I confess to knowing very little about Jane Austen, except that she is the creator of Mr. Darcy, whom Colin Firth portrayed beautifully in a BBC adaptation of 'Pride & Prejudice', doing a particularly good job in a certain pond-diving scene.... That being said, I knew enough tidbits about Jane Austen to know that Julian Jarrold's film 'Becoming Jane', written by Kevin Hood and Sarah Williams took quite a few liberties with the truth. I realize 'Becoming Jane' is not a rigid biopic, and the writers I am sure assumed that their audience would not take their tale for fact however, my problem with their artistic license is the fact that it wasn't very original.
Hood and Williams have taken small bits of fact and made them significant in the life of Jane Austen. The entire film centers around her 'relationship' with Tom Lefroy a law student entirely dependent on his uncle who sends him to stay with family in the countryside in an effort to tame his wild ways. A simple internet search reveals that the relationship Hood and Williams would have us believe was a pivotal turning point in the life of Jane Austen, providing her with a muse for one very famous Mr. Darcy, was no more than a casual flirtation, if that. It can never be known for sure how important Tom Lefroy was to young Jane Austen, especially since after her death her sister Cassandra burnt many of her letters written at the time of their meeting. However, Lefroy is mentioned in at least two surviving letters between Jane and her sister; one dated January 9th 1796 and the next January 16th, in which she writes (sarcastically?) "Friday. -- At length the day is come on which I am to flirt my last with Tom Lefroy, and when you receive this it will be over. My tears flow as I write at the melancholy idea". In 'Becoming Jane' however, Lefroy and Jane become prematurely engaged, are torn apart by family, status and money; try to elope but ultimately part ways. This is not giving anything away; since history tells us Jane Austen never married (I was surprised though when in the cinema people were gasping during Tom and Jane's 'getaway', were they really in suspense as to how the story would end?). It is implied that Tom Lefroy was a great impact on Austen's writing; not only offering her book recommendations but also in their not so happily ever after fairy-tale romance. This, coupled with her sister Cassandra's untimely loss of a fiancée to yellow fever, all account for the all too convenient and happy endings Austen's protagonists meet in her novels; proclaiming, "My characters... shall have all that they desire".
Honestly, I have no problem with movies taking liberties with the facts for art's sake. My problem is that Hood and Williams molded these facts to fit the framework of 'Pride and Prejudice'; which is such an easy route to take. It certainly feels as though 'Becoming Jane' is riding on the coat-tails of Joe Wright's successful 'Pride and Prejudice' adaptation of 2005, but failing miserably to live up to that film's brilliance. Everything from 'Becoming Jane's' movies posters to the soundtrack are a rip-off of Wright's 'Pride and Prejudice'. Jane Austen is such an interesting historic character; she was a feminist for her times, and her writing has indeed transcended time. Why must we have a film about her in which a man determines the course of her life? I wonder what the real Jane Austen would think of a film all about how writing was a 'fall-back' when happily ever after fell through? Why did there have to be a love interest at all? I for one would have been happy with a film that was all about social status in the 17th century and women's roles in society with no love stories whatsoever. Wouldn't it have been ironic bliss to have a film about the real Jane Austen, who wrote one of the world's best love stories, to contain no romantic notions at all?
I don't know what to say about the actual look of the film since, like so many other things, it's all been done before really. It has the same look and feel of Wright's 'Pride and Prejudice', and the 1996 'Emma' and the 1995 'Sense and Sensibility'. It's all been done (and better) before.
Everyone is raving about Anne Hathaway in this so-so film. Yes, she has a competent accent, but I personally don't see what all the fuss is about (and this isn't because I was one of those nit-pickers who were appalled at the thought of a yank playing an English icon). To be fair, the script doesn't give her a lot to work with; she's really just trying to live up to Keira Knightley's Oscar nominated performance as Elizabeth Bennett, and in comparison Anne Hathaway falls dismally short. I was really disappointed that Jame McAvoy (a rising star who I have adored since seeing him in the deliciously funny 'Shameless' back in 2004) wasn't a stand-out. But once again, the script offers little for him to really sink his teeth into. Tom Lefroy is written as such a flat, 2-D, typical love interest, not even the brilliant McAvoy can do much with the character (and on a side-note, I hated how badly Tom Lefroy aged those gray mutton chops, eek!).
