Emma.
by Eleanor Catton (screenplay), Jane Austen (novel)
Let’s get this out of the way – Clueless remains the best film adaptation of Emma, the novel by Jane Austen, to date, in terms of capturing the essence of the novel’s title character.
Having said that, the current (2020) version offers sumptuous scenery, costuming, and staging, gorgeous cinematography, some adept historical touches, and nuanced acting. I sometimes disagreed with the film’s interpretation of Emma Woodhouse, but never with actress Anya Taylor-Joy’s actual performance, in which she is able, through the slightest sigh, to convey vast quantities of emotion.
Emma. is the story of Emma Woodhouse, a young, rich, beautiful, inexperienced woman who believes that she is an infallible matchmaker. As presented in the movie, Emma strolls about her home, garden, and town, trailed by servants, in utter control of her every emotion. Her hair is so tightly and perfectly curled that it looks like Top Ramen. Her skin is flawless, her lips a perfect Cupid’s bow, her eyes as large as a Disney cartoon character. Yes, I have a huge crush on her, but my point is that she is coiffed and dressed and pushed and poised into such perfection that she might as well be a very bored, repressed, and controlling Barbie doll.
This idea of visual perfection matched with inner unease pervades the movie. The clothes are incredible. Watch this movie just for the costuming. However, even though everyone is beautifully dressed, they always seem either too hot or too cold, and Mr. Knightley in particular is clearly confined and frustrated by his constraining attire.
In terms of decor, Mr. Knightley’s home is a museum, filled with art, dust cloths, and loneliness. Emma’s home is constantly monitored for drafts by her vigilant, hypochondriac father. There is a lot of food in the movie, all of it elaborately presented, but I only counted food going into a mouth three times: once to expose a character’s social shortcomings, once as a distraction from a painful topic, and once as an act of flirtation.
Back to the plot. Emma decides that her calling is to be a matchmaker. She takes under her wing a young woman named Harriet, who is of uncertain parentage and has no fortune, but who is ready to worship Emma. Harriet likes a farmer who returns her interest, but Emma insists that Harriet might set her sights higher – even as far as the vicar, Mr. Elton. Meanwhile Emma is intensely interested in the mysterious Frank Churchill, a young man who is due to inherit enormous wealth but who never comes to visit his parents. All this is much against the advice of Mr. Knightley, a friend of Emma’s father. In a world which revolves around appreciating Emma in every way, only Mr. Knightley shows disapproval, and they argue with the passion of two people who rather enjoy it right up until their arguments hit too close to home.
Hotness alert:
In the book, Mr. Knightley is sixteen years older than Emma and most famous for at one point snapping, “Badly done, Emma!” as though she’s a poodle who just peed on his carpet. In the movie, the first we see of Mr. Knightley is his bare behind as he’s being dressed by servants, and he seems closer in age to Emma, so when he tells her “Badly done!” he seems not just disappointed but truly angry and sad and frustrated. Indeed this Knightley is ALL ABOUT sexual frustration and random acts of kindness, which is quite a swoonworthy combination.
A big change in this adaptation is that it is more cynical and hard-edged than others, a change which is mostly manifested in an Emma, who is a little bit mean and constantly frustrated. Even at the start of the movie, it’s evident that she should not be running a house, nor caring for her father, and certainly not matchmaking. She should be leading armies into battle. She should be on the bridge of a Starship bluffing hostile aliens. She is a Force of Nature without an outlet, and this makes her selfish and callous.
My problem with this film lies in its failure to elucidate the point that Emma is a good person who means well, which is a central point of the book. Anya Tayor-Joy, whom I adore in all things, has a history of playing stone-cold killers and this is evident in the movie. Every time she is crossed, she gets a look that means someone is gonna pay in blood for crossing her. Yes, I enjoyed this quality, but no, it’s not true to the book character. The Emma of this movie is warm towards her father, but otherwise she’s rather mean initially, having few sincere feelings towards Harriet and acting purely selfishly. It’s not until the last section of the film (after being called out by Knightley for a cruel jest at Miss Bates’ expense), that she becomes a softer person, being truly kind and selfless towards Harriet and atoning for her wrongs to various characters by deed as well as word.
As enjoyable as the cast is (the supporting cast is a dream!), the most interesting aspect of this movie is the staging. The movie is composed of many formal shots that illustrate everything from the dissonance between feeling and appearance, to the emotional yearning between characters, to the smallness of the village in which the characters reside. This is a movie that would probably benefit from a re-watch. Although the formal shots run the risk of creating a static environment (some of the shots seem made to live as screenshots on the Internet rather than as part of a flowing narrative) the formality highlights the constraints in which the characters live.
Of course the real questions behind an adaptation of Emma is: does the romance work, and is the movie funny, and how are the clothes? The answer, respectively is: yes, yes, and amazing. Regency and romance fans should be very happy here.
