Emma.: Latest Version of Jane Austen Classic Nails the Look But Fails the Book
By Liam Lacey
Rating: C+
The fashion for film and television adaptations for Jane Austen novels came into its own in the 1990s and has continued to shape romcoms and historical romances ever since. Emma, an ever-fresh 200-year-old comedy of morals and manners, was the author’s last novel published during her lifetime, and is often considered the highpoint of her work.
Two versions of Emma came out in 1996, and both were breakthrough performances for their young leads: Gwyneth Paltrow in Doug McGrath’s movie version and Kate Beckinsale in the ITV television series. Possibly more memorable than either was Amy Heckerling’s 1994 high-school comedy adaptation Clueless, starring Alicia Silverstone.
The new Emma. (yes, the period is part of the title) is the work of first time-director Autumn de Wilde (known for her photography and music videos) with a script from Booker Prize-winning novelist Eleanor Catton (The Luminaries). Mostly, this generation’s Emma. is a passable romcom, set in a world of Regency frocks and waistcoats, ringlets and mutton chops, with sprawling English country mansions of the kind that charge admission nowadays.
Sticking close to Austen’s text, the story follows Emma (Anya Taylor-Joy), the much-indulged 20-year-old daughter of a widower (Bill Nighy). Proud of her matchmaking abilities, she takes up the case of Harriet Smith (Mia Goth), a parentless teenager, hoping to set the girl up with the local vicar, Mr. Elton (Josh O'Connor) over the humble farmer, Robert Martin (Connor Swindells) who loves Harriet.
Emma’s meddlesome behavior, as well as her infatuation with a secretive young fop, Frank Churchill (Callum Turner) arouse the annoyance and possessive feelings of long-time family friend, Mr. Knightley (Johnny Flynn). Mr. Knightley, as we know from the opening scene — though it takes a couple of hours for everyone else to realize it — is Emma’s proper match.
Taylor-Joy, star of cult horror films Thoroughbreds and The Witch, is a young actress with huge eyes, arched brows, and a bow-mouth, suggesting a predatory baby, while Flynn — staring out between his high-winged collar and under his shaggy hair — is more a hunk than the stuffed-shirt hero of the novel. While they’re a persuasive enough as a couple of intellectually superior types, Knightley and Emma don’t always seem to be in the same film as other cast members. O’Connor offers a pantomime-silly Mr. Elton, Nighy’s Mr. Woodhouse is oddly louche, and Goth’s Harriet is perpetually sobby.
There’s a contrived silliness to the film that, while it may work commercially, undermines the emotional depth of the material. Cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt shoots in bright paint-box colours and the kind of formal framing that suggests a Wes Anderson movie.
Several shots are head-scratchers: We briefly see both Emma’s and Mr. Knightley’s bums in parallel scenes early in the film which, I guess, is a way of reminding us that people had bums in the olden days. A key romantic moment leads to… a nosebleed? Then there are those repeated clusters of schoolgirls in red shawls and bonnets, a bizarre allusion into iconography of The Handmaid’s Tale.
Also, the whole thing threatens to burst into a musical. The soundtrack is stuffed with wall-to-wall music (Beethoven, Mozart, hymns and folk songs) and it seems every eyebrow arch gets a bassoon or harp response.
There’s enough of Austen’s generous social vision and her character-revealing dialogue to make this watchable but Emma. takes a long time to connect emotionally. That doesn’t really happen until late in the film, in the famous Box Hill group picnic scene, where Emma, too fond of her own wit, humiliates the garrulous Miss Bates (Miranda Hart) in front of her friends, leaving the older woman gasping in shock. It’s at that point where Mr. Knightley eventually loses patience with Emma. You might find yourself a couple of steps ahead of him.
Emma. Directed by Autumn de Wilde. Written by Eleanor Catton. Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Bill Nighy, Mia Goth, Miranda Hart, Josh O'Connor, Callum Turner, Rupert Graves, and Amber Anderson. Opens in Toronto, February 28, and in Vancouver and Montreal March 6..