Saturday, May 03, 2008

Saturdays with Jane: Jane and the Man of the Cloth; Emma (1996)

Jane and the Man of the Cloth

I've said a couple of times that I'm not as fond of Jane Austen's novels as I am of the movies made from them. Mundane details about early-19th century life are a lot more fun to watch than to read about.

Unless you throw in an overturned carriage on a dark, stormy night; a mysterious beauty in a long, scarlet cloak who wanders the cliffs carrying a lantern; a dark scoundrel with dangerous secrets; a handsome, one-legged officer with a vendetta; hidden caves, treasure rooms, and of course a couple of dead bodies.

About half of that list is introduced in the first thirty pages of the book. It opens with Jane and her family's traveling to Lyme for a holiday and having an accident on the way. They're forced to get help from the dark scoundrel who lives with his cousin, the mysterious beauty. Once Jane and her family get into town, they meet the officer who has a grudge against the scoundrel. Honestly, I could've read an entire novel just about the Austens' being in Lyme and interacting with these (and other) color characters. Barron does a beautiful job of painting the seaside town and populating it with fascinating people. I was actually a little disappointed when the first body showed up on page thirty and we had to start the mystery proper.

But, like all dead bodies, this one does make things even more interesting and Jane is soon caught up in trying to uncover everyone's secrets as delicately as she can. And, oh yeah, she also falls in love. It's an awesome, diverting book and I like it even better than The Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor. It even gives a cameo appearance to my favorite Scargrave Manor character.

Five out of five hushed conversations in the secret garden.

Emma (1996)



Man, I take back anything negative I said about this before. When I saw it in the theater I was in sort of an anti-Gwyneth Paltrow phase I guess, because I really don't remember liking this very much, but wow do I love it now. Especially in comparison to the Kate Beckinsale version which (as much as I love Kate Beckinsale) I now sort of hate.

In Kate's version Emma sort of learns her lesson about meddling but never really repents of all the harm she's done. I thought I remembered that we got more repentance from Gwyneth, but I hadn't remembered the extent of it. Gwyneth's Emma is continually struggling to become a better person. She fails miserably a lot, but we can clearly see that she means no harm and that she's genuinely working on her faults.

These faults are repeatedly pointed out to her by Mr. Knightley whom I pretty much fell in love with. The Knightley in Kate's version is a good and noble guy, but here the careful attention he pays to everyone's needs and his relentless protection of the defenseless is especially emphasized. He comes to the rescue of just about every character in the movie, usually not in huge, dramatic ways, but just in small ways that - if you're paying attention - make you realize what an amazing man he is. His fault-pointing at Emma is as much a rescue operation for her benefit as it is for the well-being of her "victims." Knightley doesn't want Emma to accidentally become someone she doesn't want to be. At one point he declares his picking at her to be a fault of his own, but I think he's just being hard on himself. Darcy - Colin Firth or otherwise - has nothing on Jeremy Northam's Knightley.

Also in this version's favor: Obi-Wan Kenobi as Frank Churchill, the mom from Sixth Sense as Jane Fairfax, Nightcrawler as Mr. Elton, and Keira's mom from Bend It Like Beckham as a Mrs. Elton who's very funny; not just abhorrently obnoxious.

Five out of five Mr. Knightleys.

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