|
 |
 |
|
Emma: Filmic Adaptations (MacGrath & Lawrence)
|
| 電影導演 / Diarmuid Lawrence 戴穆德•勞倫斯 |
|
|
|
Emma
|
|
Jane
Austen
|
|
 Many Adaptations
Which is Best?
Gyneth Paltrow's Emma
Kate Beckinsale's Emma
Relative Unknowns
Bibliography
|
| |
|
Emma
is another of Jane Austen's beloved novels. Published in
1815, and dedicated at his own request to the Prince Regent, later
George IV, it was the last of Austen's novels to be published in her
lifetime.
People
often have strong reactions to its heroine, Emma Woodhouse.
Austen wrote that she wanted Emma to be a heroine"whom no one but
myself will much like". It's true that the relatively minor
character Jane Fairfax is much closer to the “typical" Austen heroine,
but in spite of Austen's efforts, her Emma Woodhouse is beloved by
millions.
|
| |
|
| |
|
Many Adaptations
|
| |
And of course, this is reflected
in the number of adaptations she's gone through. There were
BBC adaptations in 1948 and 1960, but the one that is still available
today is the 1972 version starring Dorin Godwin as Emma. The
series is currently out of print, but there are many used copies
available, and schools may own copies.
But
it has been totally overshadowed by two more recent versions.
In 1996 Douglas McGrath directed a luminous Gwyneth Paltrow in the
title role and that same year Diarmuid Lawrence directed a tart Kate
Beckinsale in the title role.
McGrath's film, which he also
wrote, was a feature release and Lawrence's was originally done for
England's ITV television.
Why all the
Emmas? And indeed, since we're asking, why all the recent
Jane Austen adaptations? Film critic Roger Ebert has an
answer:"The British read the novels of Trollope during the London blitz
because his stories of Victorian life distracted them from the V-2
rockets. Maybe that helps explain the current popularity of movies
based on the novels of Jane Austen: In an impolite age, we escape to
the movies to see good manners." (Ebert)
TOP
|
| |
| Which is best? |
| |
When it comes right down to it, it
is very hard to say which recent version of Emma
is "best". I think it comes down to a matter of individual
taste and what one is expecting from a film. When I watch the
McGraw, it is my favorite. When I watch the Lawrence, it is
my favorite, too!
TOP
|
| |
| Gyneth Paltrow's Emma |
| |
The McGrath Emma
is a lovely, light, sunny romantic comedy while the Lawrence Emma
picks up more of the darkness and biting wit of the Austen
version.
The McGraw Emma,
starring Gwyneth Paltrow in her first leading role, was both a critical
and commercial success, and it catapulted Paltrow into the top tier of
Hollywood stars. Before I go any further, I feel that I must
reveal a personal prejudice. I am not a large fan of
Paltrow. On that note, I loved this film, and I loved her
performance. As a romantic comedy/period piece, it is a
jewel. The lighting is exquisite, the costumes and settings
are both accurate and beautiful, the script is in the spirit of the
book, and the direction is excellent.
Roger Ebert had this to say about
it: "Yet in its high spirits and wicked good humor, "Emma" is a
delightful film--second only to "Persuasion" among the modern Austen
movies, and funnier, if not so insightful." (Ebert)
At the time the film came out,
Paltrow was asked if the world really needed another version of Emma.
“I had read Sense and
Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice,
but not Emma. When I read it, I thought, It's
brilliant---and so funny and sweet. We're so starved for that kind of
material. In this time of email, phones and movies about explosions and
car crashes and aliens blowing things up, it's nice to have a film
that's about people and the mistakes they make, and falling in love."
(“Q&A")
The cast is filled with wonderful
performances by a number of England's best talent--Jeremy Northam as
Knightly, Alan Cummings as Rev. Elton, Toni Collette as Harriet, Juliet
Stevenson as Mrs. Elton, and Ewan McGregor as Frank Churchill all give
polished and nuanced performances. The entire film seems to
bask in a warm golden glow, both literally and figuratively.
TOP
|
| |
|
|
| Kate
Beckinsale's Emma |
| |
On
the other hand, Lawrence's Emma, starring the
then-relatively unknown Kate Beckinsale, seems to have a pale blue cast
to it, emphasizing the slighting colder, detached reading.
While this is partly to do with the lighting, much of this stems from
Andrew Davies's script. His interpretation of the novel seems much
darker than McGrath's.
