Emma: The Verdict

All right, so last week's post regarding the Twilight craze was actually supposed to be a post about BBC's Emma --so, without further ado, as I've said, amid glowing praise from trusted friends and fellow Austen-ites, and after hearing that it was simply so much better than any Emma they'd ever seen --

Here goes: after having watched BBC's production of Emma this past weekend amid the glowing praise of trusted friends and period film fans, I must once again join the ranks of the infidels in proclaiming that, as I expected (drumroll please):

I prefer the Gwyneth Paltrow version.

Before you throw a shower of rotten tomatoes in my direction, hear me out:

Emma's my favorite book. (My mother says it's my favorite because I am Emma =). I have read it no less than fifteen times over the last five years, and have most likely shed more tears, giggles, and wistful sighs over its pages than most, and, as I did with Pride & Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Sense & Sensibility, I read the book before I saw any film adaption. So I'm saying this with Emma's best interest at heart, you see. =)

Character for character, I prefer Miramax's actors. Even as much as I love Michael Gambon, I don't think he was right for the character of Mr. Woodhouse; Mr. Elton was creepier than he was hilarious (although he was one of the funniest characters in the film); Harriet was a little too dense (though younger than Toni Collette, and closer to the age Harriet was in the book: seventeen); and Mrs. Weston was, in my opinion, a little childish. And Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax were a little too much the focus of the story (although it would have been nice to see a happy medium there, because the Miramax film barely touched on them).

My mom also pointed out that it seemed like Emma and Mr. Knightly hated each other until the last fifteen minutes of the movie. Romola Garai is lovely -I just don't really care for her as an actress (and to all Garai fans reading, I'm sorry to say that watching her in a four hour movie did not cause her to grow on me) -I prefer Paltrow's much wittier and mature (and spoiled =) rendition. And I didn't think the lovely words of Mr. Knightley's proposal could possibly sound unromantic --but that's the way they hit me when they came from Jonny Lee Miller's lips --he might have been too young for the part, and a bit too warm for the character, but Jeremy Northam is by far my favorite Knightly. I didn't see a drastic change of character in Emma, as I did in the book or the Miramax version of the film.

Scene for scene, I prefer Douglas McGrath's screenplay. Line by line, I also prefer McGrath's portrayal of Austen's sharp whit and the characteristic banter of her characters to the burdened dialogue of Sandy Welch's version. Something I always say (and I'm an amateur film critic, not a filmmaker, so don't quote me =) is that a script is different from a book, and that staying truer to certain aspects of a book doesn't necessarily make a film adaption the best; staying true to the heart of the story does --as the screenwriter of one of my favorite movies The Count of Monte Cristo said (paraphrasing) "They hired me to write a screenplay. If you want the book, go read the book -it's a good book. But I'm a screenwriter, not a novelist." =) Sometimes, change is good --sometimes, two hours is enough to tell a story, even if the four or six hour version might be truer to the book.

Above all, I just didn't find the new version of Emma very funny (although it had its moments). And one of the things I love about the book is that it makes me laugh.

Perhaps I would have preferred this new Emma if Andrew Davies of Bleak House, Little Dorrit, and Northanger Abbey fame had written the screenplay (although I love Sandy Welch's script for North & South), or if Richard Armitage had played Mr. Knightley instead of Jonny Lee Miller --alas, it is what it is.

For what it's worth, I did enjoy watching BBC's Emma. The story line is masterful, of course. The costumes are inspiring (Garai was much more modest than she was in Amazing Grace, and a great deal less sensual in her portrayal of Emma than she was as Mrs. Wilberforce). And it was lovely to see how far filmmaking has come since 1996 -a modern adaption was a treat. =) It was also nice to see an Emma that wasn't confined to one hundred and twenty minutes, and to see much more of John Knightley than I did in the '96 version. It's hard to miss me with a Jane Austen movie, even if it doesn't end up being my favorite adaption (I mean, come on --I even like Persuasion). It may yet grow on me upon closer inspection (and, with Austen films, you know there's always going to be closer inspection =). But I found myself constantly comparing it to the 1996 version, even though the quality of this version is far better.

I know what you're thinking: this is the third time (after Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility) that I've chosen Hollywood's one hundred and twenty minute offerings to BBC and A&E's lengthier portrayals. And then I added insult to injury by preferring Matthew Macfayden to Colin Firth (oh yeah --I'm admitting it in print) and Jeremy Northam to Jonny Lee Miller. Perhaps I'm just a rebel. I really will try not to let it happen again. ;-)

Now, if only BBC would make a decent Mansfield Park. That's something I would really enjoy! And if it ever came between them and the 1999 version --there'd be very little contest. Now, I'll give you the link to view Emma before I duck off and dodge all of the rotten fruit I know ya'll want to throw at me --I've yet to meet someone besides my mother who shares my opinion. =) I'm already cringing at all the glowing Garai and Miller praise I'm expecting in the comment section --but you shan't change my mind, dear readers; I'm determined. =)

Do watch the new Emma, though, for a wholesome treat. As hard as I've been on it, my problems came more from a compare/contrast than a dislike of the film itself. No doubt BBC fans will revel in this new adaption, as I realize I'm part of the precious few who actually enjoyed the Gwyneth Paltrow version of Emma -don't let this heathenous Hollywood infidel ruin your fun. ;-)