Comments on: A New Journey to Highbury: BBC’s Emma 2009 Review

By: Ari

Ari — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:06:02 +0000

I’ve read a few comments about the attractiveness of the cast relative to their character’s personalities, and they seem to follow the line that good people should be pretty and bad people should be older and not so pretty. I was perversely delighted that the Eltons are a seemingly attractive couple- while Mrs. Elton’s personality is no mystery, Mr. Elton is allowed to be initially attractive, and thus a good matrimonial prospect in Emma’s mind, a mistake that the viewer can experience with her.

The Frank Churchill of this series outshone Ewan Mcgregor’s version by far, and I loved how the first episode made us aware that Frank and Jane were two characters we should keep an eye on.

Overall, this production of Emma hit upon a range of subtle emotional notes that I don’t feel have been properly expressed in previous adaptations, and it is by far my favorite.

By: Jo

Jo — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:11:05 +0000

It is funny, as I was not expecting, that I’m not quite able to compare the movie and this BBC series.
All I can say is that, even though I still love the movie version, everytime I want to re-watch Emma, I go for this series…I just like it more, but never really tried to compare every details between the series and the movie because even though it’s the same story, they approach it in such a different way, it feels like a fresh new start for Emma’s story.

I liked Romola’s portrayal right away, unlike you. What took me longer to get used to was Knightley, although his acting was very good (loved their first bickering by the end of the first episode). I think that Romola embraced this character more naturally, I can’t explain very well – it just felt right. Her acting convinced me in every line and gesture – I didn’t find her expressions exagerated at all.