Latest 'Emma' serialisation

Not had a chance to watch it as yet and probably won't get to it for a few days now . I'm not overly excited by the casting, but am open to have my mind changed. Also think that Emma is one of those books that works better on the page than on screen, but that may just be me.

I'll pop back with some thoughts when I've had a chance to watch it. Did you enjoy it?

Is the BBC going to have the first episode available on their site, as they sometimes do? Or shall I just have to wait for Masterpiece Theater to air it in the spring? I'm really excited for this - I love Romola Garai!

Suspect that you may have to wait for the spring to see this in the US - you can catch up on the Iplayer on the BBC main site, but this should be geolocked to UK ISPs only.

Well, I found and watched the first episode on YouTube. I'm not exactly sure what to think. After looking forward to it for so long, it was a bit of a disappointment. I like many of the actors involved (Garai, May, Gambon) but I'm not entirely sure the roles are cast correctly. Moreover, it all just feels so modern - which is apparently what the producers intended (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/6176192/BBC-banishes-stuffy-period-characters-from-new-Emma-drama.html). No Bath marathons or sickroom entries yet, but the way characters charge up to each other, without proper introduction, makes me wince. And would Emma and Knightley really been talking so loudly during the church service?

It's been awhile since I've read the book, but I don't recall Emma being quite so melancholy in the aftermath of Miss Taylor's marriage. She seems almost depressed at times. And what was with the line "Frank Churchill, Jane Fairfax and I are linked together in some strange way" or whatever it was? Apparently it wasn't enough for Emma to be a successful matchmaker—she had to have mad mystic powers as well!

Okay, so enough with the snark. It does have a wonderful cast, lovely locations, and many lines/scenes from the book. I'll be interested in seeing what the next episode brings us.

I've been looking forward to this, too, but having watched the first episode, I'm not sure I'll continue with it. Heavens, I wish the Kate Beckinsale Emma had been a miniseries, then I'd be satisfied.

The emotionally manipulative scenes, especially the opening, the too-often mopiness of the characters--blah. Mr. Woodhouse is far too forceful and crotchety. Mr. Knightley is not nearly forceful enough. And the dialogue. Aaaaaargh. I wouldn't say that there are "many" lines from the book at all! There are a few, scattered here and there; there are sentences that convey a similar meaning to those in the book, but have been, I don't know what they intend, "modernized"?, "improved"?; and then there are lines that have nothing to do with the book.

Could someone explain to me what, precisely, is wrong with the dialogue that 19th century authors wrote? I recently tried to watch that dreadful 2006 adaptation of Jane Eyre--and not only did it jettison most of the original dialogue, it replaced it with the most unbelievable howlers. Similarly with the 2005 Pride & Prejudice. It's not as bad in this Emma, but I truly don't understand why they couldn't just take. the. lines. from. the. book.

>5 ncgraham:, I object - the snark must go on! I love the snark! :)

Heavens, I wish the Kate Beckinsale Emma had been a miniseries, then I'd be satisfied.

100% agreed.

Oh, and having gone back and watched clips of both the new version and the two 90s films, I also agree that the dialogue isn't as close to the book as I originally thought. It's annoying me because they have a decent cast, but between Welch's screenplay (honestly, the bit with the happy mother dissolving into the coffin was so MACBRE—why do so many period drama fans think this woman's work so brilliant?) and the direction, it's not going too well. Mr. Director seems to be taking his actors' worst mannerisms and making them the keystones of their performances. There's way too much eye-popping and smirking from Emma (again, I love Romola Garai, but she could use some of Beckinsale's aloofness in this part) and finger-wagging from Knightley.

I will keep watching if I can, but ... disappointing so far.

Well, after ncgraham mentioned Sandy Welch's name on another thread, I did some digging and found out that she was also responsible for the screenplay of Jane Eyre '06, which I have already complained about here. I agree about the eye-popping from Emma. And I did some extra research and found that Michael Gambon has never read the book, so his idea of Mr Woodhouse is based on some lousy screenwriter's idea of who Mr Woodhouse is. (I ran across a comment on one article about the new Emma which read something like, "Come back Andrew Davies, all is forgiven." :)

So I watched ten minutes of the second episode and just couldn't do it. I'm too busy these days to be trying something that I know is mostly going to irritate me. Good luck to you, ncgraham, and let us know if it improves!

Were you able to watch the second episode online, Medellia? Last I checked the only place it was posted was the BBC video player, for UK URLs only. If it is up elsewhere, I may have to ferret out some time for it this evening.

