Following the Jane Austen cinematic frenzy of 1995, the author was Hollywood's it-girl. At least, as far as classic writers were concerned. The following year nobody could get enough of Emma, with Clueless being adapted into a sitcom, and two other adaptations of the book being produced on both sides of the Atlantic. Today, we're here to talk about Miramax's lavish Emma starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeremy Northam, Toni Collette, and Ewan McGregor, among many other wonderful thespians. It's one hell of a cast.
Still, despite its enviable collection of actors, this isn't the best screen version of Emma. For one, the project could have used a bit less fidelity to the source material and a lot more narrative ingenuity…
Emma is Jane Austen's longest novel and is positively full of colorful characters, some of which only appear halfway through despite being crucial parts of the story's overall arc. For a feature-length adaptation, this wealth of detail and personalities can pose a challenge, especially if one wants to keep the novel's biting humor intact as well as its main plot points. Douglas McGrath makes a valiant effort at solving this problem, but his final script shortchanges numerous characters. Jane Fairfax, for instance, is of considerable importance but here she's a non-entity. Thankfully, McGrath is a better director than he is a screenwriter, at least when it comes to this singular project.
His vision of Emma is a peculiar thing, lost in a limbo between Oscar bait and a bucolic take on the tale. The look of it is strange, full of pastel colors, overstuffed compositions and deep shadows contrasting with a diffused glow, as if a handful of Vaseline had been smeared on the camera lenses before each take. The costumes, on the other hand, suggest an attempt at finding eroticism in the Regency-era Fashion. Ruth Myers' designs play with anachronistic levels of formality and gauzy textiles, simplifying historical styles until they evoke the chicness of a minimalistic Calvin Klein from the mid-90s. As for the score, it's a delightful affair that rightfully earned Rachel Portman an Oscar.
On another positive note, Gwyneth Paltrow's modern GOOPing affects the way we consider this Emma Woodhouse, a rich girl who thinks she knows what's best for everyone and is constantly giving silly advice to better the lives of others. While Gwyneth's Emma is more ethereal as well as more irritating than the provincial girl Austen described, she fits the character's comedic immaturity. As for Collette and Northam, they are perfect and deliver the best screen interpretations of these two characters. Those two can look fondly at this past project, unlike Ewan McGregor who is miscast and suffers the misfortune of having a wig that looks like a taxidermic puppy plopped on top of his head. Few filmmakers can say they made McGregor visually unappealing, that's for sure, so... congratulations(?) to the crew of Emma.
Were you charmed by Gwyneth's Emma or do you prefer Alicia Silverstone's Cher Horowitz?