Over all I can describe the film in one word; 'bland'. See it to drool over the lovely James McAvoy, but otherwise go and watch Joe Wright's 2005 'Pride and Prejudice'. I am just holding on hope that one day a really great biopic (minus any love interest) of Jane Austen will be made to wash out the bad taste that 'Becoming Jane' leaves behind.
Hood and Williams have taken small bits of fact and made them significant in the life of Jane Austen. The entire film centers around her 'relationship' with Tom Lefroy a law student entirely dependent on his uncle who sends him to stay with family in the countryside in an effort to tame his wild ways. A simple internet search reveals that the relationship Hood and Williams would have us believe was a pivotal turning point in the life of Jane Austen, providing her with a muse for one very famous Mr. Darcy, was no more than a casual flirtation, if that. It can never be known for sure how important Tom Lefroy was to young Jane Austen, especially since after her death her sister Cassandra burnt many of her letters written at the time of their meeting. However, Lefroy is mentioned in at least two surviving letters between Jane and her sister; one dated January 9th 1796 and the next January 16th, in which she writes (sarcastically?) "Friday. -- At length the day is come on which I am to flirt my last with Tom Lefroy, and when you receive this it will be over. My tears flow as I write at the melancholy idea". In 'Becoming Jane' however, Lefroy and Jane become prematurely engaged, are torn apart by family, status and money; try to elope but ultimately part ways. This is not giving anything away; since history tells us Jane Austen never married (I was surprised though when in the cinema people were gasping during Tom and Jane's 'getaway', were they really in suspense as to how the story would end?). It is implied that Tom Lefroy was a great impact on Austen's writing; not only offering her book recommendations but also in their not so happily ever after fairy-tale romance. This, coupled with her sister Cassandra's untimely loss of a fiancée to yellow fever, all account for the all too convenient and happy endings Austen's protagonists meet in her novels; proclaiming, "My characters... shall have all that they desire".
Honestly, I have no problem with movies taking liberties with the facts for art's sake. My problem is that Hood and Williams molded these facts to fit the framework of 'Pride and Prejudice'; which is such an easy route to take. It certainly feels as though 'Becoming Jane' is riding on the coat-tails of Joe Wright's successful 'Pride and Prejudice' adaptation of 2005, but failing miserably to live up to that film's brilliance. Everything from 'Becoming Jane's' movies posters to the soundtrack are a rip-off of Wright's 'Pride and Prejudice'. Jane Austen is such an interesting historic character; she was a feminist for her times, and her writing has indeed transcended time. Why must we have a film about her in which a man determines the course of her life? I wonder what the real Jane Austen would think of a film all about how writing was a 'fall-back' when happily ever after fell through? Why did there have to be a love interest at all? I for one would have been happy with a film that was all about social status in the 17th century and women's roles in society with no love stories whatsoever. Wouldn't it have been ironic bliss to have a film about the real Jane Austen, who wrote one of the world's best love stories, to contain no romantic notions at all?
I don't know what to say about the actual look of the film since, like so many other things, it's all been done before really. It has the same look and feel of Wright's 'Pride and Prejudice', and the 1996 'Emma' and the 1995 'Sense and Sensibility'. It's all been done (and better) before.
Everyone is raving about Anne Hathaway in this so-so film. Yes, she has a competent accent, but I personally don't see what all the fuss is about (and this isn't because I was one of those nit-pickers who were appalled at the thought of a yank playing an English icon). To be fair, the script doesn't give her a lot to work with; she's really just trying to live up to Keira Knightley's Oscar nominated performance as Elizabeth Bennett, and in comparison Anne Hathaway falls dismally short. I was really disappointed that Jame McAvoy (a rising star who I have adored since seeing him in the deliciously funny 'Shameless' back in 2004) wasn't a stand-out. But once again, the script offers little for him to really sink his teeth into. Tom Lefroy is written as such a flat, 2-D, typical love interest, not even the brilliant McAvoy can do much with the character (and on a side-note, I hated how badly Tom Lefroy aged those gray mutton chops, eek!).
Over all I can describe the film in one word; 'bland'. See it to drool over the lovely James McAvoy, but otherwise go and watch Joe Wright's 2005 'Pride and Prejudice'. I am just holding on hope that one day a really great biopic (minus any love interest) of Jane Austen will be made to wash out the bad taste that 'Becoming Jane' leaves behind.