The second episode has been posted on Megavideo:
http://www.megavideo.com/?v=TWEUTHD2

I often watch BBC shows on streaming sites like Megavideo, and find them catalogued on Surf the Channel. After new episodes have aired, you might check here to find links where you can watch:
http://www.surfthechannel.com/show/79750.html

Thanks for posting the links! In my opinion, Episode Two was an improvement over the last—not that that was hard. Garai cuts the grimacing down quite a bit, though it's still there; as I expected, she does better in the more dramatic, introspective scenes, though why this should be so when she gave such an excellent, underplayed performance in the role of another spoiled heroine lacking self-knowledge (Gwendolen Harleth, Daniel Deronda) I don't know. Her best moments are those when she rejects Mr. Elton, and when she tearfully tells the news to Harriet. But Elton is such a sleazeball that it's hard to believe even Emma couldn't see through him, and Harriet is neither written nor played to be quite as admirable a character as she is in the book, or in the 90s adaptations.

Other writing and acting problems persist ... particularly some out-of-place, modern feminist remarks. I did enjoy seeing all the "other" Knightleys, and after an unfortunate first scene, Frank Churchill came off rather well. Overall, much better, but still missing the mark a bit.

I've got the first two episodes sitting on my Sky+ waiting for me to have the time to sit down and watch them and I have to say that the comments here (and published reviews - Romola Garai's “performance seems to be coming down to an anthology of gogglesome schoolgirly grimaces.” Andrew Billen, The Times) make me think I shouldn't bother.

The sad thing is that I don't think that I've seen a good adaptation of Emma - the Kate Beckinsale version left me cold and let's not even go there with the Gwyneth Palthrow film. I'm beginning to wonder if its because its hard for a dramatist, direct and an actress to combine to convey the love and warmth behind the meddling and scheming, which does come across in the book. After all it took the skills of Emma Thompson, Ang Lee and Kate Winslet to keep Marianne loveable otherwise she could have come across to modern audiences as just as self-obsessed over-dramatic teenager - as she was once described to me in book club.

Or am I missing something?

Interestingly, I always thought Elinor the less modern of the two sisters. But that's for another thread.

Gah, no Episode 3 yet. I did catch this dance scene on YouTube though, and think it's just lovely. Too bad the whole adaptation isn't like it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImAlox_ZlJ4

Ha, picky-pants me, I went and watched the clip at your link and thought, "Why on earth did that screenwriter cut out, 'You have shown that you can dance, and you know we are not really so much brother and sister as to make it at all improper.' 'Brother and sister! no, indeed.' ?"

:)

Oh dear, it's obviously been way too long since I read Emma, because that didn't immediately jump out at me, although I did get the sneaking suspicion that something important was missing. No wonder! That's one of the best lines from the book, and I think both the Beckinsale and Paltrow versions, for all of their cuts, included it. This is going to bother me now.

Still, the music's nice.

Yes, I thought the music was nice, too. I know the Beckinsale included those lines--can't remember about the Paltrow, but I'd bet it was there, too. They probably cut it out of the new one for fear of creeping out modern audiences.

The dialogue is all fresh in my mind because hubby & I have been reading Emma out loud to each other for the last several weeks. (Only forty pages left! sigh) So this was a particularly bad time for me to watch this new adaptation, ha.

BOO to modern audiences, I say. (And how sweet that you and your husband read JA together!)

Well, I was finally able to see it, so here goes....

Thoughts on Episode #3
Well, it looks as though Romola's Emma may be at last coming into her own. There were no popping eyes in this episode, and I only thought one or two scenes at all overplayed. I continue to be unmoved by JLM's Knightley, think Gambon is being wasted on the misinterpreted Mr. Woodhouse, find Jane comes across too strong, and wish there was more to this Harriet than being pretty, silly, and sweet. But I think this Frank is my favorite of the bunch, and Christina Cole and Blake Ritson make a deliciously low couple.

The comedy was riper in this one, too. Emma's monologue after Mrs. Elton's visit had me dying. And despite the missing line (I checked, by the way, and it appears in the Paltrow in mangled form, which is almost worse than not having it at all), I do love the dance scene. There seems to be much more variety to the dances here than in most JA adaptations, and again, the music was lovely. All the subtexts are bothering me, though: Emma's desire to see the world, her feeling of being tethered to her father, the more modern buildup of the romance between she and Knightley. All of these added up to making the last twenty minutes unworthy of the rest of the episode.

