Jane Austen @ the Oscars
Sunday, March 14, 2021 at 1:00PM 
After multiple articles about Jane Austen movie adaptations over the past year, you might have figured out I'm a big fan of the Regency writer. Her delightful mix of social satire and comical romance is pretty irresistible as are many of the films that have been made out of the author's works. Since the Oscar nominations are upon us, it feels appropriate to consider these two personal obsessions together, awards love and Austenian fandom. As it stands, many are predicting Autumn de Wilde's Emma. to score a couple of nods in the Moulin Rouge! categories of Production and Costume Design. If that happens, this latest entry in the Jane Austen cinematic universe will join a select group of movies…
While IMDb lists over 80 productions directly credited to Austen's novels, a great many of them were TV movies and miniseries, so they weren't eligible for the Oscars. From the ones that were, we can see how the 90s were Austen's time to thrive on the big screen, with 1995's Sense & Sensibility being the first, and only, Jane Austen adaptation nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award. For this list, the criteria were expanded to include looser adaptations, some of which might have even been categorized as original screenplays. Whit Stillman's Metropolitan and Sharon Maguire's Bridget Jones' Diary are contemporary-set stories with modern dialogue but they're also overt re-workings of Mansfield Park and Pride & Prejudice respectively.
With no further ado, here's the list of all nominations and wins of Jane Austen movies at the Academy Awards:
PRIDE & PREJUDICE (1940)
- Best Production Design Black-and-White, Cedric Gibbons & Paul Groesse *WINNER*
METROPOLITAN (1990)
- Best Original Screenplay, Whit Stillman
SENSE & SENSIBILITY (1995)
- Best Picture, Lindsay Doran
- Best Actress, Emma Thompson
- Best Supporting Actress, Kate Winslet
- Best Adapted Screenplay, Emma Thompson *WINNER*
- Best Cinematography, Michael Coulter
- Best Costume Design, Jenny Beavan & John Bright
- Best Original Dramatic Score, Patrick Doyle
EMMA (1996)
- Best Costume Design, Ruth Myers
- Best Original Musical or Comedy Score, Rachel Portman *WINNER*
BRIDGET JONES' DIARY (2001)
- Best Actress, Renée Zellweger
PRIDE & PREJUDICE (2005)
- Best Actress, Keira Knightley
- Best Production Design, Sarah Greenwood & Katie Spencer
- Best Costume Design, Jacqueline Durran
- Best Original Score, Dario Marianelli
Three categories show up with three nominations each: Best Actress, Best Costume Design, and Best Original Score. The Emma. of 2020 feels like a good bet regarding the Best Costume Design race, making that category the best place for Jane Austen adaptations to show up. In a perfect world, it would be the frontrunner for the victory but its lack of buzz in other, more above the line, categories may prove to be too strong an obstacle. We'll see.
As for movies that should be here but were ignored by AMPAS, three examples rise to the top. They are 1995's Persuasion and Clueless, as well as 2016's Love and Friendship. I count that last one among the best Austen-to-screen adaptations. Even British television's most faithful versions of the author's writing tend to miss her biting tonalities while Love & Friendship excels at representing them. I'd have nominated it for Best Adapted Screenplay, at the very least. What about you? Which of these films deserved more Oscar love? Or, perchance, less?
Emma. is streaming on HBO Max. You can also buy it from most services.
Reader Comments (14)
"For this list, the criteria were expanded to include looser adaptations, some of which might have even been categorized as original screenplays."
Except Bridget Jones' Diary would not be categorized as an original screenplay because it's based on a novel by Helen Fielding (who herself co-wrote the screenplay). While the novel itself may be a reworking of a Jane Austen story, the film has its own source material which I believe should be acknowledged here.
In hindsight it seems crazy that Clueless didn't manage to nab costume and screenplay nominations.
I’m a pretty big fan of the 2005 Pride and Prejudice and I would easily say Joe Wright should have been nominated for director kicking out Paul Haggis for Crash. It would have also made a better Best Picture nominee than Crash. I’d also give it nominations in cinematography and adapted screenplay.
I love Whit Stilman. He only has a few key ideas that he plays with, but whenever he does it's such a treat. Metropolitan is outstanding.
The Clueless snubs are wild. It seemed to be on its way to a screenplay nomination too (WGA nom, NYFCC runner-up, NSFC, NBR). What happened there? Was it due to category confusion issues - it was original at WGA.
I don't really love the regency era or Jane Austen that much. I'd say my favorite of all the adaptations is Clueless. It takes so much of what Austen does well, but updates in a really inventive and interesting way.
Love and Friendship is such a great film. Beckinsale and Bennett kill it.
(That bottom shot of Anya Taylor-Joy above is giving off Laura Palmer vibes. I can't unsee it.)
I agree with a person upthread: "Pride & Prejudice" (2005) should have had more nominations, a magnificent movie - US ending way better than UK ending, too.
Love Metropolitan, and Whit Stillman, generally, so much.
I don't think I realized that Bridget Jones' Diary only got 1 nomination. That film is a prime example of why there should be a casting Oscar - every single character, down to the tiniest, is cast so well.
I'm still upset about Love & friendship being completely overlooked everywhere, it's one of the best Jane Austen adaptations made so far, and Kate Beckinsale's best performance
Greer!
Good Working Stiff. Safe to say the imposter who wrote all those shockingly rude 'douche' attacks is gone. I knew in my heart you weren't that gross and rotten!
Joe Wright’s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice is one of the best films of this century. Mcfadyen should’ve been nominated for Best Actor and should have won.
Let's not forget Bride and Prejudice, the Bollywood take on Jane Austen's novel. It was frothy and fun; a song nomination for "No Life Without Wife" would have at least given us a memorable moment of Oscar-telecast madness.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_-RGLVHmOA
2995 Pride & Prejudice getting a lot of love here, and I will just add, that there should have been more recognition for it. Joe Wright did dance scenes better than any other adaptation. The dance scenes are very Altmanesque. What a cast, all those amazing actresses together.
Brenda Blethyn is superb as the mother.
In solid agreement that Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice didn't receive the reception it deserved. Best Director and Cinematography absolutely! Probably Best Picture and Actor as well. I must confess it's one of my Over & Overs and each time I watch it I discover something new to appreciate.