Product Description

Emma Woodhouse imagines that she dominates those around her in the small town of Highbury, but her matchmaking creates problems for herself and others.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: NR
Release Date: 26-OCT-1999
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1020 in DVD
• Brand: AUSTIN,JANE
• Released on: 1999-10-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 107 minutes

Amazon.com
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

Customer Reviews

Pleasant. Relaxed-pace, Ok.

Visually appealing. Pretty dresses, houses, and scenery. Better than television. 3-stars, because the script could be better. 3-stars compared to "Pride and Prejudice". This is the best version so far. Ok to watch once.

Emma meddles and trifles in the romance relationships of her friends to their harm.

This film shows Emma is not successful in her meddling and trifling, because Emma is prideful, Emma values appearance, charm, money, and power; more than more-valuable, good-character, kindness, and goodness that her poor friends have. Thus, in the beginning we see Emma insulting nice people. We see Emma being condescending to people, meaning Emma has an attitude showing Emma is thinking how she is better than her friends, rather than thoughtfully appreciating her friend's good qualities of kindness and friendship.

This film does not show enough contrast between Emma in her pride, and Emma with a change of heart. We should see Emma later do the opposite of what she has done at the start, which is to value her friends and to help people.

Emma appears to grudgingly talk to the nice lady Emma had insulted previously; showing a sort of apology, but leaving us thinking Emma's only change is to decide she should not have insulted the nice lady in public, but still believes the nice lady is an idiot.

The guy who sets Emma on the right path is not likeable enough. He has little personality. We should have seen this guy with a likeable personality, getting to know others, helping others, in contrast to Emma at the start. We agree with his words, but do not see his words come to life in his character.

We need to get to know Emma friends before Emma meddles in their lives. We need to see Emma's friends in happy times, so we care when Emma begins meddling with a good thing.

Things work out too easily in this film. We do not feel the great harm Emma's meddling could have done if Emma's couple-friends had followed Emma's bad advice, and not married. We should see Emma's friends following Emma's advice at first, being hurt by Emma's meddling, then rejecting Emma's bad advice, persevering, restoring their relationship, and later forgiving Emma; with our admiring their forgiving spirit. Here, they appear beholden to Emma even at the end, when Emma is really beholden to them.

The characters should portray that having good values in non-romantic relationships, means having good values in romance, and vice-versa.

In the end Emma speaks the words, but we do not see subtle emotions in Emma showing her thinking and understanding the harm she has done, or almost done, seeing her become determined to make amends and renew friendships, thus revealing a true change of heart.

There should be more exaggerated personality in the supporting characters or character-acting. Add music and singing, and some humor.

If you liked this, you should like "Under the Greenwood Tree", which has more humor. Even better is "North and South", "Wives and Daughters", and "Pride and Prejudice"-1995 or 1940.

3 maybe 3 1/2
Not quite what I was expecting, but it's a cute movie. Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility get 5 stars in my book. But this is a good movie too.

4.5
I did watch this AFTER watching the 1996 Gwyneth Paltrow version and do prefer this one.

I'm not a Kate Beckinsale fan, she does Emma well. She's more proper and more restrained than Paltrow. The scene that sticks in my mind most is her face after Knightley chews her out for being mean to Miss Bates.

I definitely preferred this George Knightley. Davies does a better job of showing Knightley as a person rather than a plot mover; it was far clearer that he was a responsible landowner, riding out to check on his workers and striking up a friendship with a tenant farmer like Robert Martin. He also feels older than Emma in this version, as it was in the book. Mark Strong, of course, is an excellent actor and does this character wonderfully.

One of the strengths of this version is its Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax. This Frank is good, but then it's not hard to beat the Miramax version, which had me laughing (at it). Olivia Williams, though, was to me the memorable Jane Fairfax: quiet, put-upon, long-suffering - she captured Jane Fairfax in a nutshell. Williams' performance drove home what every reader and viewer feels at the end: Jane deserves so much more than that jerk Churchill. Loved it.

Lucy Robinson, fresh from being the annoying yes-woman Mrs. Hurst to Anna Chancellor's Caroline Bingley, is Mrs. Elton; Samantha Morton, Harriet Smith. Both are good performances, and at least for me, on par with their Hollywood counterparts. Of course, Harriet drives me nuts with her spinelessness, so I'm not a good person to judge any Harriet Smith.

A definite plus: showing Emma's nephew. A key line running through the novel is Emma's reluctance for George Knightley to marry. She believes she doesn't want Knightley to marry because of disinheritance; Emma's older sister is married to George's younger brother, and their son (Emma and George's nephew) Henry is George Knightley's heir. Emma says her primary fear is that Henry will be disinherited if Knightley marries and produces a son, and that is her ostensible reason for opposing Mrs. Weston's suggestion that Knightley favors Jane Fairfax and Harriet's affection for Knightley. It's not until later she realizes that her own feelings for Knightley are playing as large a role as Henry's disinheritance in her reluctance for him to marry. This aspect comes out very well in this version of "Emma".

If I had to choose one (which I didn't; I have both), I'd choose this one. It's overall a more faithful version.