Not sure what the final episode will hold for us. The preview looked pretty scary, honestly—Emma looking like she just got out of bed, Frank talking about leaving "this 'ere country" (not a direct quote, but that was the feel of it), etc., etc.

I feel like I'm seriously clogging up this thread, but this should be my last post for a while....

Thoughts on Episode #4
Well, it's over now, and I for one am fairly glad of it. My final opinion of this series: incredibly bumpy, but effective in parts. That goes for this episode as well, though I did truly enjoy both it and #3. I'm having a hard time organizing my thoughts on the matter, so I'm going to try making a list of sorts.

Worst line: "I'm going to leave this country, just as soon as I can book a ticket." Sorry, it would have been epic if Humphrey Bogart said it in a gangster movie, but Frank Churchill? No.

Worst delivery: Yes, I am afraid it was the big one ... "Badly done, Emma!" In JLM's defence, Welch wrote the scene oddly. Instead of this being the climax of the scene, Knightley just strides up and starts shouting at her. Blegh. Badly done indeed.

Best supporting performance: Probably Johdi May as Mrs. Weston. I did love (and hate) the Eltons again, but they were given less to do here. The scene of him leading her on the donkey was hilarious. And I couldn't resist going "yuck!" when he was marrying Robert and Harriet. He's so slimy-looking, I'd tell him to keep his hands OFF. Brilliant casting.

Most over-dramatized subplot: The buried conflict between Emma and her father about her going away. Michael Gambon's most touching scene comes in this episode—tear-jerking would be a good description of it—but it is not in Austen and the character is not Mr. Woodhouse. And apparently this near-tyrannical wish of his to have her always around is enough for her to break off her engagement to Mr. Knightley. (Apparently she runs all the way from Hartfield to Donwell to tell him this. Alone. You think she would have learned her lesson with the gypsies!) Second most over-dramatized subplot: the flirtation between Emma and Frank. At one point during the picnic scene he had his head in her lap! It almost seemed as though he were changing his mind about Jane, and that for a time she wanted out too; I'm not sure I got that in either of the other books or adaptations.

Good moment of questionable accuracy: Emma's silent reconciliation with Miss Bates. Again, tear-jerking, but I'd have to go back to see if it's true to the book.

Poorly-developed plot point: Harriet's transfer of affections from Mr. Knightley back to Robert Martin. In her penultimate scene, she's head-over-heels for Knightley, and incredibly excited, despite Emma's shock. Next we see her, she's getting married to Robert. Huh?

Unbelievable plot point: Mrs. Bates finds her voice? Really? Well, ain't that just a fairy-tale ending for you?

Fan gratification not in the book: During the church scene, when Frank Churchill is describing Jane's virtues, Emma leans forward, gives him a knowing look and says, "Then treat her WELL." Yes! Put him in his place, please! (This is almost as good as the adaptation of The Mill on the Floss when Phillip Wakem calls Stephen Guest a hypocrite to his face and strode out of the room. Now if only he had shot him, then carried Maggie off....)

Scene that made the episode: The montage where Emma figures out that she really does love Mr. Knightley, and realizes how she's messed everything up. I felt, for once, that Emma truly changed as a person. I'd have to go back and watch the other two adaptations (as well as read the book!) but I cant remember getting this before. This is the sort of thing I was hoping for when I imagined Garai in this part a couple of years back. Too bad the whole thing wasn't like this!

This is an interesting thread; mind if I weigh in?

For some reason I don't understand myself, despite loving Jane Austen's novels I am always happy to see interpretations of them on screen as well. Some books I feel precious about and avoid dramatisations of (who said you shouldn't end a clause with a preposition?) but The Six don't bother me. I sat down for the first episode of Emma last month thinking, 'I wonder what this lot will be like'.

I'm not too concerned about individual lines. Print is print and film is film, and I accept that you need to tell a story differently to suit the medium, even creating new scenes if necessary.

I do enjoy different interpretations of characters. For instance, while Emma herself was just a little too galumphing in this one, I still appreciated the fact that she wasn't a delicate beauty, which I never thought she was from the book. She also didn't look quite young enough, though, and Mr Knightley looked too young, which I'm sure was done on purpose because that is the one difficulty with 'Emma' now, I feel - just ever so slightly creepy that he's been watching her grow up and all-but grooming her for himself - ugh, shudder, move on quickly!

