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What are your hopes and expectations for this version? (SPOILERS)

posted 18 years ago by marcyg68
13 replies | jump to latest

Now that the major cast has been announced, what are your hopes for NA2? And for those who have seen NA1 starring Katherine Schlesinger and Peter Firth, what should be included/excluded from this version?

For my part, here are my hopes:
1. Music that better fits the film/story.
2. Minor 'fantasy' sequences are fine (like what they did in Kate Beckinsale's "Emma" as she imagines the future lives of her friends) but no cheesy 'gothic fantasy' sequences, please.
3. A better ending showing Henry Tilney visiting the Morland home and a more romantic proposal scene.
4. Including Woodston (Henry's parsonage). I'd love for them to include the scenes where Catherine and the Tilneys visit Woodston and General Tilney alluding to his hope that it would be Catherine's future home.

Expectations:
1. Great acting. With JJ Feild and the great Liam Cunningham as Henry and Gen. Tilney respectively, I have high hopes for this cast. JJ is charming and handsome enough. He has an easy-going, likeable manner that would be perfect as Henry. Liam is always fantastic so I know he will do justice to Gen. Tilney. Carey Mulligan should be able to pull off the coquettish Isabella. I do not know much of the other actors, I'm afraid.
2. That the location and production crew can properly transform the Irish landscape into a convincing Bath. I still find it a shame that they are not filming there.
3. An all-in-all better film than NA1!!

"I do not want to possess you. I wish to marry you because I love you." - John Thornton

[–] weaselfrance 18 years ago

I've never seen the existing adaptation of this book, so I have nothing to compare the new version with when I see it.

What I do hope is that the director is able to exercise a bit of control over 'Sex It Up' Davies. There is no way IMO that Isabella Thorpe would be naive enough to sleep with anyone until she got a ring on her finger and I don't see that gratuitous nudity (male OR female) is needed to attract Austen newcomers. P & P 2005 worked wonderfully, no nakedness needed.

It is a shame Bath isn't being used, but an age appropriate cast is a god sign and I'm looking forward to this.

You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope

[–] kippy236 18 years ago

I think anything has to be better the NA1. I could not believe the quality of the first one. All your points are spot on!
Possible Spoiler:::

The one thing I could never get out of my head was when there was the scene of I think Catherine and the Peter Firth character riding on a horse and you could see the spot light move as the horse galloped across the shot......Got to love those 80's movies.

[–] marcyg68 18 years ago

I know. NA1, esp. when viewed today, just feels very 'dated.' It's a lot like those Jane Austen adaptations from the 70's and 80's like "Sense & Sensibility," "Emma" and "Persuasion." The hairstyles feel so 70's and the budgets are so low you can tell that they filmed most of it in a soundstage.

From what I've seen of the 'behind the scenes' photos, NA2 has at least the casting and costumes spot on. Felicity Jones is absolutely perfect as Catherine. November 2007 can't come soon enough!

http://photo.wenn.com/index.php?ref=EXCL%20abbey%20080906&version=int&session_id=37375392081b0f668fd442e0380be899

"I do not want to possess you. I wish to marry you because I love you." - John Thornton

[–] garboventures 18 years ago

Yes, the photos look spot-on for these characters, even if Eleanor is not wearing WHITE as the book claims she always does - but frankly I don't care about little details like that - the actress looks wonderful for the role. I must admit this is the JA adaptation I am most looking forward to next year because it is so seldom filmed.

[–] marcyg68 18 years ago

it's funny that you noticed this, too, garboventures. i agree that i was a smidge disappointed when i saw catherine walker (eleanor) wearing BLUE. i just hope she comes across as elegant, down-to-earth and likeable in the adaptation as befits eleanor's personality. i also had expected eleanor to be better dressed than isabella (carey mulligan). after all, isn't isabella supposed to be poor?

all in all, i'm quite pleased with how the actors look.

"I do not want to possess you. I wish to marry you because I love you." - John Thornton

[–] Tablescrap 18 years ago

I think you are all being a bit harsh on NA1. Yes, it has completely dated and quite drasticly too but sometimes that just cannot be helped. I thought the fantasy scenes were a clever idea and brings you far away from the traditional Austen idea making Northanger Abbey stand out. It completely livened up the original ending in the book which i think fell very flat. Mind the one thing i can't defend was the awful acting for Catherine which was very wooden.

