Emma (Kate Beckinsale)

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It’s nearly twelve years since we watched the ITV adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel ‘Emma’ on DVD. I could remember being pleasantly surprised when we first saw it. ‘Emma’ is my least favourite of Austen’s classic books. I don’t much like Emma as a character, and it’s hard to enjoy a book when I dislike the main protagonist.

The film version, however, is excellent. Kate Beckinsale makes an extremely good Emma. She’s selfish and bossy, and wants to make ‘matches’ between various of her friends, whether they want them or not. She is a snob, too, befriending young Harriet Smith (Samantha Morton) in the hope of ‘matching’ her to the vicar: the smarmy Mr Elton (Dominic Rowan). Harriet is in love with a young farmer but Emma persuades her to look higher.

Things start to go wrong when Mr Elton makes it clear that he has no interest in Harriet at all, but thinks that Emma herself would make him a good wife. Emma has not seen the signals, and perhaps that’s the point at which she acknowledges she may not be always right in her matchmaking.

The scenery and photography are excellent, giving an authentic backdrop to what is otherwise purely a character-based series of dialogues, and (if Emma were less serious) something of a comedy of mismatches. Emma’s father (Bernard Hepton) is a querulous old man, who does not like change and doesn’t want anyone to be married. He would be amusing if he were not so caught up in his miseries. It’s not surprising, perhaps, that Emma has turned out to be as selfish as she is - and able to manipulate him too, when she wants to.

I had more-or-less remembered the storyline; I knew who ended up with whom, at any rate, so I was watching for hints - and they were there, albeit quite strongly hidden in some cases. Emma hits rock-bottom when she makes what she thinks is a joke at the expense of a kindly, if garrulous elderly neighbour. Thankfully her friend and mentor Mr Knightley (Mark Strong) tells her off strongly.

The only parts of the film that seemed out of place are the beginning and end, which feature some chickens being stolen. I don’t remember that from the book, although it’s a very long time since I read it.

It’s extremely rare for me to recommend a film above its related book, but for ‘Emma’, I would definitely recommend seeing this film - and then, perhaps, read the book afterwards to fill in some of the detail.

Other recommended adaptations of Jane Austen books include:

• Sense and Sensibility
• Persuasion (1995 BBC version)
• Pride and Prejudice (BBC series)
• Pride and Prejudice (2005 film)

Review copyright 2019 Sue's DVD Reviews