Will Emma Discover What She Really Wants? (Emma (DVD))

Member Name: Redmedic

Product:	Emma (DVD)
Date:	05/07/09 (16 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gorgeous period drama with all-star cast.

Disadvantages: Inconsequential period rom-com.

Originally published in 1815 by Jane Austen, 'Emma' is set in the village of Highbury in regency England, and centres around a "handsome, clever and rich" young woman, Emma Woodhouse, who being idle and somewhat lonely following the marriage of her governess and companion, decides to occupy herself by matchmaking her friends.

While maintaining that she intends to never marry herself as, being rich, she has no inducement to do so, she soon sets her sights on the village parson, Mr Elton. Emma intends that he should wed her friend, the pretty and guileless Harriet Smith, who, though charming, is a penniless orphan, presumed to be illigitimate. However, Emma's plan seems doomed to be thwarted, as Harriet has already formed an attachement to a local farmer, Robert Martin, who proposes to her. Unwilling to give Harriet up to a life of relative poverty, Emma encourages her to refuse Robert and continue to pursue Mr Elton; Harriet, who is very placid and suggestible, is anxious to please Emma, capitulates.

Emma is encouraged when Mr Elton seems to fall for Harriet's charms, and pays her considerable attention; however, her long-time friend Mr Knightly is absolutely furious with Emma, plainly telling her that Mr Elton would never marry someone poor, and that she has ruined her friend's best chance for happiness. Stung by Knightly's rebuke, Emma becomes only more determined that Harriet should marry the parson; however, on the way home from a Christmas party, Mr Elton proposes marriage to Emma, confessing that his attentions to Harriet were only in order to endear himself to Emma. Upon Emma's refusal, Elton leaves the village.

The dull pace of Emma's life is revitalised by some new arrivals to Highbury; accomplished orphan Jane Fairfax, a source of perpetual envy and competition to Emma, and Frank Churchill, the long-absent son of their neighbour, Mr Weston. When Frank begins to charm her, Emma begins to wonder if she might marry after all; but is this true love, or does Frank have an ulterior motive? And can she fix her mistake with Harriet?

This dramatisation of Emma was directed by Douglas McGrath and starred American Gweneth Paltrow as the protagonist, and Jeremy Northam as family friend and confidant Mr Knightly, with Ewan McGregor as Frank Churchill and Toni Collette as Harriet Smith. Paltrow's accent is surprisingly good, and McGregor's confident performance as Frank makes him the affable cad that Austen intended. And while Collette isn't quite the artless and suggestible Harriet Smith, the casting in this film is generally very good. And it isn't just the leading characters, either; the smaller parts such as the irritating Miss Bates (Sophie Thompson) and the enigmatic Jane Fairfax (Polly Walker) give the film considerable humour and depth.

The costumes and sets are visually beautiful, sumptuous, and clearly chosen with as much care as the casting. Unlike the other adaptation released in 1996, featuring Kate Beckinsale, this version is light and cheerful, both in terms of sets and lighting, but also in the writing of the script. Unlike other versions, this 'Emma,' gives the feeling that in Highbury, nothing ever goes wrong.

In fact, it is this lack of drama in the script that makes this adaptation so inconsequential. The audience never tastes the heat and fury between Emma and Knightly, or feels the pain of Jane Fairfax as Frank publically woos Emma. While the Beckinsale version is perhaps less visually attractive, it demonstrates a greater degree of realism and adheres more closely to the original novel.

Summary: Light and fluffy 1996 adaptation of Austen's 'Emma.'