Emma [1996] - DVD (Kate Beckinsale, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Bernard Hepton, Samantha Bond - Dir: Diarmuid Lawrence)

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Customer Reviews of Emma [1996]

Anna McLeod
Scotland
7th January 2009

Excellent adaptation of a great book.
This is simply an excellent adaptation of a great book. It captures the humour, the irony and subtlety of the book very well. Kate Beckinsale is exactly as I expected Emma to be, perhaps slightly nicer. The supporting cast are great, Prunella Scales in particular is fantastic. A difficult job very well done.

Jane Thomas
Wales in the UK
29th December 2008

Not the best version available
I'm surprised that I stuck with this right through to the end because I didn't like this version at all. The 'young ladies' fell short of being genteel enough for their class (including the clumping about instead of walking in a feminine manner!) and the language used was 'modernised' in many places, including the use of 'couldn't', 'haven't' etc, instead of 'could not' and 'have not'. It felt 'raced through' as well, with a lot of scenes left out - although of course it was limited by length (107 minutes). As for deliberately turning Mrs Elton into an American - well, I'm speechless!! I couldn't disagree more with the reviewer who said that the BBC version with Doran Godwin was 'nasty'. On the contrary, this superior (1972) production gives more time to let the drama unfold delightfully without rushing (256 minutes) and keeps closely to the book. Everyone is perfect in their roles - I can't imagine there ever being a cast so absolutely like their literary counterparts in any other production of 'Emma'.

colonial
Johannesburg, SA
24th June 2008

Most pleasantly surprised!
Yes, this does indeed make the other version look paltry.
I love all the performances, but Mark Strong's Mr. Knightly, and Prunella Scale's Mrs. Bates are particularly fine. A beautifully and subtly made adaptation.

Elizabeth Simmons
Brentwood, UK
24th April 2008

Perfectly Cast!
I am a fan of the Gweneth Paltrow version, however this adaptation exceeds it in many ways. Faithful to the book and the cast is excellent!! Much more believeable & more emotive, this would have to rate as my favourite Emma adaptation!

armchair critic

15th April 2008

Good but not great, too much head, not enough heart
I purchased the 2006 BBC Jane Eyre last summer, based in no small part on its reviews in Amazon, and I was so pleased that I thought I would try again with other adaptations of classic books I have read and enjoyed. This Emma came with 5 stars (I later realized that only 5 people had reviewed it at the time), so I bought it.

Obviously, I was a bit disappointed.

To be fair, this production has a lot to recommend it. The costumes, hair stlyes and manerisms are all true to period. The story line, dialogue and charactersations are all (more or less) faithful to the book. Although some of the minor characters are a bit campy, the acting (with one major exception) is perfectly adaquate to quite fine. My favorite performance ist that of Bernard Hepton as Mr. Woodhouse, whose character has only silly lines, but whose characterisation is always charming. Mark Strong as Mr. Knightley gives a performance which is indeed strong and a characterisation that is indeed knightly.

Kate Beckinsale, however, although she is a beautiful woman and not an incompetent actress, is not quite up to being Emma. The 200 year old genteel text does not always ring naturally in her voice. She seems almost to make a charactature of Emma's less desirable qualities, as if she has performed too much Oscar Wilde. It is not enough that Emma is sometimes charming. The combined effect is a coolness that makes Emma seem intentionally manipulative, and Emma has to be warm-hearted enough so that she can at least convince herself that her interference in other people's lives is purely altruistic. Furthermore, although she is beautiful, her beauty is confined to the dim lighting of her bedroom where the shadows bring out the contrast in her features. In day time shots, I swear the only make-up she has on is powder, eye-liner and lipstick, and the unimaginitive lighing makes Emma of 30,000 pounds look plain.

My other key complaint with this production is that it refuses to be romantic. In spite of Mr. Strong's and even Miss Beckinsale's best efforts, the scene where Knightley declares his love is doggedly presbyterian. I sorely wish that more time was spent doing more takes from more camera angles to bring out the best emotive qualities of the actors, and less time spent choreographing their first kiss.

One reviewer, while recommending this production says: I have not yet found the perfect Emma, but this is as good as it gets."

I fear, for now, that she is right. I remain, however, disappointed and wait for a better incarnation of the book.