Monday, January 13, 2014

AUSTEN… AGAIN


So here we are, new year and old authors revisited. I was surprised to see we open 2014 with a new film revisiting Jane Austen. I don't know whether it will polish or bust the myth, it looks more like the second to me, sorry. 

The film is based on a novel by Shannon Hale (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Hess) and is officially described on the author's site as follows: Jane Hayes is a seemingly normal young New Yorker, but she has a secret. Her obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of "Pride & Prejudice," is ruining her love life: no real man can compare. But when a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-crazed women, Jane's fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become realer than she ever could have imagined.Decked out in empire-waist gowns, Jane struggles to master Regency etiquette and flirts with gardeners and gentlemen or maybe even, she suspects, with the actors who are playing them. It's all a game, Jane knows. And yet the longer she stays, the more her insecurities seem to fall away, and the more she wonders: Is she about to kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?Russell will play the part of Jane with Feild playing a Darcy-impersonator who works for the resort.


On the bright side, the movie has brought back a lot of discussion about Jane Austen and her novels, which makes me really happy.

And you, austenite or not? Will you watch the movie?


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