Jane Austen’s world is a fascinating place for all fans of period drama. Aware of this interest cinema and TV soon started to adapt the British writer novels to the screen. Until today we can count several Emma adaptations and spinoffs. We are going to talk about four of them, the ones we know and watched or reviewed already.
The 1972, if watchable, is too theatrical and the characters very different from what we always imagine while reading the book. Emma doesn’t have that quirky side that makes up for her snobbish attitude. She is serious and quite the good girl. Also, Mr. Knightley who is, as we are well aware, 16 years older than the young woman, looked much more like her father than her beau. We are very far from the handsome and wise landowner who captivated the heart of Miss Woodhouse.
In 1996 we were gifted with two Emma adaptations. The first casting mostly Hollywood stars with Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northan in the leading roles was filled with glamor, beautiful sets and not less gorgeous costumes, If we didn’t care for Paltrow’s Emma who seemed at our eyes even more superficial than Austen’s Emma, Jeremy Northam, in the other hand is a charming delightful man. His Mr. Knightley is a success!
The ITV version, compared with the sumptuosity of the previous one, seemed more simple, especially the costumes. But the actors were for us far superior. Beckinsale’s role in Much Ado About Nothing made us fear for the worst but the young woman gave us a funny, loving and sometimes extremely annoying Emma. Snob enough to get into our nerves, but sufficiently generous to find grace at our eyes and wish her to find her HEA with the very manly Mr Knightley played by Mark Strong. Obviously a very talented actor, Strong is for us THE perfect leading man. He may not have Northan’s classical looks but his talent, his intensity and, oh my, his voice, winned us over right from the beginning. This is our favorite adaptation so far.
When we heard about a new Emma coming up produced by BBC, we were a little skeptical. Could they make something better than Beckinsale’s Emma? Well, we truly hoped so! The cast was a surprise and especially the choice of Romola Garai. Don’t take us wrong, she is a talented actress and a very pretty one but far, in our minds, from being an Emma. Jonny Lee Miller was also a surprise but we wanted to wait and see what he was capable of.
The opening credits and music were captivating and the first imagines let us hope for the best. After four episodes of incredibly well chosen settings and beautiful costumes (the colors!!!) we were under the charm.
And you? What is your favorite Emma adaptation and why? Don’t forget to vote in our poll but you can also leave a comment.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Aren’t we forgetting Clueless??
I wish I could splice together the two 1996 versions! Jeremy Northam’s Knightley with Kate Beckinsale’s Emma, the comic timing of the Hollywood one, with the unpretentiousness of the ITV one. I enjoyed the newest version (love most of the actors in other films), but I didn’t feel like it added anything necessary–that was mostly the fault of the screenplay.
As we said in this post we were only going to talk about the movies/series we’ve seen before and since this blog is about period dramas Clueless was not in our list.:)
Beckinsale ( she doesn’t pout, she’s totally believable, just like in the book) + Strong (serious but not boring, and we can feel the passion underneath) = still the best.
I liked Romola Garai but only until the ball (why is she always laughing ?) Miller was great though.
Beckinsale’s is still my favourite too. :-) And yes Mark Strong was wonderful. I think I need to watch both of them again soon…
By the way do you think we have enough Emma adaptations or do you think the perfect one has already been made and there’s no need for more? It seems every couple of years there is an Austen adaptation and I was wondering the other day if we had seen the last of Emma on TV or if the future would bring more.
Well, for me it has to be the 2009 one. Romola was MY Emma from the very beginning and Jonny Lee Miller won me. As for too much adaptations I don’t think so. New audiences prefer new versions, so probably in the future they’ll make new Emma ones.
I haven’t seen the latest Emma from this past year, but I voted for the 1996 with Paltrow. I thought she did a nice job of portraying Emma as the spoiled slightly selfish girl who tried to do good, but had some growing up to do. But of course Jeremy Northam is the ultimate Mr. Knightley for me. :) I must confess Kate Beckinsdale didn’t seem as spoiled as she was supposed to be, if that makes sense. But adaptations of scripts are different as well, so…
At any rate, it’s just a fun all around story and I’m hoping to see the 2009 version soon.
I haven’t watched the new BBC production but as I said before somewhere, I just love Jeremy Northam as Mr. Knigtley. I was very much infatuated when I watched it the first time (at the age of 16). So that’s my vote. ;)
I’ve written so much about all the Emma adaptations and especially the latest one that I think everybody knows which is my favourite one: Romola and JL Miller have made magic!
I think it’s kind of fun that the opinions are so divided. Except for the 1972’s Emma all the other 3 Emmas have a reasonable number of fans. I can’t wait to see the results.
I’ve only seen the 2009 and 1996 versions of Emma. There are aspects of each that cause me to prefer one over the other. I like the way Garai portrays the energetic, young, naive Emma up until the Box Hill scene, but I prefer the Paltrow version’s ending. I didn’t like Paltrow because the British accent bothered me. Garai’s dialogue seems to flow more naturally because she doesn’t have to deal with faking an accent. She has a lovely accent, which us American’s really appreciate hearing.
I adored Jeremy Northan as Knightley. However, his being so good looking made me wonder how he could have remained single at his age, or whether such a dapper man would be content to hangout quietly in Highbury. I do like the fact that this version showed him and Emma more as friends. The newer version depicts a fatherly, or older brother relationship. So it’s more of a stretch to see them as a couple at the end. I do think Miller portrays a more believable quiet country gentleman than Northan.
The supporting actors break the tie for me in favor of the new Emma, in that I love the way the father(Gambon), John Knightley, and sister Elizabeth are added with larger roles. They provide insight into the quirky extended family in which Emma and Knightley act as the peacekeepers.