MovieChat Forums > The Making of a Lady (2014) Discussion > Almost completely unrelated to the book

Almost completely unrelated to the book

posted 11 years ago by celestialtreat
4 replies | jump to latest

I sat up way too late last night re-reading the book for the first time since high school (it's available as a free Kindle download from Amazon) and tonight I watched the movie. Maybe it's just because the book was so fresh in my mind, but there were hardly any similarities between book and movie (they even changed the title!) One of them being that Hester was pregnant as well. Mrs Cupp was eliminated altogether, Lady Maria and Agatha Slade's roles were greatly reduced, the clandestine flight back to London (one of my favorite parts) was gone and a lot of plot elements - like the horse, the cottage, and the milk - were alluded to but in completely different ways.

I liked Walderhurst's proposal a lot better in the book - poor Emily and her basket of fish! It's not a great book overall, it was a Victorian melodrama at the time that sort of thing was popular. However, I thought the best part of the book was near the end, when Hester goes through this whole inner monologue about how people become murderers, and envisioning Emily's death by drowning (one of the Osborns' plans was to drown her) and basically it was picturing the look of surprise that Emily's face would have borne that turned Hester around on the whole murder thing.

Lydia Wilson was a good casting choice as Emily - I was afraid that they would pick somebody too pretty or too young or too short. The book mentioned several times how Emily had the eyes of a six-year-old child and that was exactly what I thought the first time I saw her on-screen.

There's a tidal wave coming, so you'd better start learning to swim. - Jukebox the Ghost

[–] Trugru2000 11 years ago

Where did you see the movie? UK, USA, other? On TV, theater, mobile device? I'm aching to watch it. I'm mad for Linus Roache.

[–] ekelks-2 10 years ago

Hello. PBS (WNET) is airing it this Sunday, 2/9/2014, from 10 to 11:30 pm EST.

[–] fidgette 9 years ago

Netflix US has it.

[–] H-e-l-e-n-a 9 years ago

I agree with you. The book is no masterpiece, but this movie is just silly. They've changed almost everything and never for the better.

The unlikely romance in the book is so much more interesting and the proposal next to the basket of fish is both touching and hilarious.
People complain of the racism of the film, and while the book indeed has an Indian witch, trying to hurt the heroine, it's less racist than the film! For instance Osborn was a social outcast because of his character, debts and immorality and not because he married a woman of Indian blood! No one seems to mind that.
Also Hester is a more nuanced character and a better person and I would say that even Ameerah wasn't as bad in the book as in the movie, where she is just a murderous crazy old woman. In the book she was at least faithful and intelligent.

There are of course some good qualities of this movie - the costumes are very pretty and the leads are really good. Especially Linus Roache as lord Walderhurst deserved a better script, because his portrayal of the conventional and constrained aristocrat is perfect and close to the novel. Emily is made to be much more intelligent than in the book, but I don't mind it, especially that Lydia Wilson has this look of innocence and goodness that Emily should have.