Any other version to watch first? - Emma. (2020) Discussion

[–] whoanelly (1558) 4 years ago

I like them all. They each have things that I enjoy:

1996 cinema version starring Gwyneth Paltrow
1996 Meridian Television Kate Beckinsale version
1972 - BBC miniseries starring Doran Godwin.

There’s also Clueless from 1995 starring Alicia Silverstone. It’s modernized and loosely based on Austen’s novel.

If you can’t find them streaming, try your public library's DVD collection.

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[–] Jes' Sayin' (5958) 4 years ago

Excellent reply. I fully agree.

Where can we see this new version in the US? Will it be on PBS?

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[–] huwdj (4562) 4 years ago

Wow! Doran Godwin. I have that on DVD somewhere but yet to watch it. I picked up the set because I remembered her from the Dave Allen show.

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[–] whoanelly (1558) 3 years ago

I love the theme music in that version. It’s an old trad tune called “The 29th of May”; Such an uplifting piece!

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[–] liscarkat (16530) 4 years ago

Having read Austen's novel twice and seen all of the theatrical and television adaptations, I enthusiastically recommend the 1996 version, written and directed by Douglas McGrath, as by far the best. Put aside your aversion to Gwyneth Paltrow's present-day descent into oddness; she was once a talented, charismatic actress and her performance in "Emma" is splendid. The rest of the cast, the production design, and the music score by Rachel Portman are also exceptionally good.

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[–] HarlemEagle42 (16175) 4 years ago

Thanks.

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[–] whoanelly (1558) 4 years ago

Ahh, the chocolate box version. Very pretty. (Dances are wrong for the period, costumes are artistic interpretations and not really accurate). Very obvious who the hero is (unfortunately).

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[–] liscarkat (16530) 4 years ago

I'll take a "chocolate box" version over any "muddy dresses, rotten teeth, hogs-in-the-drawing room" version, which Austen never wrote. Also, it's not only the dances and costumes that were inaccurate. The paint on the walls, the harness on the horses, the window glass, and a hundred other things were not precisely right. There are experts on nails and bottle corks and hinges and floor boards and fingernail-cutting fashions who can also provide useful guidance, if there's ever a documentary about such trivia to be made.

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[–] whoanelly (1558) 4 years ago

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[–] Popcorngal (4347) 3 years ago

I have not seen any of Ms. Paltrow's acting, but I slightly recall the movie's promotion back in the day.

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[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

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