On January 24, January 31, and February 7, PBS's Masterpiece Classic will be airing the new BBC Emma starring Romula Garai and Michael Gambon. I'm looking forward to this one. Emma is the independent and fickle heroine bent on matchmaking. Watch with her as she learns what real love and charity are all about. It should air at 9:00 PM on each night, but CHECK YOUR LOCAL LISTINGS! The first episode is 2 hours, and episodes 2 and 3 are each 1 hour long. In Denver, Masterpiece airs on KRMA Channel 6. Beginning February 9, you can also purchase Emma from PBS at their shop for about $35 or on Amazon for about $25 (pre-order).
You might want to also tune in the following week, February 14, for the short and delightful Northanger Abbey. Give an hour and a half to giggle and sigh over the silly but likeable Catherine Moreland and her hero, Henry Tilney. See my full review here.
Also to update you on my Jane Austen movie preferences, I could not excuse myself for failing to point you to the good adaptation of Persuasion, BBC's 1971 miniseries starring Ann Firbank. It is old, but much closer to the book. Live for the moment when Mr. Elliot's notice of Anne reawakens Captain Wentworth's attention, or that letter, the perfect letter, at the end of the story.
April, 2010 - I LOVE this movie!. See my review of Emma starring Romola Garai.
To God be all glory.
I accidentally missed the first episode of Emma!
ReplyDeleteWhile mentioning this to a friend, she suggested I look on Hulu.com
I have never been to Hulu.com so it was like a miracle that last night I got to watch that first episode of Emma.
The brightness and narration reminded me of Pushing Daisies and helped explain the story and culture to viewers. Of course it is hard to say how well a movie expresses a story I already know so well. But this movie does not so imitate older versions of Emma as, say Sense and Sensibility did older versions of that story.
What I am greatly enjoying is that, without taking the liberty of inventing plot points, they are showing background details merely mentioned later, like the death of Mrs. Weston (Frank's mother) and Mr. Martin's interview with Mr. Knightley. Also! Mr. Knightley is a character. He develops. Who would have thought perfection was made, not born? We get to see him wrestling with Emma's position on singleness, and challenged by Robert Martin's confession that he doesn't want to waste his life; why wait to get married if he can proceed today? And who in Hartfield is better able to proceed than Mr. Knightley. Yet he is even more likely to be refused, he knows, than Mr. Martin. What will happen!!!!
Emma is an imaginative girl who treats her circle of friends like she used to treat her dolls. But they are flesh and blood, not so easily controlled or manipulated as anyone would like.
To God be all glory,
Lisa of Longbourn