But I thought this Miss Bates was wonderful. I've never before seen this character portrayed as someone who was clearly attractive but just somehow missed a husband and security. When I saw Tamsin Greig was in the cast I assumed she would be playing Mrs Elton, and was stunned to see she was Miss Bates instead, but what a great job she did.

In the nineties when the Andrew Davies 'Pride and Prejudice' was first broadcast, I tried to prepare my sons (12-14-ish) by explaining just how serious the business was. That if none of the Bennet girls married before their father died, they were in real, hard, deadly serious trouble. It really mattered. I think this interpretation of Miss Bates underlined this so well, so much better than a Miss Bates in her fifties looking fat and fuddy-duddy.

One last thing about dialogue...

Actually, no, I think I should start a thread as it is not particularly 'Emma'!

I'm afraid that I was so annoyed by the adaptation that I didn't get past the first episode, but while I thought Tamsin Grieg was great I have to shout out for Sophie Thompson in the film. There is so much wrong with the film that I could rant on for hours, but I remember really liking Sophie Thompson's performance as I felt that she managed to encapsulate the pathos of the character without being a pathetic victim if that makes sense. According to IMdB Sophie Thompson was only in her early 30s when she played the part, although I will concede that they dressed the character as 'older'.

She's also in the superb BBC version of Persuasion with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds in very fine form as Mary Musgrove.

Ah, one that I had managed to erase from my memory - so miscast that I can't find the words.

On revisiting this thread I've realised I got hopelessly sidetracked by outside life and left that "last thing about dialogue" hanging (Post 20).

It was indeed relevant to 'Emma', but I got mixed up with Elizabeth Bennet's piano skills and confused myself. Oh well.

What I was going to say is that sometimes, just sometimes, an adaptation can come up with an original line of dialogue which is wonderful. There was a BBC dramatisation of Emma in 1972 with Doran Godwin as Emma and John Carson as Mr Knightley. I remember so well the proposal scene at the end when Emma says something like, "I'll have to call you George now" (to which he naturally agrees), and she says, "George". Then, even more firmly, "George". Then, slightly desperately, "George!". Then she turns to him and says, "Oh Mr Knightley, I can't do it".

I thought this was so funny and sweet at the time, and it stuck so well that when I re-read Emma a few years later I was surprised to find it wasn't there. I think it should have been.

Anyone else remember this adaptation?

Aah - yes, sorry, one other thing. I did think that John Knightley was very well done in this recent version. He was sarcastic and a bit of a grump, but quite clearly basically nice and rather funny, which is much more likely given that he's brother to The Hero. In my recollection (by no means reliable) I'm sure he's usually rather unpleasant.

How was Prunella Scales miscast?

I loved both she and Sophie Thompson in the 90s adaptations; both made for wonderful and hilarious portrayals of Miss Bates. Grieg didn't do much for me. I didn't find her funny at all, and there's a whole tendency for modernizing and "humanizing" Austen's comic characters in recent adaptations that I don't much care for.

Found this thread after watching the first two parts of the series on PBS Masterpiece Classics last night. I'll bump this to the top of the group posts and see if any other Americans saw it and had any comments.

It's been a while since I reread the book--Emma is not one of my favorite characters. Even though I know Austen did not intend her to be, it still leads to less attention to this book. So although I remember the basic plot lines, I don't remember specific text. So I just pretty much watched it for its own sake, and found it fairly enjoyable on that basis. Agreed about the eye-rolling, but I still found the actress brought a lot of life to the role.

I noticed that Northanger Abbey and Persuasion are coming up later this spring. I know the Persuasion film is one I've seen before. Is the NA new?

I thought I'd re-watch the series when Masterpiece aired it, but am now going to wait to reread the book first. That said, it was interesting to hear some of my classmates' reactions to the first two episodes in my Jane Austen class this morning. Romola's eyes seem to be the main dividing point: some seem to think them extraordinarily expressive, others just a little over-the-top.

I noticed that Northanger Abbey and Persuasion are coming up later this spring. I know the Persuasion film is one I've seen before. Is the NA new?

Nope; like the Persuasion, it's a repeat from last year.

I suppose that Emma is new this year because they didn't do a new production of it last time around.

On second thought... are they airing Pride and Prejudice this year, and is it new? Last year, they re-aired the (very good) 1995 version. P&P and Emma are the only two of Austen's works for which they showed previously released movies.

They don't do all of Austen every year, you know. :P Nope, no Pride and Prejudice this year, and I doubt if the BBC is going to follow up their '95 version anytime soon.