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Monthly Archives: August 2007

Becoming Jane–A Rant

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I asked my friend, author, and Pemberley co-founder Myretta Robens what she thought of the movie Becoming Jane and she sent me the following rant (see how I cleverly avoided having to think of fresh writing myself?). But before she starts, let me say we both recognize the importance of seeing something before judging it. She does admit, however, she went in with more of a closed mind than she would’ve liked.

Myretta Speaks:
Wrong, wrong, wrong! Becoming Jane is just wrong. Okay, I realize that for the regular movie-goer, this is probably a nicely filmed, affecting story. But for someone who is deeply and passionately interested in Jane Austen, it’s just wrong! And here’s why:

Location – Ireland is NOT England and the parts used for this film didn’t look at all like the bits of England they purported to be. And…Godmersham by the Sea? What the heck was that? Although Godmersham (one of the homes of Jane’s brother, Edward Austen Knight) is in Kent, and Kent has some coast, Godmersham is, most emphatically, not near it.

Anachronism – Steel nibbed pens. That’s all I’m saying.

Historical inaccuracies – This is a big one. Almost none of this story ever happened. Yes, Jane Austen met and flirted with Tom Lefroy for a couple of weeks in 1795-6. There is nothing to indicate that she ever did most of the other things depicted in the movie. And that last scene was totally impossible. I could go on and on about these inaccuracies in serious detail, but you probably don’t want to hear it.

The gravest problem of all is the implication on which the film is based: That Jane Austen was a frustrated and mediocre writer until a man entered her life, introduced her to Tom Jones and taught her love. And the idea that some of her most sparkling prose was cribbed from other
people’s ideas. The premises of this film denigrate the genius and originality of Jane Austen. I am outraged on her behalf and on behalf of other women writers who are fully capable of telling their own stories.

End of Rant; Beginning of Q&A Period:

Thanks, Myretta! Have you seen the movie? What did you think? And what do you think in general of historical fictionalized accounts of something that may or may not have happened?

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Bosom buddies

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Today I shall bring down the tone by introducing a favorite topic to you, my bosom buddies.

Bosoms.

How did they manage? Conducting the normal business of the day with The Girls virtually under your chin–just think, you wouldn’t see your feet for hours until you had your stays off (not that much different from being pregnant or overweight, I guess).

You’d always have something to prop a book on while you read. A convenient shelf for holding small items. A collection point, voluntary or otherwise, for collecting snacks and dinner leftovers (see below).

You could always remove your busk (a pretty Canadian example here, very nicely carved, from 1796) to use as a weapon, an emergency item of cutlery, or if you just wanted to bend over. Interestingly, busks were often hand-made by suitors as a token of their regard.

Now let’s share some real-life bosom stories. One day at work I lost my glasses. I went around the office asking if I’d left them on anyone’s desk. Guess where I found them. I’d looped them into my shirt front, and voila.

Another story, which didn’t happen to me, but to someone else who attended a fancy event wearing her little black dress. When she got home, she discovered a shrimp nestled in her cleavage. Did you eat it? I asked, when she told me the story. She thought for a moment. Yes, I believe I did.

Share your bosom stories or your expertise on Regency undergarments.

More news close to our hearts every month with the Riskies newsletter–subscribe at riskies@yahoo.com with NEWSLETTER in the subject line.

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JANE AUSTEN MOVIE CLUB: Emma (1996)

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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

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Conscience and Collections

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Do you remember that I said I was finishing a book, due July 31? It is untitled but I think of it fondly as “Pomroy’s Story.” Pomroy is Tanner’s friend (Tanner from Innocence and Impropriety) and Tanner’s story is The Vanishing Viscountess, coming in January. Well, Pomroy’s story isn’t done yet and so I decided to do a quick blog.

I have been working on it for an hour.

I collect early nineteenth century architectural prints and I managed to procure a lovely collection of post-Regency era prints of churches from my friend Tony Wallace, who is an extraordinary collector, but his father was even better. These were in his father’s collection. I have about ten of these, but some of them have two images.

The artist is Tho. H. Sheperd, the engraver is J.F. Havell, and these were published by Jones and Co, 3 Acton Place, Kingsland Road, London in the years 1827 and 1828.

