Emma.
Directed By: Autumn de Wilde
Me at the beginning of Emma: Really? Knightley can’t dress himself and pull his own pants up? Oh dear movie.
Me at the end of Emma: Aw that was so good! I think it’s my favorite Austen adaptation!
So yeah the movie totally grew on me!
Performance wise everything is great. I’ve loved Anya since The Witch and she really shines here. Emma is a little brattier than I’ve seen her before but you really feel for her as she screws up, learns and grows.
Even her friendship with Harriet (Mia Goth) was beautifully done. By the end I was totally buying it.
Johnny Flynn as Knightley and Bill Nighy as Mr. Woodhouse are also excellent. Josh Charles plays Mr. Elton and it took me a minute but he’s the same actor playing Prince Charles in Season 3 of the Crown and yeah, he’s perfect for Elton…
And yeah, Mr. Elton… young Prince Charles doesn’t seem like such a stretch.
The film is also gorgeous.
Not just the houses and the scenery but every little detail inside them. The costumes and the food throughout. My mother was particularly fond of the shoes…
I loved the dance scene 🙂
Like I said I didn’t love the beginning but wound up loving the film. Can I say the same for book purists? Austen die-hards?
I’m not so sure they’d feel the same way.
One of the reasons I wound up liking the film so much is they blow through a lot of stuff that never mattered to me (Frank and Jane) to concentrate more on Emma and Knightley’s relationship and we see a lot more of him in this film. Which is fine with me… I’ll take Knightley over Frank Churchill any day of the week or weekend.
Recommend: Yes.
I still can’t picture anyone other than Romola Garai as Emma. Though I do like the idea of bratty Emma because she is, essentially, pretty spoiled so I 100% need to watch this. I tried watching the Paltrow version and I didn’t like it, so I stopped. Paltrow was so morose and Emma seemed much more happy and energetic in-text. OMG Bill Nighy as Mr Woodhouse? How did this escape me?! I found Jane and Frank fascinating characters and really fleshed out in the books despite Jane being given little space, it was easy to understand her character which is a testament to Austen to be able to capture a character so well despite saying so little.
Bill Nighy was great. I must admit Jane and Frank get short shrift here compared to the 90s movies it really concentrates on Emma, Harriet and Knightley.