MovieChat Forums > Emma (1997) Discussion > many mixed feelings

many mixed feelings

posted 18 years ago by cate_the_cowgirl
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there seems to be a lot of mixed feelings about this version. i have read some postings and it seemed a bit silly to reply to them since they were written a few months ago, but may i just point out that Emma is a character we are not meant to like. Jane Austen said that she was the only heroin you were supposed to think ill of. This may affect the way people judge the acting abilities if they didn't alreay know the story of Emma, becoz naturally people assume she is the heroin and therefore is good.
i also had doubts about mrs elton's accent but they have been put to rest with the explanation that mrs elton comes from bristol and has a west country accent, which i forgot sounds like a faintly american accent to untrained ears.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Tickleroftheivories 18 years ago

I definitely liked this film...A&E always seems to pull it off - they did an excellent job at this film and at the Pride and Prejudice 1995 mini-series *Colin Firth fangirl moment*. I think one of the reasons I liked this version was that it stayed pretty close to the book...there were whole chunks of dialogue taken right from the book. Also, previously I had viewed part of the BBC version of Emma, and let me tell you, it was cringe-worthy. That could be one of the reasons I liked this film so much; it shone in comparison to the BBC version.
Many people seem to not like Mr. Knightley in this version becuz he is *too angry*. I think he was a little over the top but it did not have a bad effect on the movie, just made it more dramatic. People (like me) who have seen the version with Jeremy Northam may find it hard to like Mark Strong's Mr. Knightley; however, I liked him quite well. And I think Beckinsdale did a good job in acting Emma.
One of the only parts I did not like in the movie was when, during the proposal scene, Emma is like "How strange this is" and Mr. Knightley says "I held you when you were three weeks old".....I thot that could have easily been omitted. Altho it effectively emphasizes their age difference!
Altogether I really liked this movie! And hope to be able to purchase it...

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