Watched Emma the other evening. Somehow it doesn’t compare with Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility. I think it comes down to the script and direction. Emma Thompson’s script and Ang Lee’s direction in Sense and Sensibility somehow retained the seriousness, depth and beauty of Austen’s original.
The film version of Emma just didn’t come up to the same standard. It was entertaining enough, but we didn’t see the deeper emotions, the more subtle relationships and affection between the characters.
It’s not a bad version of Austen’s greatest novel, but it is pretty rather than beautiful.
Have you seen the Kate Beckinsale version? I much prefer it to the Gwyneth Paltrow one.
Another to try is the BBC production of Wives and Daughters from the novel by Elizabeth Gaskell. My twelve year old and I enjoyed it so much that we have watched it more than once. It is a four part mini series.
What? Emma as Austen’s greatest novel?I’d like to hear why you say that, because I found the novel bad as both entertainment and social commentary. I actually thought the movie Clueless fixed Emma‘s errors and was superior to the original.Give me Persuasion any day.
I believe the scholars say Emma is her best because of its perfect structure, characterization, plot and character balance etc. It’s a formal rather than a subjective judgment.
My favorite line from the movie, is from Emma’s intended – while having a discussion and a challenge at Archery – the beau says to Emma – “try to not hit my dog” Very well delivered too!Chris
Oh, I disagree. I like the Paltrow “Emma” and I dislike the Ang Lee film. Yes, it’s deep… but it skips almost all of the humor of “Sense and Sensibility,” which is a very funny book. I think the BBC version of “Pride and Prejudice” catches Austen’s style, both the humorous and the serious, best of all the adaptations. And of course it is the one most faithful to the plot.I don’t think it’s her best book but it is very good. It is fun to try to decide what Austen was actually saying. When was Emma “right” — when she thought that love conquered all, or when she decided that it really didn’t? Or was she ever right? Mr. Knightly, after all, loved her for all that she COULD be, not for what she actually was… It is a lighter book than some of the others, but not as light as “Northanger Abbey,” which I also enjoy.