Anne Hathaway is lovely to look at and she acts well, but she is much less flirtatious and much less wry than she should have been. The film's characterisation of Austen emphasised naiveté and good nature, which might be acceptable due to the youth of her character at the beginning, but by the end of the film her gentle naiveté remains - unrealistically.
Jane Austen was clever and quick-witted. The film, while hinting at her dark humour, and expert use of irony and sarcasm, failed to bring this across in the representation of her character. She was shown as gentle, dedicated, tragic, sweet, upstart, and ultimately she said she wished better for her characters than she herself had experienced. The film has a saccharin feel overall.
Much better was the representation of Austen in the BBC's "Miss Austen Regrets". It shows Jane at a later time in her life, and so we can expect an older and wiser portrayal, but more than this, it shows a woman more totally like Austen, and more like her letters show her to be. The TV film shows someone with serious faults, as well as serious perfections. Not a simple, tragic heroine; instead a complex woman carrying several sorrows, but not ruled by them.
Jane Austen was clever and quick-witted. The film, while hinting at her dark humour, and expert use of irony and sarcasm, failed to bring this across in the representation of her character. She was shown as gentle, dedicated, tragic, sweet, upstart, and ultimately she said she wished better for her characters than she herself had experienced. The film has a saccharin feel overall.
Much better was the representation of Austen in the BBC's "Miss Austen Regrets". It shows Jane at a later time in her life, and so we can expect an older and wiser portrayal, but more than this, it shows a woman more totally like Austen, and more like her letters show her to be. The TV film shows someone with serious faults, as well as serious perfections. Not a simple, tragic heroine; instead a complex woman carrying several sorrows, but not ruled by them.
Still given to flights of fancy in the heart, accepting small disappointments with wisdom, it reveals a woman who knew the hand that life had dealt her, and consciously chose writing over her other opportunities (knowing that to also rear children, run a household and hold a place in society would not have been possible).
It displays Austen as a career woman, unsure when handling a baby, flirtatious and confident, sharp and successful. The real beauty of it's portrayal though, is to marry this fabulous personality with instances of self-doubt, and small tragedies, and inconsistencies, which make her altogether believable as the writer of both her letters and novels.
She is my Austen, a woman who was changeable, but strong; hard and yet touched by life. A woman who, while mourning a slow sadness (her life 'un-burdened' by either a husband or a family), became, by virtue of her towering skill and excellent insight, a giant in the world of literature.
It displays Austen as a career woman, unsure when handling a baby, flirtatious and confident, sharp and successful. The real beauty of it's portrayal though, is to marry this fabulous personality with instances of self-doubt, and small tragedies, and inconsistencies, which make her altogether believable as the writer of both her letters and novels.
She is my Austen, a woman who was changeable, but strong; hard and yet touched by life. A woman who, while mourning a slow sadness (her life 'un-burdened' by either a husband or a family), became, by virtue of her towering skill and excellent insight, a giant in the world of literature.