Here’s a sample:

Belgrave Chapel on Belgrave Square

New Church, Stepney

New Hall, Christ’s Hospital

And just to show you how lovely these prints are, here is a detail from St. Paul’s Church, Balls Road, the church at the very top.


I do hope these images come out! I’ve had problems with photos in the last few blogs.

I thought churches were appropriate, because I pray I can finish Pomroy’s Story by Friday.

(Has anyone actually seen any of these churches?)

I’ll share more of my collections as time goes on.

What do you collect?

Diane (going back to Pomroy!)

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Picturing Characters

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I’m something of a visual writer–I like to know what my characters look like when I start work on a story! Sometimes they’re just an image in my mind. Sometimes, like what we chatted about last week with Rufus Sewell as ‘my’ hero Marc in A Notorious Woman, they look like an actor or celebrity, in which case I cut out pics of them and post them around my computer (these are some of the photos I had while I was writing ANW, hence the atrocious scanning quality!).
(My heroine, Julietta, BTW, looks like Isabelle Adjani in the movie Queen Margot, though not as fancily dressed as in this pic! )

I feel the same about setting. It’s especially fun when a book has a dramatic setting to reflect its action, like Venice, or, in my current WIP, 1818 Sicily. The island’s rugged beauty and complex mythos are a significant part of the story. But even with less “flashy” settings, such as an English country house, an art museum, or Henry VIII’s palace at Greenwich (which now exists only in sketches), I want to know what it feels like to be there. So, I also put pics of landscapes and buildings up around the computer. My desk gets pretty cluttered, what with all the photos and good-luck charms.

Right now, I’m trying to get a vision for that Sicilian book (the second of the “Muses of Mayfair” series–Clio’s story!). I’m not too sure yet about the hero. I think he looks a bit like the actor from that uber-cheesy Barbara Cartland TV movie Duel of Hearts. The one where that blond Nazi woman from the Indiana Jones movie plays a duchess or something who pretends to be a lady’s companion (while still wearing her jewels and silk gowns) to get close to the hero and warn him his eeeeevil cousin is trying to kill him, which he is too stupid to see for himself even though the villain practically twirls his mustache in every scene. There’s a circus, a crazy woman in the attic, phaeton races, and a big costume ball, plus a sweet secondary romance. If you haven’t seen it, it’s fabulous in a totally cornball way. Anyway, the point is my new hero, the Duke of Averton, looks sort of like him, but is a much better actor, and would have dispatched that cousin immediately because he is not a complete numbskull like the Cartland hero.

My heroine stubbornly wants to look like Keira Knightley. Tall, lanky, beautiful but sort of tomboyish (she goes off alone a lot, digging for antiquities). Since Clio is rather willful (but not, I hasten to add, the dreaded feisty), I let her have her way. “Fine,” I say. “Be Keira Knightley. But no pigs in the house.”
And speaking of Keira Knightley, I read this week that she is set to star in a movie called The Duchess, where she’ll play Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. I can’t find any info about who might play the other parts, or if they will actually film at Chatsworth or anything. I always get very excited about big costume films, and certainly Georgiana’s turbulent life has “Exciting Movie” written all over it. I’m just not sure Knightley is exactly what I picture Georgiana looking like (not that they asked me). Not sure what I would picture, though. But I guess really there is no getting away from Keira Knightley. She seems to pop up in so many projects I find interesting (the remake of Dr. Zhivago, where I thought that actress who played Tonya totally overshadowed her; the film of Ian McEwan’s excellent Atonement; Pride and Prejudice, of course). Can’t wait to see what happens in The Duchess.
Do you “picture” your characters, or the characters of books you read, as real people? Are there any favorites who crop up a lot (Diane+Gerard, for example. Or Amanda+Orlando, and Megan+Clive!)? And if you were to make a movie of a favorite historical figure, who would you cast? (I find this especially fascinating right now, as I’m hoping to see Becoming Jane this afternoon!)
p.s. Since I wrote this, I found out Becoming Jane is not yet playing anywhere near me! So that will have to wait. I might go see No Reservations instead…
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