Jane Austen Done Right
Friday, July 29, 2022 at 5:52PM 
Recently, Nathaniel reviewed Netflix's Persuasion adaptation, pointing out many of the film's issues. That said, our beloved editor is not an Austenite, so his critique lacks the militant outrage you could expect from the writer's biggest fans. Speaking as one of those demented individuals, I found the latest adaptation to be terrible beyond belief, starting from its basic premise. After all, why would one choose Austen's most melancholic, wistful, and mature novel for this Fleabag-esque treatment full of anachronistic jokes and fourth-wall-breaking jests? Isn't something like Northanger Abbey better suited for such an interpretation? The whole thing is a panoply of bad choices.
Still, while the new movie is terrible, the impulse to modernize Jane Austen's writing isn't necessarily wrong-headed. One just has to understand each text's particularities. The author's work is eminently cinematic and quite malleable when handled well. To prove its endless plasticity, here's a list of Austen-related films that took wildly disparate approaches to the material…
AUSTENLAND (2013)
While not a direct adaptation, Jerusha Hess's romantic comedy is infused with the author's spirit. Indeed, it's something of a love letter to the writer's fans, satirizing them while paying homage to the madness. Not especially complex, Austenland is a fun lark with Keri Russell in the role of an American who, in paroxysms of romantic disappointment, buys a trip to an immersive Regency romance experience where everyone gets to live their Jane Austen fantasy.
But of course, matters of class get in the way, first impressions prove wrong, and social deceit is the name of the game. Joining Russell, Jennifer Coolidge is an eternal delight, Jane Seymour shows her expertise in elegant bitchiness, and J.J. Field shows himself to be a dashing Darcy-type. If you're into Austen, you might recognize him from the iTV Northanger Abbey adaptation.
You can rent Austenland on most services, including Apple iTunes and Youtube.
BRIDE & PREJUDICE (2004)
If Austenland is as much about Hollywood romcom tropes as it is an homage to its titular author, Bride & Prejudice pays respects to another kind of cinema. Adapting Jane Austen's most beloved book into a modern globe-trotting milieu, Gurinder Chadha explored her love for Bollywood spectacle, its musical stylings, and emotional maximalism. Plot-wise, the novel is transposed with relative fidelity, but the priority is to experiment with genre conventions through a prism of British filmmaking.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan plays the most gorgeous version of Elizabeth Bennett ever filmed and anchors the movie with her sheer resplendence in myriad colorful costumes. Martin Henderson's Darcy isn't nearly as impressive, but there's too much audiovisual pleasure for that to impede the fun. In the end, entertainment prevails. Look out for Marsha Mason in a small role and Ashanti's musical cameo.
Bride & Prejudice is streaming on Starz and DirecTV.
BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY (2001)
For all its frothy mirth, Bride & Prejudice is straight-faced in its approach to the central love story. That is to say, the film is a romance first and foremost, rather than any farcical satire. Bridget Jones's Diary, on the other hand, twists the precepts of Pride & Prejudice's narrative until they're shaped like a raucous contemporary comedy where laughs come before swoons.
Unlike other iterations of Lizzie Bennett, this movie's chaotic heroin centers her prejudice on herself, becoming a swirling miasma of early 00s self-loathing articulated through equal parts sincerity and wit. Renée Zellweger is utterly brilliant in the lead role, acing the picture's tone while keeping Bridget from becoming a flat caricature. Her interiority is always present, palpable beyond the narration, and never at odds with the script's required clownishness. The actress deserved all the plaudits she got.
This Oscar-nominated comedy can be found streaming on HBO Max, DirecTV, TNT, TBS, Tru TV, and Sling.
PERSUASION (1995)
From parodical love letters, Bollywood fairytales, and British humor at its most British, we arrive at a completely different sort of Austen adaptation. Originally conceived as a TV movie, Roger Michell's Persuasion was eventually released theatrically stateside – a testament to its production values and outstanding quality. Not every telefilm could survive the transition to big screens, but this faithful adaptation does it effortlessly.
When adapting the novel, screenwriter Nick Dear focused on its tonal uniqueness within Austen's oeuvre, honing on the psychological realism and mature contemplation. Shot in sequence on many of the actual locations mentioned in the text, the film showcases a lived-in portrayal of Anne Elliott's dramatic arc, embodied by a never-better Amanda Root. One should also pay attention to Alexandra Byrne's gorgeous costumes, full of layered details and period idiosyncrasies. I may not be the designer's biggest fan, but her work within the Regency period is always stellar – see also her Oscar-nominated designs for Autumn De Wilde's Emma.
Persuasion is streaming on The Roku Channel. It's also available to rent on various services.
METROPOLITAN (1990)
Whit Stillman is a fascinating auteur whose artistic specificities are the heart of why he might be the best filmmaker of Austen-inspired movies. Deeply conservative early on, the director's background allows him to satirize the upper classes with some of the same edge with which Austen eviscerated the social customs of her time. And yet, like the writer of yore, there's affection lessening the bite. It could be called hypocrisy, but it's a delicate position, fairly singular in how it's expressed in the man's filmography.
Touching on themes from Mansfield Park – maybe Austen's trickiest and most controversial finished work – Metropolitan is both an elegy and a roast of the yuppy youth of the 1980s. Simultaneously razor-sharp and silky-soft, the film's observations bring Austen's inner contradictions to the big screen with bizarre authenticity considering its setting, characters, and language. One could call it accidentally humanistic, but nothing in the picture feels in the least accidental. Indeed, as a directorial debut, Metropolitan is remarkably self-assured, a vision so perfectly realized it still shines bright as the maximum expression of Stillman's cinema more than thirty years after its release.
Metropolitan is available on HBO Max and The Criterion Channel.
If you want to read more of my ramblings on Jane Austen and the movies adapted from her writings, here's a selection of useful links:
Reader Comments (3)
I just watched this too, and yup, it doesn't work. The flailing anachronisms irritated me as well: dress fashions skittering across two centuries, hair styles that no Regency woman would wear. And the first line of dialogue! "I almost got married once." GOT married? May I suggest: "Once, I almost married." If you're going to randomly trash the beauty of the period language, please just set it in the 20th century.
One pleasant surprise was Dakota Johnson's acting. A talented actress trapped in a poor script with poor direction.
Disclaimer: I found your review because "Jane Austen fantasy" triggered a google alert for Miss Bennet's Dragon (my book) So despite being a Janeite, I'm clearly willing to mess with canon :)
Mike Verant -- Messing with canon can be very fun, and I think many great films do that. Just not Netflix's PERSUASION. Also, thank you for the comment. I might check out your book. Sounds intriguing :)
I'm so glad someone else likes AUSTENLAND besides me. :)
Won't watch the new PERSUASION, thanks. The 1995 is still the gold standard adaptation, but - pardon the shallow - I always thought Amanda Root was a bit too plain to play Anne. (Yes, yes, her "bloom" is supposed to be faded or whatnot, but she's still supposed to be objectively pretty.)