Recent rom-coms have an Austen-tatious flair
From “Clueless” to the latest version of “Emma,” films owe a debt to Ms. Jane.
When we think of Jane Austen stories, we imagine idyllic English countrysides, iron-willed heroines and a dreamy, wet shirt-clad Colin Firth. (Mr. Darcy, now and forever our literary boyfriend.) But Austen’s novels were much more than just swoony romances, satirizing class and gender roles in classics such as 1815’s “Emma,” whose latest bigscreen iteration opens in theaters nationwide Friday.
The film stars Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Witch”) as a clever young socialite who delights in meddling in other people’s love lives, with eye-popping costumes and a fresh, decidedly feminist script by first-time screenwriter Eleanor Catton.
We look at five of our favorite movie updates of Austen’s 200-year-old classics, including “Emma.”
‘Emma’ (2020)
Don’t be fooled by the period setting: “Emma” is a sexy, sardonic and scintillating comedy that wears its modern sense and sensibility (sorry) on its sleeve. While Gwyneth Paltrow was a charming matchmaker in the starry 1996 adaptation with Toni Collette and Ewan McGregor, Taylor-Joy brings a caustic, cat-like quality to the character. You never quite know whether to trust or fear Emma as she introduces her unsophisticated pal Harriet (Mia Goth) to a Rolodex of indistinguishable suitors, yet you understand why Emma keeps her own prospective beaus at arm’s length. In director Autumn de Wilde’s stylish world, schoolgirls walk in straight lines wearing red cloaks and winged bonnets reminiscent of “The Handmaid’s Tale” – reminding moviegoers of men’s power over women at the time, and making Emma’s defiance of marriage all the more resonant. – Patrick Ryan
‘Clueless’ (1995)
An Austen adaptation list that doesn’t include “Clueless?” Ugh, as if! If you weren’t already familiar with “Emma,” you may not have even known that it’s the very loose inspiration for this cheeky teen comedy classic, starring a truly iconic Alicia Silverstone. Her vapid yet well-intentioned Valley girl Cher Horowitz schemes to pair up two hardgrading teachers at her high school in hopes of getting a better report card, while also giving new student Tai (Brittany Murphy) a complete fashion and personality makeover. The who’s who supporting cast of Paul Rudd, Stacey Dash and Elisa Donovan is a total delight, and the movie itself is endlessly quotable (“You’re a virgin who can’t drive”). And let’s not even get started on Cher’s high-tech, clothes-matching closet, which is just as cool now as it was in 1995. – Ryan
‘Austenland’ (2013)
Austen fans have become characters unto themselves. In 2007’s “The Jane Austen Book Club,” a group of friends (including Emily Blunt and Hugh Dancy) use her novels as road maps for their own messy romantic lives, while Austen loyalist Mindy Kaling has said her sitcom “The Mindy Project” was inspired by “Pride and Prejudice.” But the ultimate display of fandom is in “Austenland,” an abysmally reviewed yet perfectly pleasant rom-com about a “Pride and Prejudice” obsessive named Jane (Keri Russell) who travels to an Austenthemed resort where guests can act out their literary romantic fantasies in period attire. It’s basically a book nerd’s version of “Westworld,” and that’s a future we wholeheartedly welcome. – Ryan
‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ (2001)
It’s no secret that Bridget Jones’ tale of romance woes and revolving suitors is ever-so-loosely based on Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” (But if you’d forgotten, there’s no way to miss the parallels between Elizabeth Bennet’s romance with Fitzwilliam Darcy and Bridget Jones’ debacle with Mark ... Darcy, as played by Firth.) Elizabeth’s first encounter (at a ball) was equally embarrassing as Bridget’s not-so-meetcute with Mark at a holiday gathering. But the tipsy tale spins off from there, as Renee Zellweger’s foibles and frustrations as the self-esteem-seeking Bridget evolve the Austen-rooted premise into a franchise that saw breakups, makeups and a baby. – Andrea Mandell
‘Love & Friendship’ (2016)
You might have missed Kate Beckinsale in this delightfully witty film based on Austen’s novella – and that should be rectified immediately. Beckinsale hits narcissistic notes perfectly as the beautiful, widowed Lady Susan, who ties English society into knots over her affair with a handsome married lord and attempts to right her perilous finances by scheming to marry off her teenage daughter, Frederica (Morfydd Clark). The delectably barbed tale has Lady Susan leaning on an American pal (Chloe Sevigny), and together they maneuver around sexism baked into 18th-century norms. Austen curiously wrote the tale (“Lady Susan”) at 20, but never published it during her lifetime. In Beckinsale’s hands, it remains as modern as ever. – Mandell