Emma
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bernard Hepton, James Hazeldine, Kate Beckinsale, Mark Strong (II), Samantha BondBrand: A and E Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 107 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1999-10-26
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: A&E Home Video
Product features:
- From the greatest romantic novelist of all time comes a delightfully wicked comedy of love and matchmaking. Jane Austen's sly and vivacious heroines have enchanted readers for more than 200 years. Now, for the first time on DVD, this acclaimed production from the creators of A&E s bestselling PRIDE AND PREJUDICE brings to life one of the most fascinating Austen characters of all -- the charmin
Movie Reviews of Emma
Movie Review: Excellent version of Emma
Summary: 5 Stars
I was thrilled when the Gwenyth Paltrow version of "Emma" came out. After all, I knew from reading the book that it was a great story and I was one of those Austenites reveling in the rich array of Austen adaptations created in the mid to late 90's. When my husband bought me this version, my first thought was, "Emma doesn't look gorgeous." She was supposed to be breathtakingly so. But as soon as I stopped looking at the cover and popped the movie into the VCR, I was hooked (as I realized that the beautiful Ms. Beckinsale might have just taken a less-than-worthy photograph for the cover). Not was I only hooked, but this version became by far my favorite.
For one thing, it is much truer to the book. It baffled me that the screenwriters of the Paltrow version had the chutzpah to think they could improve on Jane Austen. This major flaw somehow slipped past me during my adaptation-induced euphoria and became apparent only after I watched the Paltrow film again after viewing the A&E, a film that remains wonderfully faithful to the book in every possible way. And although much had to be cut, one never gets that sense of choppiness that inevitably comes with the adaptation territory. There is genuine inventiveness involved in shortening the story; it moves quickly, but never feels rushed or cut up and pasted.
Some of the characters in the Gwenyth Paltrow version at times seem either ill-cast or two-dimensional. Jane Fairfax is supposed to be reserved but generally admired. Emma doesn't like her, but that is simply because Emma is still maturing. In the A&E version, you can see why Emma dislikes her: she's elegant, poised, musically skilled and yes, rather reserved, but there is nothing in her personality that would generally give cause to complaint. Jane, in the Paltrow version, appears sneaky and suspicious in a very two-dimensional way, as if desperate to show the audience that she's hiding something.
Harriet Smith is only slightly miscast in the Paltrow film but the actress's biggest problem here are the writers who felt the need to create gratuitously ridiculous scenes for her which added nothing but a few laughs. How hysterical!: Harriet is helping Emma minister to the poor and sick and she's freaking out so badly she's falling over! Now she's posing for her portrait dressed in a ridiculous outfit and looking confused!
Samantha Morton, A&E's Harriet, is exactly as I pictured her: attractive, innocent, naive and because these screenwriters had more respect for the book, she is always placed exactly where Austen meant her to be.
Sophie Thompson is a wonderful actress and does a humorous, if somewhat two-dimensional portrayal of the chattery Miss Bates in the Paltrow version. But just putting some spectacles on her face and tying up her hair in a bun can't hide the fact that she's much too young for the part. The Paltrow version also erroneously shows her snubbing Emma after the infamously rude comment on Box Hill. Miss Bates was much more gracious and forgiving than that, a fact well portrayed by the more accurate A&E version, whose Miss Bates is perfectly cast and who gives a wonderful performance.
Who is the superior Emma? My opinion is Kate Beckensale. My husband, a Jane Austen fan by marriage, would vote for Paltrow. Paltrow does bring a certain ditziness to the character which is very much in keeping with the book. Beckensale comes off more sure of herself, but Emma was quite headstrong in her wrong-headness, so both potrayals are valid.
One very nice touch, not in the book, mind you, but nice all the same is the ending: a supper/engagement party/dance at Mr. Knightly's. All the major players are there and it wraps up the story perfectly.
Summary of Emma
From the producers of A&E's Emmy award winning Pride and Prejudice.From the greatest romantic novelist of all time comes a delightfully wicked comedy of love and matchmaking. Jane Austen's sly and vivacious heroines have enchanted readers for more than 200 years. Now, for the first time on DVD, this acclaimed production from the creators of A&E's best selling Pride and Prejudice brings to life one of the most fascinating Austen characters of all time - the charming and mischievous Emma Woodhouse.
Starring Kate Beckinsale, Emma is the story of a rich, clever and beautiful young woman who can't resist orchestrating other people's love lives. As her romantic plans go ridiculously wrong, however, it's Emma herself who risks missing out on her perfect match!
Join A&E for a wry visit to the drawing rooms and country manors of 19th-century England - a visit to the enchanting world of Jane Austen's Emma now in the crystal clear digital clarity of DVD.
Similar to the equally excellent Valmont, this version of Jane Austen's classic novel had the misfortune of following a sumptuous big-star version with Gwyneth Paltrow, which was released the summer before. And, just as 1989's Valmont suffered comparisons with Dangerous Liaisons, inevitably these Emmas were held up next to one another.
This delicious Emma concerns a young woman of financial substance (Kate Beckinsale), who fancies herself a matchmaker, especially with shy Miss Harriet Smith (Samantha Morton, who also appears in A&E's Jane Eyre). In Emma's swirling world of social activity and social consciousness, one's position and stature is a constant preoccupation. But to her credit, Emma, albeit a busybody, has compassion for all classes, and for her kindly but hypochondriacal father (Bernard Hepton).
This miniseries is more subtle than the grand theatrical release, is truer to the novel, and gives a richer explanation of the relationship between Emma associates Jane Fairfax (beautiful Olivia Williams of Rushmore) and the duplicitous Frank Churchill (Raymond Coulthard). Of course, at the center, as in all Austen stories, is the romance between the unsuspecting leading lady and an unlikely, but wholly suitable gentleman. In this case, it's Emma and her brother-in-law, the righteous (as played here) Mr. Knightley (Mark Strong). Strong's Mr. Knightley is more reserved, less coy than Jeremy Northam's; he plays Knightley more like Mr. Darcy (the leading man in Austen's Pride and Prejudice, which A&E also offers in a wonderful miniseries). Beckinsale proves to be utterly delightful and in no way should this excellent adaptation be ignored. --N.F. Mendoza
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