Because of my hectic senior year, I hadn’t been able to consume as much Austen related content as I would have wished. I feel so guilty for not having watch the 2020 adaptation of Emma sooner. One reason for this is because I was quite unsure about how it was going to be like when I first watch the trailer, but it is mostly due to my crazy schedule this year. I never want to watch any Austen related things in a rush. Therefore, I waited until I could have an entire Sunday dedicated to the film, knowing I would come to back to the novel right after watching it to munch on the little details that the movie may remind me of.
Now, having finally watched the film, I could easily say that the film has some of my favorite Emma moments in across all the adaptations I have seen. The movie was funny, bright and sarcastic, not afraid to bring out the worst in Emma’s character. This is a bold move for an Emma adaptations, but a great one nonetheless. Austen always intended for Emma to be a horrible human being, for at least a substantial chunk of the novel. I love Emma, but I also know she wasn’t always the friend I wanted to have. Some previous version of on-screen Emma has given her a slightly more favorable look right from the start, which, given Emma’s capability to change for the better, isn’t necessary a bad thing. We can also say that since Emma has such exuberant charisma, it’s hard for us to hate her anyway. Nevertheless, I appreciate the 2020 adaptations effort to hightlight some of this amazing protagonist’s flaws, which I believe is true to the educational spirit that Austen hoped to bring in to her work.
The film has an amazing cast, an unique and lovely color palette, many beautiful shot of the English countryside as well as a great soundtrack to compliment the story. All in all, it was probably one of my favorite Emma experience ever.
Another Austen update I would like to share with you is the John Mullan’s book What Matters in Jane Austen? Twenty Crucial Puzzles Solved.
If I can only pick one person to read his or her analysis of Jane Austen’s works, I would choose John Mullan. I knew I can depend on his books for an Austen research for he has counted the eleven times Mr. Darcy smile, ten of which were directed towards Lizzie. There’s a bunch of videos on Youtube where you can hear his talks about Austen, like the video below. I have just got my hand on his book What Matters in Jane Austen? Twenty Crucial Puzzles Solved and am really excited to dig in further. If you love Jane Austen, this book will definitely be a treat.
A sleepy conscience 