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 Wysłany: ¦ro 11:41, 13 Kwi 2011 Temat postu: Jordan OL School Gwyneth Paltrow as Emma The 1996 |
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Toni Collette was likeable as Harriet Smith, mostly playing Emma’s adopted friend for laughs. The screen relationship between Collette and Paltrow doesn’t have the overtones of social class distinction which appear in the book and indeed other adaptations. The subtle combination of exploitation, genuine friendship, patronage and vicarious interest, which Emma invests in her adoption of Harriet is almost completely lost. There are subtler explorations of friendship to be found in teen comedies like Mean Girls.
Read on
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Gwyneth Paltrow played the title character of the 1996 production of Emma Nike Air, based on the novel by Jane Austen. This high-budget, lavishly set movie contrasted strongly with the TV production released in the same year, starring Kate Beckinsale.
A Hollywood film adapted from a Jane Austen work was never going to please everyone, especially when released so close to a British version of the same novel. Aside from the knee-jerk snobbery from Austen fans for whom no film could do the book justice, this is a watchable romantic comedy. However, it doesn’t go much further than that, and it seems to regard Austen’s world as a round of tea parties and summer lawns. The publicity tagline “This year Jordan OL School 1, Cupid is armed and dangerous!” gave a pretty good summary of the film's tone.
In fact, the analogy with teen films and romantic comedies is worth making. This production of Emma flattens the real social exploration of Austen into a model suitable for a high school drama, with Robert Martin as the cute farmboy, and Harriet Smith as the uncool friend who needs to be taught how to dress and flirt with boys. This vision of Austen has been done far better, and with far more self-aware wit Jordan OL School, in the Alicia Silverstone film Clueless. Apart from the settings the characters walk through, there is no particular reason to choose this Emma over any other rom-com.
One of Gwyneth Paltrow’s strengths is the ease with which she adopts an English accent, an asset which she also displayed in Shakespeare in Love. She is pert, charming, and frankly a little “tinkling” for the role; she doesn’t give Emma much interiority past what can be gleaned from laughter or tears. Playing opposite her, Jeremy Northam suffers from a similar problem. Though an excellent actor, Northam plays Knightley as if guided by a vague idea that people should be more refined in costume drama. He lacks the edge which Knightley occasionally displays, and which keeps Emma from immediately recognising him as her mate. |
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