.
Actually, in this respect, I think Clueless presents my purest idea of Emma — we see why everyone loves her so (she’s happy and affectionate — how can one not love anyone that happy and loving, even if they are lazy and self-satisfied?)
But I think the Paltrow Emma also does a good job in this area. (To me, Beckinsale’s Emma is just too unhappy, and too harsh, and I wouldn’t want to know her.)
Oh, and I *love* Sophie Thompson. Especially in the Box Hill scene. She didn’t really work for me in Persuasion — to me, there she’s over the top and not funny — but here I found her hilarious and heartbreaking both.
Cara
Well, I like this version of Emma very much, and not just because of Gwyneth Paltrow’s neck. I like it more than the Kate Beckinsale version, even though I quite like Kate Beckinsale in general, except in roles where she’s supposed to be unlikeable. (Did anyone but me see The Last Days of Disco?) Though if they’d put her in a black catsuit she might have won out.
Hmm. Reading over the last paragraph, I’m not sure my mind is focused on the more important things. Oh, well.
I quite like Jeremy Northam’s portrayal of Knightley, as well. And of the secondary characters, I thought Sophie Thompson really stood out.
(Margaret, I don’t think Greta Scacchi took her clothes off in Jefferson in Paris, either. Maybe she doesn’t do it in period pieces.)
Ahem. To sum up: Paltrow 1, Beckinsale 0. But I still have a soft spot in my heart for Alicia Silverstone in Clueless.
Todd-whose-mind-really-is-fixed-on-the-higher-things
I quite like this movie, too! Despite some of its inaccuracies, like those sleeveless dresses with the sheer spencers, and the hatless wandering around (and what movie doesn’t have some inaccuracies, now that I think about it? It just seems some things bug me more than others. or some movies bug me more than others…) it was fun and sweet, very enjoyable to watch. I like it when I need “cheering up” a bit. 🙂
(I also like some things about the Beckinsale version, but in general found her to be cranky and Knightley’s wig to be weird. Ewan’s wig was also weird, but luckily he was not onscreen quite so much, LOL!)
I agree that: a) Polly Walker, while pretty, was a bit older than Jane Fairfax should be. I liked Olivia Williams in the Becksinsale version better (is that the right name? Anyway, I read she’s to play Jane Austen soon in a BBC production!) b) I love Knightley!!! c) While I generally like Toni Colette, she was like fingers on a chalkboard in this one (also liked Samantha Morton better in the Beckinsale version). But maybe that was all part of the general over-the-topness of the characters in this movie?
So, what I seem to be saying in my rambly way, is that I liked the main couple and the general atmosphere better in the Paltrow version, and many of the secondary roles better in the Beckinsale.
I vote for S&S next!
1) We clearly have a consensus — we’ll do the Ang Lee/Emma Thompson Sense & Sensibility for next month!
2) Amanda wrote: I liked Olivia Williams in the Becksinsale version better
I did too — though I thought she looked too similar to Beckinsale, and I kept having to take a moment to figure out who I was looking at, which was a pain.
3) Interesting that some of the strongest disagreement is on Toni Collette! I quite liked her — not as the definitive version of Harriet, but as an interesting and workable interpretation. I love it when casting fights against a stereotype…in this case, why should a young, naive, sweet, slightly dim creature have to be small? 🙂
Cara
Sadly, the movies wasn’t closed captioned for the deaf so I could not watch it 🙁 (I wrote A & E about this but no reply) so missed this one which I would have loved to see (Same as Pride & Prejudice) maybe some day. But the pictures from the movies here are beautiful
I’m with Pam with preferring the Kate Beckinsale Emma. I just could not suspend my disbelief and always saw Gwynth Paltrow as herself instead of as Emma (this is also true in whatever role Jodie Foster plays. Or Jack Nickolson). Beckinsale inhabits a role better, IMO. I like Kate Beckinsale anyway. The whole 1997 version was better cast, I thought.
Mark Strong as Mr. Knightly is bald so he needed a wig, Amanda. Jeremy Notham is okay, but this was not a strong performance, such as Ciaran Hinds as Capt. Wentworth.
And just so you know… Mark Strong is currently filming Rocknrolla with none other than…Gerard Butler!
Diane wrote:
I just could not suspend my disbelief and always saw Gwynth Paltrow as herself instead of as Emma (this is also true in whatever role Jodie Foster plays. Or Jack Nickolson).
I agree with you about Jack Nicholson–I have said that myself, many times, as my long-suffering wife can attest–but not about Jodie Foster. At least, not so much.
If we are comparing Jeremy Northam in Emma to Ciaran Hinds in Persuasion then I would have to go with Wentworth over Knightley. But I liked them both.
And I like Kate Beckinsale, too. Especially in a black catsuit.
Todd-whose-mind-keeps-slipping-off-of-those-higher-things
Caffey, how disappointing to hear that a company like A&E wouldn’t close-caption their productions! I wouldn’t have thought it of them.
However, the A&E version is the Kate Beckinsale version. I checked my DVD, and the Gwyneth Paltrow version, which was a feature film distributed by Miramax, does have closed captioning, at least on the DVD version…
Cara
Hello,i´m from Czech republic and i read this roman-Emma twice times and i very liked it!this photos interested me and i wish to see this movie because the book is famous!do you anyone know where i can find it-online or download?in advance i very thanks to everbody who´ll help me.Hermy
Hermiona,
You can buy the DVD from Amazon.co.uk
http://amazon.co.uk
Nice Film
there’s no doubt about the talent in this cast, from the first one until the last actors in this list are wonderful, specially in the case of Gwyneth Paltrow and Ewan Mcgregor.
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