Jane Austen Alert!
Masterpiece Theatre in the United States just announced that, beginning January 2008, they will present “The Complete Jane Austen.”
This will include new adaptations of Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, and Sense and Sensibility, plus the popular Andrew Davies-scripted adaptations of Emma (the one starring Kate Beckinsale) and Pride and Prejudice (the Jennifer Ehle/Colin Firth version.)
Two of the new adaptations will also be written by Andrew Davies (the new ITV Northanger Abbey and the new BBC Sense and Sensibility.)
I admit I was sadly disappointed by the 1986 “Peter Firth As A Creepy Tilney” version of Northanger Abbey, so I’m really hoping Davies and director Jon Jones give us a great interpretation of one of my favorite Austen novels.
This one stars lovely young Felicity Jones as Catherine (pictured here, on the cover of the British DVD release!)
By the way, I love Austen movie synchronicity — that is, finding that actors in one Austen (or Regency-interest) movie appear in another — and so I will point out that this Mrs. Allen is played by Sylvestra Le Touzel, who played Fanny in the 1983 Mansfield Park, and also appeared in the recent Amazing Grace.
My biggest worry with Northanger Abbey is that it was filmed entirely in Ireland. We’ve rolled our eyes at that before at Risky Regencies, but I think it’s worth doing again..
Northanger Abbey? Not at all filmed at Bath? The best Bath novel in the world, with the Pump Room and the Lower Rooms and the Upper Rooms and Milsom Street and Pulteney Street and everything else? The novel is practically a guide-book, or at least a high-brow advertisement, for Bath — so how can they make it without Bath?.
Okay, enough eye-rolling. Ironically enough, the only part of the earlier Northanger Abbey adaptation that I thoroughly liked was the gorgeous Bath backdrops.
Next up, perhaps the adaptation that has me worried most of all: Mansfield Park.
So: why does this have me worried, you ask? To begin with, look at the photo (courtesy of another UK DVD release.)
What is she wearing?
And why is her hair like that?
This actress, for those of you who haven’t already shouted “I know WHO she is!” (sorry, bad joke) is Billie Piper, famous for being the female sidekick of Dr. Who in the last few seasons. And her hair in Dr. Who is surprisingly similar to her hair here…
My second worry: the entire Mansfield Park is all of two hours long, including commercials.
(Plus, I confess I peeked at bits that were uploaded to YouTube, and I’m not terribly impressed.)
But I should give it the benefit of the doubt…right?
Here are some more pics.
They worry me too.
Mostly, it’s the hair.
And Fanny’s constant sulky/sexy expression.
Interestingly enough, the script for this adaptation was written by Maggie Wadey, who wrote the 1986 Northanger Abbey (the one you may have already noticed I don’t much care for. Then again, Peter Firth would not have been her fault.)
My piece of Austen/Regency (okay, not Regency, but Georgian, anyway) synchronicity here: Tom is played by James D’Arcy, who played Blifil in the lovely 1997 Tom Jones.
The third ITV Austen movie will be Persuasion.
Now you may be thinking just what I am: how could anyone improve on the sublime 1995 Roger Michell/Nick Dear version, which starred Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds?
It was short, but near perfection. And it had an amazing supporting cast: Simon Russell Beale, Fiona Shaw, Sophia Thompson, Sam West — and such camerawork, gorgeous Bath backdrops, a subtle script… And Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds were both divine.
(Can you tell I liked it?)
This new version is written by Simon Burke, who scripted some Cadfaels and also the 1997 Tom Jones. Our new Anne is Sally Hawkins, whose synchronicity credit came when she played Mary Shelley in the 2003 BBC Byron (starring Jonny Lee Miller).
More synchronicity (okay, this is post-Regency, but I don’t care) comes with Rupert Penry-Jones, who plays Wentworth. In the Ciaran Hinds Jane Eyre, he played St John Rivers. Plus, Alice Krige (who was La Marquesa in Sharpe’s Honour, Mary Godwin in Haunted Summer, and is best known as Star Trek’s Borg Queen) plays Lady Russell.
