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?

THE GREATNESS OF GATSBY REVISITED

Aren't you excited that Gatsby is going to be taken to the silver screen again? I have to say, even if I don't end up enjoying the movie, I am always happy movie adaptations of books come out because it means a boost in book sales.  There are always those who watch the movie and decide to read the book -and much to my rejoicing, normally, the reading experience surpasses their expectations.

In any case, I am leaving the trailer with you.

And a very poetical article. Here's a sample:

"You ponder why "Gatsby" the novel wasn't an immediate success, and why Fitzgerald, weary and sodden, died at 44 believing himself to be a failure and his work forgotten. You marvel at how an essentially melancholy book nonetheless is sprinkled with delightful wit; and how the sadness at the heart of "The Great Gatsby" somehow hardens into a small gleaming pearl."

"At the time of this writing, I haven't yet seen Luhrmann's film, and aam awaiting it with some excitement and some trepidation. The casting, sight unseen, feels right (...). But will all t he 3D and color and noise (Luhrmann's style is famously love-it-or-hate-it flashy, i.e. "Moulin Rouge"), drown out Fitzgerald's music? Will that magical mood of the novel find its way to the screen or will it prove as elusive as Gatsby's dreams?".

JANE EYRE

Romantic novels seem to exert a special fascination on film-makers and that's shown in the fact that they keep been adapted to be shown on the silver screen.

The Brontë sisters (Charlotte, Emily and Anne) were a threesome who really made an impact on English literature with their novels Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and Agnes Rey.

The 3 novels have already been turned into movies, but in a few days a new version of Jane Eyre will be released, written by Moira Buffini and directed by Cary Fukunaga, with quite an amazing setting. Even if you haven't read the novel (which I recommend) you should watch the earlier movie (1996) by Franco Zeffirelli with William Hurt as Mr Rochester, and also the 1944 one starring Orson Welles.

Here's the trailer of the new one:

The Jane Austen Book Club

I know, I know... it wasn't my favourite either, but perhaps I couldn't visualize it, so why not watch the film. Here's the trailer,