Is this film worth seeing from the point of view of a huge fan of the books? I dont want the books to be spoilt if the films rubbish.
Id love to give the film a chance, as P+P film did the book a great justice, it was perfect. But I just cant see Gwyneth Paltrow as Emma, and the DVD cover of her with a bow and arrow has really put me off - its too hollywood and not enough 19th century like it should be! Or am i being picky?? Help!
It's not completely faithful, the biggest that the Jane/Frank storyline is truncated in favor of the Eltons. But out of the three Emma adaptations, this is the only one I enjoyed. I'm not a huge Paltrow fan, but I thought she did rather well as Emma, Jeremy Northam is great as Knightley, and much of the supporting cast very good (although I didn't really care for Ewan McGregor as Frank Churchill). It is a very pretty, glossy version, so in that sense is very "Hollywood," and the cover is silly. However, archery was a popular sport in the Regency period, and really the only sport acceptable for upper class women to engage in, so it makes sense Emma might engage in it.
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I thought the dvd cover was disarming (no pun intended) but I really thought it was funny and very tongue in cheek. They could tie in the archery in the film and did the whole "cupid is armed and dangerous" I got a good laugh out of it.
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Yes, I read somewhere that this version was purposefully advertised to be a light-hearted "comedy" about Emma the "matchmaker" and so the movie cover photo was supposed to attract even non-Austen fans. If you know what I mean.
shareThat's exactly what put me off watching the film, and reading the book, for so long! All I knew about the story was that Emma plays matchmaker until she finally falls in love herself, and I thought the character would be a blonde ditz like Cher in Clueless. The novel and the character are actually so much more involved, and I'm kicking myself that I've only just 'discovered' the real Emma.
The golden, glossy, superficial treatment of the film doesn't help, either. I think the 2009 miniseries conveys the spirit of Austen's novel far better.
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