For more about costuming check out this Vox article. And if so inclined, check out my ebook, Pride, Prejudice, and Popcorn: TV and Film Adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights ( A | BN | K | G | AB ).
I adore Clueless. I think a lot of people have a soft spot for Paul Rudd because of that movie.
It’s been years since I’ve read Emma. The only part that I remember is that I hated her character 2/3 of the way through. Clueless made her likeable early on.
I think it’s hard to portray someone of immense privilege sympathetically. Clueless managed to pull this off wonderfully; Cher was clearly spoilt and rich and more than a little myopic, but always well-intentioned.
Interesting! I’ve read “Emma” twice and actually felt violent dislike for her character both times. Maybe I’ll like this adaptation. P.S. I LOVED Clueless, but never felt Emma was as endearing as Cher.
For me the Romola Garai take on it is superior, but I’m going to give this a second shot when it hits home media.
I admit to disliking literally every incarnation of ‘Emma’, including Clueless. I am going to see this PURELY for the joy that is Miranda Hart. And if you haven’t treated yourself to her sadly short-lived show ‘Miranda’, it is currently on Hulu.
Such fun!!
I adore Clueless, but I love the Romola Garai/Jonny Lee Miller even better. It is very easy to make Emma unlikeable and for Mr Knightly to come across as too old and too bossy, but I thought that that version did a good job of making Emma likeable (if exasperating) and making Mr Knightly a genuinely good friend who expresses genuine disappointment.
I loved the movie! It was a great adaptation that accurately portrayed Emma from the book. And it was so beautiful, I was frequently distracted by the scrumptious details. I loved Clueless as a standalone movie. However, it’s status as the best adaptation is questionable – being that it’s palatability stems from the fact that Cher is inherently more likable and sympathetic than Emma.
The titular character’s complex nature is why ‘Emma’ is one of my favorite novels. Her boredom and repression result in her meddling in the lives of others; I won’t deny that she means well, but I think that “good person who means well” is a better description of Cher than Emma. Emma is very aware of her place in the social structure of early 19th century Highbury. Here are a couple of quotes that showcase her snobbery:
“The yeomanry are precisely the order of people with whom I feel I can have nothing to do. A degree or two lower, and a creditable appearance might interest me; I might hope to be useful to their families in some way or other. But a farmer can need none of my help, and is therefore in one sense as much above my notice as in every other he is below it.”
“The Coles had been settled some years in Highbury, and were very good sort of people–friendly, liberal, and unpretending; but, on the other hand, they were of low origin, in trade, and only moderately genteel…but they ought to be taught that it was not for them to arrange the terms on which the superior families would visit them. This lesson, she very much feared, they would receive only from herself; she had little hope of Mr. Knightley, none of Mr. Weston.”
The 2020 adaptation does a really great job of showing how Emma grows and comes to see the world beyond herself. In fact, the addition near the end that Harriet’s father is in trade, and Emma’s acceptance of it shows her growth to a greater extent than the novel.
P.S. Interestingly, there’s a 13-year age gap between Anya Taylor-Joy and Johnny Flynn. I was pretty surprised by this, as they looked to be closer in age.
This is my favourite adaption of Emma – I don’t think Emma is a romance, really – it’s more like chick lit, and – the way I read it – the friendship with Harriet is so much more central than the romance with Mr Knightley. Most adaptions don’t give you that sense that Emma and Harriet have that intense relationship. I bought into the friendship in this adaption.
And I really liked Miranda Hart’s Miss Bates. I think Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill have been better in other adaptions – maybe it’s one of the problems when you make Mr Knightley so luscious (which I enjoyed) is that you lose the idea that Emma tries to fall for Frank because she has so few options. I didn’t get the sense that Emma sees Knightley as a family member at first. (Clueless does that beautifully.)
Overall, I really enjoyed it.
I thought Jane Austen actually intended for Emma to be unlikeable from the start. Didn’t she say when she was writing the book that she was writing about a character “only myself will like”?
The only non-Clueless adaptation of Emma that I’ve ever seen is the Gwyneth Paltrow one, which I know everyone hates but I kind of love purely because of Jeremy Northam as Knightley. I rewatch it sometimes just to stare at him and I am not ashamed! (Alas, the Knightley in this adaptation doesn’t do anything for me at all.)
@SaraW: likewise! 🙂 I’m not a big Emma fan in general, but will 100% see this if only for Miranda. (Who always seems a total delight of a human being outside of her characters as well — she’s one of several comedians who dedicate time on holidays to supporting people online who are alone, lonely and struggling on those days, to make sure they have someone to talk to, and she has a newsletter that seems to focus entirely on happy news and positivity and trying to love yourself a little bit more.)