The piece of casting, though, that many will find hardest to take, is Anthony Stewart Head as Sir Walter. Many who know him as Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer are crossing their fingers that they’ll buy him in this very different role. (I hope so — how rotten for an actor to be forever typecast!)
Good news: the earlier rumor that this Persuasion was also to be filmed entirely in Ireland was quite untrue; scenes were filmed in the Bath Assembly Rooms, at #1 Royal Crescent, and at other locations in Bath.
The last of the new adaptations, the Andrew Davies-scripted Sense and Sensibility, has not yet debuted in the UK, so I know little about it.
What I do know: as opposed to the other three new Austen adaptations, all of which aired on ITV and had running times of two hours (including commercials), Sense and Sensibility is a BBC production, and will run three hours (which I think is a good idea!)
It stars Hattie Morahan (pictured above left) as Elinor, and Dominic Cooper (right) as Willoughby. (Those of you who saw History Boys will recognize Cooper as the rakish heart-breaker Dakin.)
So…what do you think? Which Jane Austen adaptation are you most looking forward to? Most worried about?
Do you think I’m being too negative about certain things? Should I have a more open mind? Or are you, too, leery about some of these choices?
What do you think of Austen adaptations in general?
All opinions welcome!
Cara
Cara King, author of MY LADY GAMESTER and obsessive Austen-adaptation fan
Oh, I am excited! This should be good for our books. Anything that can induce people to love the Regency is okay with me! And I can hardly wait to dissect every moment of each broadcast (like I did the Beau Brummell one).
Just the sulky photo of Mansfield Park makes me worry about it. It is not a photo of someone I wish to know , let alone identify with. Northanger Abbey looks pretty, but how in the world can they do Bath and not be in Bath? Boggles the mind.
I loved the Kate Beckisale Emma! Much better than the Gwynth Paltrow one. But I cannot see how Persuasion could be improved upon, and I liked Emma Thompson’s Sense & Sensibility a lot, too.
We’ll see….and it will be fun seeing!
I’m with Cara and Diane on these.
A new Northanger Abbey sounds cool but why not in Bath? (rolls eyes along with Cara)
As for Mansfield Park–she looks more like a bad-girl lingerie model than Fanny Price. It promises to veer even further from the book than the Patricia Rozema version which caused such an uproar among Janeites. I rather liked that one after I mentally disassociated it from the book.
MP happens to be my least favorite JA anyway, because Fanny is not as strong a heroine as most of the others, at least not until near the end of the book. Perhaps that’s why they keep mucking with her characterization in film versions?
S&S and Persuasion seem more promising but as everyone has said, there have been lovely versions of them already. But then I enjoyed the new P&P despite having loved the Firth/Ehle version so I’m open to seeing new interpretations.
To me, it looks like the DVD covers should be switched. The woman on Northanger Abbey looks like Fanny Price, and the blonde looks like, darn forgot her name, in Northanger.
It’s Tilney’s greatcoat they have to get right. It’s a character in itself.
I loved Billie Piper in Doctor Who (though I haven’t followed the show as closely since Christoper Eccleston’s departure), but I just can’t see her as Fanny–in my mind Fanny is frail and ethereal, and though Piper is a good actress IMHO, I don’t think those qualities are part of her repertoire. She’s just too earthy and sensual for Fanny.
As for Anthony Stewart Head, I’m keeping an open mind, though I make no promises that I won’t squeal “Giles!” when he makes his first appearance.
I will join the eye rolling about Northanger Abbey not being shot in Bath but the version that has me most worried is the ‘Persuasion’ one because the original was so wonderful!
I’ve never been a fan of ‘Mansfield Park’ but the pictures posted don’t make me want to stay up for that one.
And, frankly, you just can’t improve on P&P. I guess that makes me a snob or a traditionalist at best.
I’m excited too! How wonderful to have so many new Jane Austen adaptations to look forward to. I find if I keep an open mind, I can enjoy most of them. No adaptation is every completely my vision of the book in questions (because the books are so rich) but each one seems to capture a different aspect. Sort of like seeing different productions of Shakespeare plays, which I never get tired of. It’ll be great to see Anthony Stewart Head as Sir Walter–he’s such a wonderful actor and it’s great to see him able to play different roles. Such a different character from Rupert Giles, I have no doubt he’ll seem very different.
