Austenland ~ 2013

Austenland
2013
PG-13
97 minutes
Starring Keri Russell, JJ Feild, Jennifer Coolidge, Bret McKenzie, Jane Seymour
Directed by Jerusha Hess

“Obsessed with Pride and Prejudice (1995), a woman travels to a Jane Austen theme park in search for her perfect gentleman.” [IMDb] 

Yes, yes…I know. This doesn’t qualify by the established parameters as a “period piece.” However, please allow me to veer off course, if just a tad. I admit it. I’m a Jane Austen addict. While watching this movie about an overly obsessed Austen fan, I kept myself in check by comparing myself to Keri Russell’s character, Jane Hayes. I haven’t yet purchased a life-size standee of Colin Firth in his Fitzwilliam Darcy regalia, so things are not quite as bad as they seem...yet. Austenland explores what happens when you enter the world you’ve fantasized about – will it live up to your expectations or fall miserably flat?

Jane Hayes blows a wad of cash to travel to Austenland, a theme park where ladies can experience Regency-era life by cohabitating with actors playing the part. (Like all you self-ascribed Janeites wouldn’t do the same if given half the chance…) What’s real? What’s fabricated? Jane isn’t sure…and while she believed she was wholly prepared to live in that world, she realizes she’s more modern than she thought.

The trick to enjoying this film is that you have to suspend reality…and Austen purists must be able to take a good ribbing. It pokes a lot of fun at the fervor with which women everywhere took to the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. But, considering Austen had a flair for comedy, I think she’d approve of this very silly romp. Jennifer Coolidge (Miss Elizabeth Charming) is the epitome of ridiculousness, at which she always excels. (Perhaps she’s an exaggerated nod to the hysterical qualities of Mrs. Bennet and Miss Bates.)

Now, let’s take a moment to talk about the men of Austenland, then, shall we? Seriously, I am smitten beyond words with Mr. Henry Nobley (played by JJ Feild, who Austen fans will recall played Mr. Tilney in the 2007 BBC adaptation of Northanger Abbey). He was perfection as the brooding Darcy-esque character. And, without revealing too much, viewers will love where he ends up in the plot. Jane Hayes is drawn to the cheeky Martin, played by Bret McKenzie (who is one half of the Kiwi comedic duo Flight of the Conchords). Theirs is a will-they-or-won’t-they bait and switch, which is rather fun to watch.

Admittedly, I kind of wish there was a real Austenland. I might seriously consider dipping into my savings to trip the light fantastic with Mr. Knightly or Captain Wentworth…or, oh, why stop there when I’m such a sucker for a cravat?

Summer in February ~ 2013

Sometimes fact is so much more interesting than adaptation.

Summer in February
2013

NR

100 minutes
Starring Dominic Cooper, Dan Stevens and Emily Browning
Directed by Christopher Menaul

“Based on Jonathan Smith's novel about love and loss among a bohemian colony of artists, which flourished in the wild coastal region of Cornwall before the First World War.” [Metrodome Distribution]

I do love a good period piece…unfortunately, not this one. Summer in February had the potential to be one of those sweeping, moody, gripping period pieces that draw you in…were it not for its slowly-timed and unorganized script. The true tale that inspired this film has everything – passion, love, betrayal, death…and yet, despite all of those elements it failed to hold my attention.

I do feel the real-life triangle between artists Alfred Munnings and Florence Carter-Wood and their mutual friend Gilbert Evans deserved a better retelling than this. I encourage anyone who watches this movie, who isn’t familiar with the Lamorna Group, do a little digging and trace the roots of this Bohemian set of early 20^th-century artists. You’ll find the historic account of their lives much more interesting than the film.

From a cinematography POV, this film was a bit of a love letter to Cornwall’s breathtaking geography. And, performance-wise, Dominic Cooper (as Munnings), Dan “Why-Did-I-Pull-a-David-Caruso-and-Leave-a-Hit-Show-Like-Downton-Abbey?” Stevens (as Evans) and Emily Browning (as Carter-Wood) all handle the roles deftly and with heart. They’re believable and compelling, despite the failings of the script. Overall though, you’re better off settling down with a good biography and a nice cuppa.

The Invisble Woman ~ 2014

The Invisible Woman
2014
Rated R
111 minutes
Starring Ralph Fiennes, Felicity Jones, Kristin Scott Thomas, Tom Hollander
Directed by Ralph Fiennes

At the height of his career, Charles Dickens meets a younger woman who becomes his secret lover until his death. [IMDb]

A scant two years prior to my entering college, the juicy morsels of Charles Dickens’ private life surfaced in a then-new biography by Claire Tomalin. When I studied his work at university, the details of his messy separation and his secret relationship with Nelly Ternan were a hot topic. From what I understood, Dickens was no picnic to be around. He was believed by many to be temperamental, vindictive, ego-centric, and insensitive – all of which was counter to the literary works he produced and his philanthropic habits. So naturally, I expected to encounter an unlikable Dickens in the Ralph Fiennes-directed film The Invisible Woman.

There is certainly enough evidence, especially regarding the details of Dickens’ cruel treatment of his wife prior and post separation, to prove or deny the historical accuracy of this depiction. Fiennes does do a fine job painting the popularized image of the famed author with a deft brush. He captures the man’s genius, which garnered adoration not entirely dissimilar to that of today’s A-List celebs. But, perhaps, he’s treated too reverentially in this portrait…because there’s really no getting around his dirty laundry.

Felicity Jones, who portrays Dickens’ young mistress (she was 18; he 45 when they met), brings us a brooding and haunting performance of a woman forever pursued by the ghosts of her past. She does a good job of expressing the conflicts of her unique relationship with Dickens. At first, she balks at the idea of being the other woman, but through no lack of encouragement on her family’s part (specifically her mother, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, who saw Dickens as a financial shelter for her struggling family), but eventually she acquiesces into what clearly becomes devotion.

The film does offer us an interesting peek into Dickens’ private life, but I’d recommend reading some of the historical accounts to gain a fuller perspective. On its own standing though, it’s a fine period piece that’s satisfyingly engrossing.