Becoming Jane Reviews

I have to confess, even though I have a master degree in English, I have never read any books written by Jane Austen (I know, it is pretty bad…). I have seen a couple of movie adaptations, some good, some rather boring, and I came to the conclusion I’m not a really a fan of her stories. So, I might not be the right audience for this movie but I still wanted to give check it out. First of all, it was rather interesting that the makers wanted to tell her life story as if it would have taken place like in one of her novels. There is a good chance that it happened really differently in reality but accuracy was not the point with this movie. Anyway, I thought it was rather well made but it was still rather tedious to watch.  Basically, it took the characters one hour to finally realize that they loved each other, then, it took them 30 more minutes to finally decide that they should be together. So you think they will go against expectations and get married against the rules which was rather surprising but, no, really conveniently, just after leaving her house, seriously just 5 minutes later, she finds a letter saying that his parents won’t make it without his support and money… Of course, they drop the whole thing, get back home and they both live miserably until they die… Of course, since Austen never got married, they couldn’t have been together but this whole back and forth was just really annoying. Actually, this movie reminded me of ‘Bright Star’, a similar movie dealing with the life of John Keats before he became famous. The big difference is that ‘Bright Star’ was really brilliantly directed and it was just drenched with passion. Still, this Austen biopic was decent. I mean, the directing was solid and I thought that Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy were both really good (Actually, they both deserved a better movie than this). To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is a decent costume drama and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

{To begin with, a few comments which are, petty, and, in a sense.... inappropriate. That is: that the summary blurb informs me that Miss Austen is a "late 17th century" author. I was unaware; I shall need to inform Queen Victoria, the next time that we sit down to tea. Also, I was equally unaware that Derbyshire is somewhere within Hiberno-Scotland, as you might think, from.... I don't know. Something.... *sighs* Remember, the dreaded Saxons dwell in the valley-- they do not climb under and over mountains in the way that your coal-miners do.... And I know how foolish it is, in a sense, to bring up John at a time like this, but, since I know how much I've done to grieve John, (and Jason), just as much as *Jane*, I don't know.... sometimes, I just want to wander, "down into the valley, In June-- ha ha!" But, pray do not "chip the glasses and crack the plates"-- such would be the very *height* of impropriety.}

....

"Afar, afar from mine own self I seem,
And wing strange ways in thought,
And listen for a sign...."

Sorry.

Well, I really like Jane Austen, but I don't *really* like this.

Partly because I wonder if Anne really gives a tuppence for Jane, or if she's really like Keira, and only takes this sort of work on account of all of the *miseries* of the past.

And basically because I can barely even *tolerate* Elizabeth.

{And I know how absurd this might all seem-- it's just that Lizzie couldn't have written Jane's novels, any more than *I* could have.... I mean, Thackeray is better than bloody *Dickens*, at least....}

But, what can I say. Sometimes I don't know how to do things right myself. I only hope that....

"Afar, oh how far away, those nights shall be from the days that were."

Until then.

{What I mean is, that I'm sure that Jane knew the story of Proserpina and her mother.... "beyond the reach of reason", remember? And maybe she'd even heard the story of "The Goose Girl"-- "for she suffers a vast deal, though she bears it with all the *patience* in the world, for such is *always* the way with her...." Oh, no, that's not from "The Goose Girl"-- that's from the other one, isn't it? Now, what was *that* one called?

Her tears are pearls.... *for she has, without exception, the sweetest temper that I have ever met with.*}

But something like this, I don't know, it's like any compilation of quotes-- at least it doesn't do any harm.

It's just like a few games of tennis, or a few deals of hearts. (Or if you watch an hour or so of a baseball game, as though it were a television program or something.)

{Thank you, Elizabeth. 'You have delighted us long enough.'}

A little diversion, you know.

And now, the time is gone.