I’m just excited to see Head in Tim Burton’s upcoming version of Sweeney Todd! The whole cast looks fantastic (once you accept that all Burton films from now on will star his wife).
As for the Austen adaptations, I share all of your worries . . . I’m still scared by the latest P&P. *shudder*
Gee, all this eye-rolling is giving me a headache! 🙂
Wow, Cara, what a lot of facts and pictures! It must have been lot of work, since none of them have been released in the US yet…
I actually like the novel Mansfield Park quite well–it’s not my favorite Jane Austen novel, but I like them all. And I have a sentimental attachment to it–the first time I read it, my then-girlfriend and I were both living in London and flattened by the flu. (Nice alliteration,huh?) We took turns reading it out loud to each other, and finished it up after we recovered, reading it on a bench in Regent’s Park.
Perhaps because I do like the book so much, I was not very happy with the recent film version. And I’m concerned about this upcoming version, too: leaving aside questions about Billie Piper, it’s a long and complex novel, very difficult to do justice to in two hours.
In spite of being filmed in Ireland, I’d like to see the new Northanger Abbey. It’s a shorter and funnier book, and I think it could be made to do well as a film. It’s crazy to not film it in Bath, though.
I loved the film Persuasion, and find it hard to believe they’ll do a better job. But I’m keen to see Anthony Stewart Head as Sir Walter.
I am neutral about Sense and Sensibility. And much though I like Kate Beckinsale–especially in a tight leather catsuit–I actually prefer the Gwyneth Paltrow Emma to the BBC version.
I’m sure you were all dying to know all of that. I now return you to your original programming.
Todd-who-wonders-why-Emma-isn’t-always-costumed-in-a-tight-leather-catsuit
I’ll watch as much as I can and enjoy some or all of them, because Jane Austen is a big enough girl that she can take ambitious young BBC producers etc. putting their particular trendy spin on her.
Bath not in Bath? Well, Dublin is probably the second major Georgian architecture city of Europe and I suspect it may be an easier place to get permits and do all the messing about that has to happen to make films.
Thanks for posting all this, Cara! I’m really looking forward to this–a smorgasboard of Austen! 🙂
I agree with all the reservations, though, especially as regards Mansfield Park. Fanny isn’t my #1 favorite Austen heroine (though saying “not my favorite Austen” is like saying “not my favorite chocolate”), but like Susan I picture her as ethereal and graceful. Not looking like a frowsy scullery maid. I also read a review of MP that said they turn Fanny into a “voyeur” who sneaks around Mansfield staring at everyone. I also never pictured her as creepy, but whatever. 🙂
Persuasion is also my favorite of the movies (also of the books!). It was perfect. But I always enjoy seeing new spins on the stories, and can’t wait for 2008!
I found the new ITV versions on youtube.com, so I saved them and will get to them later. I *really* want to read the books first before watching the movies, those or other versions. 🙂 But would love to see them next year on a much bigger screen. LOL
Well, when it comes to versions, I have seen the two Emma’s already mentioned and Sense and Sensibility. . . been it’s been a long time for both and I did get S&S on DVD but still want to read the book before seeing it too. 🙂
So, the only versions I can really say anything about is P&P. As far as my opinion is, is that 1995 BBC version is the best. I really couldn’t stand the newest. . . I loved the stage version I saw. . . the Laurence Oliver version, I really liked it, but kept yelling at the tv ever 5 minutes because of those outfits. LOL I think I can say his Darcy is my number 2 favorite. I also got the 1979 BBC version, and liked it, but didn’t love it.
So yep, COlin Firth is Darcy- God for me. LOL 🙂
Oh yeah, is there an easy to read list of all the dates of the versions of the JA books anywhere out there on the internet. . . for those of us who want to say we’ve seen them all? LOL 🙂
Lois
And I can hardly wait to dissect every moment of each broadcast
Ooh, me too, Diane!
I loved the Kate Beckisale Emma! Much better than the Gwynth Paltrow one.
