It all started when I watched Andrew Davies’ 1995 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice starring Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennett and Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. This particular version of Pride is considered to be a modern classic and is responsible for launching Colin Firth’s career as a heart throb. I have to say that its classic reputation is well deserved. The series is six episodes long and each one leaves you wanting to see more which is no mean feat when adapting 18th century literature. Most of the media attention focuses on Firth, but Jennifer Ehle gives a very warm and winning portrayal of Elizabeth Bennett. Many familiar BBC faces appear.
Both Lost in Austen and Austenland (below) riff on the 1995 adapation of Pride. In Lost in Austen, Jemima Rooper plays Amanda, a modern woman, who’s tired of her workaday life and slobby boyfriend and longs to escape into the world of Pride and Prejudice, her favorite book. Amanda gets a chance to do just that when she changes places with Elizabeth Bennett via a magic portal in her bathroom. Once back in time, however, Amanda discovers that life in the 18th century doesn’t agree with her. Not only aren’t there any proper toothbrushes, but the characters don’t want to play the roles Austen has designated for them. And is that icky Mr. Collins making a play for her? Hugh Bonneville co-stars as Mr. Bennett and the delightful Alex Kingston is Mrs. Bennett.
In Austenland, the setup is somewhat different. Keri Russell plays Jane Hayes, a 30-something woman who is fixated on Jane Austen and Mr. Darcy, so much so that she arranges a dream vacation to England to what can best be described as a Jane Austen fantasy camp. However, Jane’s experience at the resort isn’t quite as advertised in the brochure. Mrs. Wattlesbrook (Jane Seymour), the resort owner, openly favors the richer guests and Jane finds herself playing the role of poor relation. Jane also finds herself attracted to one of the resort workers, the raffish Martin (Brett McKenzie) and courted by one of the staff actors, Henry Nobley (J.J. Feild). As the lines between what is real and what is scripted become blurred, Jane has to ask herself what it is she really wants.
Verdict: Not as successful as Lost in Austen. If you have the DVD version of this movie, take a look at the deleted scenes which give more body to the script and improve the overall film. (If you don’t have the DVD version, check out YouTube). Do the male leads appear strangely familiar? That’s because J.J. Feild played Henry Tilney in Northanger Abbey and Brett McKenzie was Lindir in The Hobbit films.
Jane Austen’s novels take center stage in The Jane Austen Book Club, an excellent film about a group of women who form an all-Austen, all-the-time book discussion group in order to cheer up their friend, Sylvia (Amy Brenneman), whose twenty-year marriage has suddenly dissolved. Kathy Baker plays the warm, much-married Bernadette, Emily Blunt is the high-strung Prudie, Maggie Grace is Allegra, Sylvia’s lesbian daughter, Maria Bello is Jocelyn, a dog trainer who avoids men in favor of her animals, and Hugh Dancy is Grigg, the lone male of the group, a techie guy who joins the book club because he’s attracted to Jocelyn.
As the group works their way through Austen’s novels, their lives begin to mirror those of the characters. A warm, wonderful story about true love and second chances.
If This Be Method ... 