@Lucy: Thank you for mentioning Miranda’s newsletter! It led me to her website, and her books, and twitter, and and… Emerging from (such fun!) internet rabbit hole, I had to share some of the joy:
https://twitter.com/mermhart/status/1230100947361288192
I agree with the review and nearly all the comments (yes to Clueless and yes to Romola Garai/Jonny Lee Miller version, love Miranda! Pure costume porn!). In this version you really got the sense that servants are viewed as wallpaper and yet we see them as individuals (especially the two footmen). I also loved that they brought Emma’s sister to Highbury and the hypochrondria does not fall from the drafty tree.
Agreed (@Star) that Emma was not written to be a “likable” or even “sympathetic” protagonist. The text invites the reader to judge/laugh at her blunders, in which case, it’s always a bit of a gamble whether the reader responds favorably to the character afterwards. But hey, some of us have a soft spot for the f*ckups. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Speaking for myself, I tend to like the Emma Woodhouses and feel less favorably inclined towards Catherine Morland, who I think was also deliberately written to be “unlilkeable.”
Emma gets an A rating from me…I disregarded Covid19 to see it a second time (probably my last theater jaunt for awhile). Here’s why I loved it…
1. Johnny Flynn deployed unselfconscious weapons grade sex appeal. He is 36–close to Knightley’s book age…and much older than Taylor-Joy. His bare bum dressing scene with his valet indulges the female gaze while showing this suitor “suiting” up in clothing barely less confining than a young lady’s finery. YES, no one wore underwear!
2. The costumes are spot on accurate…I have seen the source material from the V&A, Met Museum, etc. That alone was well worth a second look.
3. Charming performances and humor, humor, humor!
4. My sold out opening night audience GASPED and GROANED when Emma dissed Miss Bates at the picnic…well done Ms. de Wilde for showing us Emma’s journey to enlightenment.
If this movie is a B+, please publish your A list. I must see them all.
I think I’d have trouble watching this version of Emma. That brooding shot looks exactly like my nephew at 18.
I ADORE Jane Austen, but always had trouble with Emma. I finally got over it watching the Gwyneth Paltrow version. I also squealed with joy when I found my very own copy of Clueless and forced my son to watch it with me. We were very impressed that Paul Rudd looks EXACTLY the same then as he does in Ant Man. What moisturiser does that man use?
I really love the 1996 movie version with Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam so I have been putting off seeing this version as I was afraid the creators were too intent on “putting their own mark” on it. In my opinion when movie makers say this about a Jane Austen adaptation it usually means talking all the Austen dialogue out of the movie and making up their own (cough, Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice Cough).
One of the things I loved about Jeremy Northam’s Mr. Knightly is how sad and pained he is to tell Emma “badly done.” It’s hurting him as much to have to say it to her. Gwyneth’s Emma is spoiled and selfish but never mean on purpose (with the exception of her snarky remark to Miss Bates). She truly thinks she is doing good. I am a bit hesitant to see Anja Taylor Joy’s more strident take on her as Emma is a difficult balancing act.
My favorite version so far has been the Romola Garai/Jonny Lee Miller one, though I do adore clueless too.
Saw it today and enjoyed it for what it was.
Thanks for this thoughtful and well illustrated review.
Reese Witherspoon is one of those actors who can play a character doing unlikable things, and yet still come across as likeable. Meg Ryan was good at that when she did all the romantic comedies in the 80s. For men, it’s John Cusack and Owen Wilson, in my opinion.
As much as I agree about Clueless being one of the most faithful adaptations of the spirit of the book, gold standard for me remains the Kate Beckinsale/Mark Strong version.
[SPOILERS? Maybe?]
In any case I found Mr Knightley’s proposal in the Anja Taylor-Joy film somewhat…underwhelming? I felt the force of their emotion but it felt like they just zoomed through it, which was particularly jarring since they took such care with their other scenes together. What was with that nosebleed?
Loved. It. Aside from the comments above, the costumes are amazing–not just historically accurate (no harlots running around with flowing hair, yay!), but also true to the characters. Even though Emma, Harriet, Jane Fairfax and Mrs. Elton are women of a similar age and social bracket (in that they all socialize together) their costumes are not in the least interchangeable–they each have unique looks. The soundtrack was not at all what I expected, but I thought worked very well. And the supporting characters are amazing–Bill Nighy as Emma’s father and the actress who played the odious Mrs. Elton were perfect. My favorite scene in the movie was when Mr. Elton brings his new wife to tea at Emma’s house. I would seriously pay for a ticket to Emma II consisting entirely of Emma and Mrs. Elton going head-to-head while Bill Nighy reacts in the background.
If you like Emma you should check out the series with Romola Garai! I personally have never read Emma but my friend loves it and has watched the series multiple times(I’ve seen it too and enjoyed it very much).