Jane Austen is one of the most celebrated authors in the English language. Fittingly, many of her works have been adapted into films. This year, we got another Emma, which to many felt like an improvement upon the previous major adaptation of the novel, the one starring Gwyneth Paltrow and a desperately funny Toni Collette.
But which Austen cinematic adaptation is the best of them all? For clarity's sake and a vague sense of fairness, modernized versions of the author's storylines were disqualified from this race for the title of best Jane Austen movie. So, don't expect Clueless to make an appearance despite its genius. Of course, even without Amy Heckerling's 90s teen classic, it was difficult to whittle down the list of films enough to name the three best...
LOVE & FRIENDSHIP (2016)
Speaking of modernizations of Austen, Whit Stillman started his career by reimagining Mansfield Park into a tale of Manhattan elites, Metropolitan. Throughout the years, he'd come to reference the great British author in various screenplays, but a straightforward version of one of her books only materialized in 2016. Love & Friendship is based upon the epistolary delights of Lady Susan and required quite the feat of adaptation from the American director.
From a merry collection of gossipy correspondence, Stillman wove a tapestry of narrative threads that coalesce into a fitting conclusion the novel doesn't quite possess. He did it all while maintaining Austen's biting humor and satirical edge, always keeping in mind that the players of the tale are as contemptible as they are loveable.
Lady Susan herself is the best example of such a dynamic, being both a perfidious social manipulator and the sort of diva we can't help but adore. Kate Beckinsale (an expert Austen actress) breathes life into the character and manages to give what's probably the best performance of her career. Plus, she's hilarious and modern while suggesting period specificity. Just like the entirety of this delightful feature.
PRIDE & PREJUDICE (2005)
I don't know how many times I've read Pride & Prejudice. For years, it was a personal tradition to enjoy Jane Austen's book during summer holidays, spending hot afternoons losing myself in the lovely affairs of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. I recall those joyful moments, laughing and swooning at Austen's prose, learning of love while the warm sun kissed my face and cicadas filled the air with their symphonies.
Few film adaptations of this novel have captured the pleasures I felt back then, more interested in recording the plot's minutia rather than the swell of feeling it can provoke. Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice is the exception, sacrificing historical accuracy and rigorous fidelity to make a more sensorial and sensual version of the literary classic.
With languid camera movements and Dario Marianelli's lilting score, Keira Knightley gazing at marble nakedness and Donald Sutherland's fatherly warmth, this Pride & Prejudice is both erotic and funny, hypnotizing and exhilarating. The 1995 TV version is certainly more accurate and faithful to the original text. However, this 2005 flick feels like Austen's masterpiece.
SENSE & SENSIBILITY (1995)
Whit Stillman's Love & Friendship is like the sweetness of a well-delivered insult and Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice is a summer afternoon spent reading a beloved book. Ang Lee's Sense & Sensibility, on the other hand, is the warm embrace of a longtime friend. I've watched it more times than I can count, Emma Thompson's screenplay is printed on my mind and its sounds are like a perpetual companion, always ringing in my ear even when I haven't revisited the film in months.
Still, the film is always ready to surprise, a new detail of utter loveliness becoming evident with each rewatch. Sometimes it's the precision of Tim Squyres cutting that most delights me, while the actors might steal the show on another revisit. Everything works, like the well-oiled machinery of a Swiss clock, as exact as it is beautiful.
That said, no technical ingenuity or mechanical exactitude can account for all this masterpiece's strengths. There's something ineffable about its wonder, be it the chemistry of such unlikely pairs as Winslet and Rickman, the familial bonds that feel so strong between its women or the joy of watching period-appropriate sheep parade over a bucolic tableau. It's a dream of a movie, that's what it is.
Sense & Sensibility is my choice for best Jane Austen adaptation, but I'd love to know which one is yours. Are you besotted by Pride & Prejudice, delighted by Love & Friendship, or seduced by the wit of Clueless?