{But, there are always more diversions, even though the 17th century is over, thus putting an end to, ah-- Shakespeare, I suppose? And, what's her face, who knew about "The Rover", well, we'll just have to ask George, or one of George's friends.... But, yes, there are always more diversions. I'm sure that Jane liked old Amadeus, and she'd have liked Chopin too, the man who 'wrote poems with the piano', as I've heard him called, just as Miss Swan does, you know.... And maybe she'd even like Coleridge, although I suppose that Byron is too much like Patrick Stewart.... I mean, to actually *put* a picture of *Napoleon* in a *book*.... And God only knows what she'd want to have to do with Chaucer or Bronte....}

{~ And the way that the film begins, (and continues), is absolutely absurd-- as though Jane's skill were that she could put words together in a clever way.... such that we should give her the Mike Newton award for elegance, no? No, Jane's skill was *not* that she put words together in a clever way.... As though she were Byron, as though she were concerned with words, like Dr Johnson-- or even David Hume! Or-- Wittgenstein! Another fine novelist! No, Jane is there more in what is *not* there, sometimes, than in what is-- ".... if Mr Bingely *had been* imposed upon, then....".... To say that it were about the number of syllables in a line! As though Jane Austen were like Flaubert! As though she weren't even as good as Guy de Maupassant! As though she weren't even as much herself! As though *that* were Jane! Ha! ~}

[Nobody suffers more in the world than a romantic, nobody suffers more than somebody who *really* wants to be happy, I don't think that I'm *explaining* anything to Jane, you know, by saying that....

But anyway, now-- the time is gone. And sometimes there are no words-- sometimes Chopin really is a better poet than Byron....

"To be fond of dancing is...."

But now, the time is gone.

".... but I fear you have no basket for these."]

(8/10)

I watched this hot on the heels of watching the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice. I have to say, it rather paled in comparison to that, and to Shakespeare in Love, from which it stole the story's basic premise. It is a premise I wouldn't mind seeing more, so long as it was done well. And this one is fairly well done. Just not quite as good as Shakespeare.

My major issue with the movie was that it didn't dare enough. It was too obviously based on Pride and Sense. I would have preferred to see them making a larger leap than they did.

The one bit I was especially appreciative of was the young man who is courting her as she falls in love with Tom. He seems obviously to be the one based on (or who was the inspiration for? I'm not sure if he's based on a real character.) Colonel Brandon, with his understanding of what exactly passed between Jane and Tom when they nearly eloped.

James McAvoy was lovely, and I think he did a lovely job with what he was given, though it felt a bit frustrating his character was so boxed in. I would have liked to have seen him dare more.

I'm not a huge Anne Hathaway fan. I don't dislike her, I just don't search out her movies. To be honest? I would have preferred to see an English actress in this. There are plenty, after all, and I think it would have lended a touch more creedence to this story.

Overall, a good movie. I might even buy it. But I don't think it will ever be in my top favorites.

Based on the possible romance between Jane Austen and Thomas Lefroy, it is the story of two young people who have preconceived ideas of each other and their difficult positions in society. It was an interesting movie, and I appreciated the fact that it was a very intelligent movie. Some of the language and phrasing was unfamiliar to me...unlike the recent versions of her books made into movies where everything was brought up to todays language. And that there were many occasions where the usual movie would have gone one way (for dramatic effect or for a laugh) and this movie didn't go that way. I also thought the costuming and sets were nicely done and probably more accurate than most current period pieces. They frequently looked a little scruffy, and a little less washed than is todays standard. The exception being Ms. Hathaway who always looked much too startlingly beautiful and clean for those around her. I personally had problems with the accents, or the lack thereof. They had the lightest of English accents, to the point of no accent. And I had never seen McAvoy's character was supposed to be Irish, but had no accent, accept when his own true Scottish accent slipped out on occasion (and I'd never seen him before, so I didn't know he was Scottish). All in all I enjoyed it, but couldn't recommend it to the general public, only to people who seriously like period pieces.