Interesting! I like the Paltrow one better. It’s not as close to the book, true, but I find the Emma more likable and the Knightley splendid, and I love the humor. The Beckinsale version just seems rather boring to me. (And if the real Knightley was a short, middle-aged balding man, I don’t want to know it. Give me Jeremy Northam!) 🙂
Cara
she looks more like a bad-girl lingerie model than Fanny Price.
LOL, Elena!
Interesting that you liked the Rozema version once you divorced it from the book…because I guess that’s what I never could do. It just seemed to me if she wanted to do a totally different story, why didn’t she, with a new title? (But I admit, that’s one adaptation that pushed my buttons.)
I find if I keep an open mind, I can enjoy most of them.
I like your attitude, Tracy! Actually, I have, too, in the past. I’ve found a few of the BBC adaptations (mostly the older ones) to be fairly boring, but I enjoy most of them. And even when they make a lot of changes, like the P&P with Olivier, and the most recent one, I still like them a lot!
I think for me it boils down to this: I understand that a different medium leads to certain changes. What I want kept is the core of the plot, and the core of the characters. To me, all the P&Ps I’ve seen have kept that.
I think I found the Peter Firth Northanger disappointing because I thought they turned a lighthearted, satiric, very funny novel into a weird mock-Gothic thingy, sort of the opposite of Austen’s intent. And for Rozema’s Mansfield, I think, too, she changed too many characters too hugely — Sir Thomas, Tom, Fanny — for it to be any kind of interpretation.
But in Sense & Sensibility, when Emma Thompson added in lots of stuff to show us Edward being nice & smart, and Elinor falling for him, that worked perfectly for me, even though it wasn’t in Austen at all. It was just a different way of showing the characters that Austen told us about — while explaining the period to modern audiences.
Cara
(who can discuss this subject for weeks! Maybe I should!)
Oh yeah, is there an easy to read list of all the dates of the versions of the JA books anywhere out there on the internet. . . for those of us who want to say we’ve seen them all? LOL 🙂
Lois, you might want to visit http://www.pemberley.com. It’s a great site with lists of books, movies and all sorts of other goodies.
Oh yeah, is there an easy to read list of all the dates of the versions of the JA books anywhere out there on the internet. . . for those of us who want to say we’ve seen them all?
Lois, I review nearly all the available Austen adaptations on my website:
caraking.com/Movies
Bath not in Bath? Well, Dublin is probably the second major Georgian architecture city of Europe and I suspect it may be an easier place to get permits and do all the messing about that has to happen to make films.
I see your point, Janet, but I remember Dublin as this huge city with huge streets, plenty of modern bits, etc etc — very little like Bath’s narrow lanes and uniform coloring. (Perhaps, though, they found some narrow little golden streets, and all will be well.) 🙂
As for Mansfield Park… I’ve been mulling the issue, and I think one could do a movie that would be true to the book (and Austen’s character of Fanny) and yet work for modern audiences. It would be hard, true, but I think possible.
And I’ve been thinking how to do it. First, you have child Fanny, rather unhappy at home due to noise, parents, etc, but loving William and her sister. They’re all waiting for William to go to Mansfield, but a letter arrives — Fanny, not William, is invited. Fanny doesn’t want to go, but is told that they can’t afford her, and this way, she can help William — perhaps she can make connections which will one day help him in his career. And she is told repeatedly to always be grateful, and make herself useful.
So she goes. Before, during, and after the trip, we see rigid class structures and social rules.
At Mansfield, I think we should see Maria and Julia as girls who generally come across as lively, happy, and charming — and their cruelties to Fanny are mostly the result of ignorance and high-spirits, at least initially. Therefore, the adults (and Edmund) don’t worry about basically leaving Fanny to their “care” — they’re nice girls, right?
Anyway, Fanny finds peace in the quiet, orderly beauty of Mansfield. She is a bit intimidated by Maria & Julia, but also sort of looks on them with wonder, the way Darcy’s sister looks on Elizabeth (“My, she’s so spirited, and she dares to tease and laugh so much! I wish I were like that — I think.”)
Anyway, I would show by lots of external bits how Fanny really has little choice in her character — how it’s not so much that she has no opinions, or no will, but that in her social position, she isn’t allowed to have them.
Okay, this is way too long, but that’s the beginning of my thoughts on this…
Cara