Andrew Davies also wrote the Pride
and Prejudice adaptation for the BBC. He give us
some interesting insights into characters and how casting effected how
we perceived characters:"I see Jane Fairfax as a sexually mature and
awakened woman in contrast to Emma. In a dramatisation we can indicate
Jane's true nature, partly through the casting choice - Olivia Williams
[born 1968] is clearly a grown-up woman to Kate Beckinsale's [born
1973] wilful child - and also through the songs she chooses and how she
sings them. Jane chooses "Italian songs" which have far more emotional
weight than the simple English melodies which Emma chooses. Jane can
use her songs to express her love for Frank, and her suffering."
(Davies)
Davies also decided to emphasize
what he saw as the political commentary in Emma.
As he puts it: “And then there are the gypsies who menace Harriet Smith
and her friend, and the chicken thieves who make off with all Mrs
Weston's turkeys. These are the criminal classes, threatening the
ordered pattern of society. And as we know from novels such as Middlemarch,
as well as from history books, the English upper classes were extremely
worried about the possibility of revolution at that time. There had
been a revolution in France - why didn't it happen here?
“I think Jane Austen's answer
would be: because of Mr Knightley and his like. Unlike the French
aristocracy, the English upper classes - or enough of them to swing it
- lived with their tenants and their labourers, and took their
responsibilities seriously. Old-style one- nation Conservatives, in
fact. And we can be pretty sure that those leaky old cottages on the
Hartfield estate will soon be renovated once Woodhouse's liquid capital
is available to Knightley's enlightened management.
“I wanted to do something about
this in the screenplay - and I took the liberty of inventing a
traditional harvest supper at Donwell, to which tenants and estate
workers are invited as well as the gentry of Highbury. At such an
occasion it would be appropriate for Emma to acknowledge Robert Martin
and his sister, make her peace with Frank, forge the beginnings of a
friendship at last with Jane, and so on. And Knightley could make a
little speech about continuity and change that would express the
essence of the conservative viewpoint in the most beguiling way."
TOP
|
| |
| Relative Unknowns |
| |
Lawrence's film was also cast with
relative unknowns. Beckinsale had been in Kenneth Branagh's Much
Ado About Nothing and the TV film Cold Comfort
Farm, but at the time Emma came out,
she was getting known, but was hardly a household name.
The only other "name" that might
have been familiar to folks outside of England was Prunella Scales, a
favorite and prolific character actor (an interesting aside, she played
Lydia Bennet in the 1952 production of Pride and Prejudice),
but famous for her role as Sybil Fawlty in the television comedy
"Fawlty Towers".
Samantha Morton does an excellent
job in her role of Harriet Smith, but like Beckinsale, this was one of
her earlier roles. She was not a "name" at the time.
But in spite of the low marquee
value of the actors, all do an excellent job in their roles.
While lovely in its own right,
this version of Emma doesn't have the rich beauty of the McGraw
film. Undoubtedly this is partly down to different costume
and location budgets, but the leads weren't as beautful as Paltrow and
Northam. Kate Beckinsale is one of Hollywood's most beautiful
women, but in this film she plays down her looks. She could
not be called plain, but in this part neither is she a raving
beauty. But on many levels this seems more in accord with the
Emma in the book. And it makes this film seem more like a
glimpse into Highbury society, circa 1815.
TOP
|
| |
|
| Bibliography |
| |
Lauritzen,
Monica. Jane Austen's Emma on television: a study of a BBC classic
serial. Goteborg, Sweden: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis, Gothenburg
studies in English, 48 [series], 1981.
This "book" analyzes the role and value of
literary adaptations in "mass media" societies. Lauritzen's research
included extensive interviews with many involved in the production of
the series.
TOP
|
| |
|
| Sources |
| |
Davies, Andrew. "Austen's
Horrible Heroine" originally from The Telegraph (UK) On-line.
Cited on Kali's Emma Adaptation Pages, 16 Feb 2005. http://www.strangegirl.org/emmapages/daviestel.html
Ebert, Roger. "Emma: A
Review". Aug 9, 1996. Rogerebert.com
Movie Reviews 15 Feb 2005.
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articleAID=/19960809/REVIEWS/608090302/1023
"Q&A with Gwyneth
Paltrow," E! On-line, 15 Feb 2005. http://www.eonline.com/Celebs/Qa/Paltrow/interview.html
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