I really hope they put up a better Catherine acting. I have faith in Carey Mulligam bringing life into Isabella having seen her in most of the things she's done (she is getting really into her period dramas isn't she?).

[–] angienicvcu 17 years ago

I know nothing about this new production but I absolutely loved Northanger Abbey 1 and watch it all the time so much so I have now ordered it on DVD. It is my absolute favourite and I love Catherine, Henry and Frederick in the 80's version. The new production I am sure will be fine but again that will not stop me watching the 80's version over and over.
Angie - UK

[–] h-j-bol 17 years ago

I have always liked the subtle humor of Jane Austen and it was completely ignored in NA 1 . Andrew Davies used it in P & P ( the mother - Mrs. Bennet is sooo funny ) so i hope it will be used in NA 2 as well.

[–] weaselfrance 17 years ago

Having just sat, open mouthed in astonishment through NA1, I sincerely hope that the new version is NOTHING AT ALL LIKE THAT!! I really am lost for words!

You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope

[–] marcyg68 17 years ago

Everything I've seen so far on NA2 looks very promising so I'm sure this will be a vast improvement over NA1. The casting alone is superb with JJ Feild, Felicity Jones and Liam Cunningham toplining a splendid cast. The actors - physically and age-wise - look right for their roles.

Here's a clip that has been floating around a few messageboards which shows a few clips from NA2:
http://www.itvmedia.co.uk/default.asp?section=104&page=406&subpage=1999

What I'm most excited about are the clips showing Henry brushing things off Catherine's check, and that lovely passionate kiss between Henry and Catherine (in the blue gown). I cannot wait!

"I do not want to possess you. I wish to marry you because I love you." - John Thornton

[–] LittleLotte815 17 years ago

The only thing I REALLY want is for Tilney to be all that is charming and funny from the book. That's all I'm asking for. General good acting and writing I will expect, and I hope the cinematography is better than the 1995 Pride and Prejudice (BBC version with Colin Firth). That version was practically white.

I never did it either. I'm not a nymphomaniac, I'm a compulsive liar.

[–] lizziebennet 17 years ago

"no cheesy 'gothic fantasy' sequences, please."

My dear, have you read Northanger Abbey?!! It is a satire on the Gothic Romance novels that were popular at the time (1790's). So Gothic Romance scenes are totally on message....

I LOVED the 1980's Northanger Abbey. I was a teenager at the time it was broadcast, and read Jane Austen's books voraciously. The feelings Catherne has about being an innocent abroad, feeling out of her depth in situations and with people who's actions and motives she does not understand. That production captured these perfectly. And the actress had been very popular in a TV dramatisation of the Diaries of Anne Frank around that time.

It's a shame that Bath is not been used as the perfect background (I love secenes in the Baths and the pumps rooms and upper rooms) , but I think beautiful Georgian architecture in Dublin could work in this new version...

Fingers crossed that this production will capture the lively and jokey spirit of the original novel. With Henry taking her head out of the clouds of her love of Gothic Romances, and firmly back on the ground of the reality of his love for her.

Oh yes, and Henry must be flirty and very attractive... And I'm glad to see that Catherine is young nad pretty.....

[–] marcyg68 17 years ago

Yes, lizziebennet, like you I've read JA's books repeatedly and own ALL the current tv and movie adaptations on dvd/vhs.

I think the key word here is "CHEESY." Northanger Abbey is filled with gothic fantasy scenes as Catherine's imagination takes hold, but I must admit some of these scenes in the 1980s adaptation were just a tad overdone. For example, the young boy doing somersaults across the lawn ; or Mrs. Allen sticking a needle through her hand...- what does that have to do with the story? They could've used that time by showing us the Tilneys and Catherines visit to Woodston (Henry's home), for example, which was one of my favorite scenes in the book. I also fault the music. It didn't fit the Georgian genre and felt too 'modern.' Don't get me wrong though. Overall, I enjoyed NA1. I happen to like Katherine Schlesinger and Peter Firth in the roles and it did a good job of staying true to the spirit of the book.

I'm hopeful that this newer version will be an improvement over its predecessor, though I suppose we will find out in a few weeks!

"I do not want to possess you. I wish to marry you because I love you." - John Thornton