I love, love, love Jane Austen’s work. There isn’t a book of hers that I dislike, but the big three for me are Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, and Emma.
When it comes to Austen-based films, I am a bit harder to please, probably because the novels are so special for me. While I’ve enjoyed some versions of Pride and Prejudice (especially with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle), I’ve had a much harder time being really satisfied with any film version of Emma.
Gwyneth Paltrow’s Emma is fine for a romantic comedy, but it misses so much of the beauty and depth of the characters’ development. Kate Beckinsale is lovely as Emma, but her Mr. Knightley (Mark Strong) is really too angry and I find their romance hard to believe.
So I’m so pleased to have found BBC’s 2009 Emma with Romola Garai and Jonny Lee Miller. This is the Emma I’ve been looking for.
I’ll admit that this version takes liberties with the script, but I appreciate those liberties. Showing the departure of Jane Fairfax and Frank Weston Churchill as children helps us viewers understand just how privileged Emma is. There are additional scenes with Mr. Knightley that help us understand him better as a person and see what it is that Emma might come to admire in him.
I can’t think of a single casting that I don’t agree with. The chemistry between Jonny Lee Miller and Romola Garai is wonderful, most especially in their many arguments. Tamsin Greig is a moving Miss Bates (something I would have thought impossible) and Michael Gambon is a perfectly foolish but loving Mr. Woodhouse.
And of course, I think it has the best dance scene. Ever.
