Jane Austen gets a sumptuous revival in the Emma… | Little White Lies

Incoming

Jane Austen gets a sump­tu­ous revival in the Emma trailer

21 Nov 2019

Words by Charles Bramesco

Two individuals in period costume, one wearing a large straw hat with floral decoration, the other has a serious expression and is gesturing towards the camera.
Two individuals in period costume, one wearing a large straw hat with floral decoration, the other has a serious expression and is gesturing towards the camera.
Anya Tay­lor-Joy takes the title role in Autumn de Wilde’s adap­ta­tion of the com­e­dy of manners.

A select hand­ful of can­on­ized authors seem to have an unlim­it­ed pass for an end­less stream of adap­ta­tions, and among them, William Shake­speare and Jane Austen reign supreme. The latter’s nov­els, charm­ing satires on class and courtship in the era of pet­ti­coats and frocks, have inspired count­less faith­ful films as well as side­ways inter­pre­ta­tions like teen clas­sic Clue­less.

That film was based on Emma, a wit­ty work of humor and romance, which will receive a more by-the-book screen treat­ment in 2020. The first trail­er has arrived today, promis­ing a sump­tu­ous-look­ing out­ing to the Eng­lish coun­try­side, where hearts quick­en and com­plex­ions flush with a sin­gle furtive word.

Anya Tay­lor-Joy will tack­le the head­lin­ing role of Emma Wood­house, a socialite busy­body who takes great plea­sure in involv­ing her­self in the per­son­al doings of those in her cir­cle. She fan­cies her­self an expert match­mak­er, bliss­ful­ly unaware that she gen­er­al­ly gives poor advice and, on the whole, pos­sess­es pre­cious lit­tle self-awareness.

She’ll come around on her own man­ners over the course of the new take on the mate­r­i­al, which rounds up a promis­ing sup­port­ing cast includ­ing Bill Nighy, John­ny Fly­nn, and Mia Goth. They’re all in clas­si­cal mode, with all the lav­ish cos­tum­ing that would imply, though whether the script will con­sid­er Austen’s text and dia­logue sacro­sanct has yet to be seen.

The announce­ment of anoth­er Jane Austen movie may prompt cries of just that – anoth­er Jane Austen movie?” – but hers is a rich well from which to draw. Time changes, fads fade, but busy­bod­ies stick­ing their nose in your pri­vate affairs? That’s eternal.

Emma comes to cin­e­mas on 14 Feb­ru­ary, 2020.

You might like