Jane Austen’s novel Emma has been adapted for the screen on several different occasions, most notably in the ’90s with both Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Beckinsale in the role of the titular meddlesome socialite. In 2020, Autumn de Wilde offered a fresh take full of modern humor and the sort of frenetic visuals that normally pop in a music video.
The basic story was the same — Emma Woodhouse, a young woman rich in material goods but poor in worldly acumen, decided to meddle in the romantic affairs of everyone in her small English village — but a number of aspects were altered to update the literary classic for today’s audiences. Some of the changes that Emma. made were embraced by fans, but purists may find them too much to overlook.
AESTHETIC
Emma. takes the mischievous looks, bouncing bodices, and comedy of manners from Austen’s novel and dials them up to 11, before pushing them through a Wes Anderson-esque filter. They’re embellished so emphatically that it’s distracting.
Viewers will have to find the bubble-gum and pea-soup visuals aesthetically pleasing to enjoy the film, as they are relentless until the final frame. The tics and eccentricities of the cast will also be an acquired taste — if viewers concede them necessary.
EMMA IS UNSYMPATHETIC
The character of Emma has always walked a fine line between propriety and animosity, and Austen herself declared in the beginning of her novel that readers might not like Emma very much.
In this version, though Emma (Anya Taylor-Joy) looks the part and wears her festooned frocks well, she is far too sniping with her remarks. It’s difficult to feel sympathetic towards her, which audiences need to be able to do to root for her by the end. Emma remains very much a “mean girl,” even when she goes through her metamorphosis in the film’s third act.
KEY PLOT ELEMENTS CUT FOR TIME
Two hours isn’t a great deal of time to stuff in a variety of intricate plotlines, especially those concerning the equilibrium of manners in Georgian country life. For that reason, certain storylines, like the one involving Jane Fairfax, had to be cut from Emma. almost entirely.
Normally this might not be an egregious commission, but to remove Jane Fairfax almost entirely means to eschew part of Emma’s better development, which happens when Jane poignantly leaves Donwell. In any other story, Jane would be the main heroine, and it’s important to understand why she isn’t.
IT’S NOT AS MUCH FUN
Whether it was due to being overshadowed by other adaptations or because of the crackling satire inherent to Austen’s book, Emma. just didn’t capture the sardonic playfulness of its source material.
The fun of the novel comes from the fact that not only is Emma clever and her pithy commentary amusing, but that the seriousness with which she approaches her matchmaking is unintentionally hilarious.
MR. KNIGHTLEY’S TOO YOUNG
In Austen’s novel, Mr. Knightley is a friend of Emma’s father, and while not as old, is still much closer to his age than his daughter’s. With that in mind, the age difference isn’t so odd given the time period and it becomes a factor when Mr. Knightley weighs in with his considerable experience and advanced years.
In Emma., Mr. Knightley looks to be only a few years Emma’s senior if that, leaving viewers to wonder why exactly he’d prefer to spend his evenings cooped up with her father, a whinging hypochondriac who always complains about the draft and how he knows more about the world than Emma.
MILLENNIAL HUMOR
There’s a tendency in every adaptation to update it for the time in which it’s made, and inherently there’s nothing wrong with that because audiences need to be able to relate to it on some level. The choice to introduce a millennial apathy to the milieu, however, removes some of the scintillating aspects of the courting catastrophes.
Emma wasn’t known for being nonchalant, disinterested, and apathetic about what was going on around her. Rather, she was duplicitous but innocently so, which made for a much better metamorphosis than slowly developing a conscience by osmosis.
THE PACING
Austen’s world wasn’t all parlor room drama and sensational murmurings behind fans, juicy gossip exchanged between delicate crumpets shoved into overly animated mouths. It was brimming with life and tumult, from the servants to the lords of the manor. Mr. Darcy rose from a dip in the lake, his shirt clinging to his chest, after all.
In Emma., the pacing feels lugubrious, which isn’t necessarily a problem in Austen adaptations, until it happens at the expense of the plot moving forward in any meaningful way.
CHEMISTRY
It’s necessary for ensemble casts to have chemistry between them, or else it’s every singular acting talent for themselves, showboating and pulling focus from the dedicated work of the group. The chemistry between the actors in Emma. was only palpable in certain instances, but most criminally lacking between Emma and Mr. Knightley.
Mr. Knightley was far too stodgy and Emma far too snippy to engage in conversations that were anything other than verbal spars with the intent to draw blood. Showing scenes of them removing aspects of their clothing didn’t magically make romantic enchantment appear.
THE BOREDOM
Part of the reason why Emma is upset by her governess leaving to be married and Harriet wanting to marry is that she feels as though she’ll never have “her equal” around her in Highbury. She meddles because she’s bored, but that wasn’t firmly established in the new adaptation.
The film doesn’t make much mention of the fact that Emma has traveled very little and has basically been confined to her village for her entire life. Add to the fact that there always seems to be some dizzying excitement going on around her, bathed in a kaleidoscopic degree of colors, and it appears Emma has nothing to be “bored” about.
THE NOSEBLEED
Every iteration of Austen’s work feels the need to be a little different, and Emma. is no exception. From its color palate, to its characterizations, to its plot, it makes the necessary tweaks to stand out, right up until the finale and that nosebleed.
While declaring their feelings for Mr. Knightley, an incredibly humanizing moment for Emma, she gets a nosebleed. This is intended to throw an awkward wrench into an already awkward scenario and make it feel more realistic. Instead, it has the effect of being garish, and some fans found it to be downright distasteful.
