The Importance of Seeing Emma
Romola Garai as Emma in the BBC’s 2009 serial
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Thoughts after seeing the BBC’s adaptation of Emma in Autumn 2009:
The positives - glorious photography (especially the Box Hill scene), sumptuous costumes, some interesting takes on the original (such as comparing the childhoods of Emma, Jane and Frank in the opening sequence) and a great way of passing those cold October evenings.
For me, however, the two main characters didn’t quite gel. I still think of Jonny Lee Miller as Edmund Bertram in Mansfield Park - see my Mr Bertram page for photographic proof! So imagining him as an appealing George Knightley was difficult from the start. I thought he played the role well but in a stuffy sort of way, which made me wonder why Emma would marry him.
Equally, though, I couldn’t see why Knightley would marry Emma! She giggled and flapped her hands too much for my liking - I felt the original Emma was always mindful of her position, even if she sometimes abused it.
A great series, BBC, just not up to North & South or Pride & Prejudice standards. But then - what is?
