Obsessed with Emma

I confess I'm feeling very uneasy about how much I still don't  connect with Emma, so have been watching the various film versions to try to find some middle ground.

  The Kate Beckinsale version was made the year after the famous, beloved P&P version with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle and, though it has the same tone and visual feel (it was also written by Andrew Davies, it's terribly bland. I think he was trying too hard to recapture the magic of P&P so he didn't let Emma stand on its own. You can't always apply the same winning formula to something else and expect it to work.

It is the most realistic of the three adaptations. The lighting is stark, the sets not at all opulent, sometimes very severe, especially those in Highbury and, at the end, Donwell Abbey. I appreciated that; it helped balance what was lacking in the personalities of the actors. There are some deviations from the text, but not as dramatic as the Romola Garai version released this year. They didn't bother me and one in particular, the scene at the harvest celebration at Donwell Abbey when Emma crosses the room to say hello to and congratulate Harriet Smith and Robert Martin was a welcome addition, and gave us a better sense of her contrition and of having learned her lesson than even Austen did in the book.

Kate just seems much too young, Mark Strong (Mr. Knightley) seems much too old and is so grumpy and judgmental he seems to be playing the part of his brother, John Knightley instead. There's no chemistry to be found at all among the characters. Let it be said that I like Kate Beckinsale, especially in Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing as Hero, but I think she'd do a better job of playing Emma now than she did then. Then she came off as extremely snobby and superior, and while it did support the class issues in the book, now I think she would be able to show more of Emma's heart beneath.

  I've seen the Romola Garai version that was released by the BBC earlier this month, and I love Romola, but I'm not a fan of Johnny Lee Miller (his portrayal of Byron in another film cut off any possibility of me liking him as Mr. Knightley. He comes off as too playful here, and his Bryon was so - um, repulsive is the only term that comes to mind - that he is ruined as a romantic lead for me! Though, I will say, that the look he gives Romola/Emma in the carriage at the end, when they arrive at their honeymoon destination, is indescribably sweet, and did redeem him a little. Still, Romola romps about and acts like an airhead (though I like her spirit, she's too silly and irresponsible) and Harriet a simpleton, so I wasn't convinced. She just doesn't carry off upper class very well - meaning she didn't have an ounce of snooty, which Emma did.

And what is up with all the secret smirky smiles of Jodhi May as Mrs. Weston. Very annoying. She was not old enough to play that part.

We also don't get a sense of how much real damage is done to Harriet and to Jane Fairfax in this version, and they took an unbelievable amount of liberties with the text. I hardly recognized it. Very bad form! I simply watched it as a BBC production, not an adaptation, which was much easier to swallow.

  I've just rewatched the Gwyneth Paltrow version and have to say it's the best of the three. I've never warmed to GP as an actress, but her version of Emma is more geniune and complex. She wears the part like a second skin, with equal parts humor, sincerity, humility, and sobriety, where called for. Jeremy Northam, always a delicious choice, is perfect for Mr. Knightley. He has the maturity for the part, but still is able to be charmingly awkward in his romantic declaration at the end. You feel his warmth and sensitivity married to his strength of character throughout. When he chastises Emma, you feel that he truly cares for her, not that he's this semi-Puritan figure trying to whip her into shape (like Mark Strong's version).

When he half-whispers 'badly done' to her after her mean-spirited remark to Mrs. Bates during the Box Hill picnic, and she cries, it is 10 times more effective and affecting than the other versions. Makes you think he's speaking straight to you, bringing to mind the times you haven't been kind or gracious, which feels very uncomfortable. (Or, oops, maybe that's just me!)

And the rest of the cast: Greta Scacchi, Alan Cumming (a terrific Mr. Elton!), Toni Colette, Ewan McGregor (despite the crazy rock star hair), Juliet Stevenson, Polly Walker, Phyllida Law (did she do the part of Mrs. Bates as a favor? She utters not a single sound and I didn't know it was her until the credits) - astonishing. It's jam-packed with great performances. There are also some liberties taken with the text at the end, but it's the truest of the three.

If you'd like to watch it, you can find it here: Gwyneth Paltrow's Emma.

I wish my yard was big enough to set up one of those adorable tentlike umbrellas you see in the film, so I could do embroidery under it. I would also need one of the stands to place the hoop in. Such a good idea!

Well, there it is then. I've done all I can to make my peace with this book. Whereas I've found much wit and humor in Austen's other novels, in this one it remains obscure to me. The damage Emma does is much too serious for it to be funny - as mentioned in previous posts. It's only in the translation from page to film that I've been able to tune in to anything beyond the pain her behavior inflicts upon other good, kind characters. This is mostly glossed over in all the versions, though the GP version delves a little deeper.

Happily, I have begun Sense and Sensibility and am luxuriating in this most sublime of Austen's novels. How could I have let so many years pass without rereading it? Shameful!

Comments

[Charlie]

I love the GP version of Emma. I think she perfectly captures the hubris of adolescence and the inherent bossiness of the character, and seems genuinely surprised and hurt when she realized the impact her actions have on the people around her. And I love Gwyneth Paltrow. I might be the only person in America who does. I even read GOOP.

[Alexa Adams]

I completely agree that the Paltrow Emma is the best of the three recent adaptations. Have you seen the 1972 BBC adaptation? It doesn't have the same spirit as the Hollywood version, but it adheres quite closely to the text which is quite satisfying.

[Heidi]

For a bit more fun with Emma, you could watch "Clueless" - still a favorite of mine!