Emma (1996)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Douglas McGrath

Writers (WGA):

Jane Austen (novel)
Douglas McGrath (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 August 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Cupid is armed and dangerous!

Plot:

In rural 1800s England things go bad for a young matchmaker after she finds a man for another woman.

Plot Keywords:

Male Female Relationship | Marriage | Upper Class | Opposites Attract | Horse And Buggy

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Mon. Oct. 13	9:30 AM	TMC
Mon. Oct. 13	6:00 PM	TMC

Cast

Gwyneth Paltrow	...	Emma Woodhouse
James Cosmo	...	Mr. Weston
Greta Scacchi	...	Mrs. Weston
Alan Cumming	...	Mr. Elton
Denys Hawthorne	...	Mr. Woodhouse
Sophie Thompson	...	Miss Bates
Jeremy Northam	...	Mr. Knightley
Toni Collette	...	Harriet Smith
Kathleen Byron	...	Mrs. Goddard
Phyllida Law	...	Mrs. Bates
Edward Woodall	...	Mr. Robert Martin
Brett Miley	...	Little Boy
Brian Capron	...	John Knightley
Karen Westwood	...	Isabella Knightley
Paul Williamson	...	Footman

MPAA:

Rated PG for brief mild language.

Runtime:

121 min | Canada:94 min (Ontario)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Belgium:KT | Brazil:12 | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Germany:6 (w) | Netherlands:AL | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Came House, Dorchester, Dorset, England, UK

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

Ewan McGregor had not read the original novel prior to filming.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Harriet runs her fingers along a harp and the sound that is heard is a perfect chord going up a scale, fitting in perfectly with the music that is being played. In reality, it would be virtually impossible to pluck a perfect chord when you run your fingers casually along the strings, and secondly any sound made would be going *down* scale, since she was dragging her fingers that way down the strings.

Quotes:

Emma Woodhouse: [Seating herself in a carriage] My, this weather...
Rev. Elton: Miss Woodhouse, please! Fate has left us alone for a reason.
Emma Woodhouse: Mr. Elton! Why do you seize my hand!
Rev. Elton: I do not seize your hand so much as the opportunity to tell you that I am hoping, no, fearing; ready to die if you refuse me!
Emma Woodhouse: Good heavens! Go back!
Rev. Elton: Surely my ardent attachment to you, my love and devotion cannot help but have made an impression!
Emma Woodhouse: Mr. Elton! It is I, Miss Woodhouse!
Rev. Elton: Mm hmm.
Emma Woodhouse: The party spirits have confused you! Allow me to deliver your message to Miss Smith, but you must direct no more of it to me.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Simpsons: All Singing, All Dancing (#9.11)" (1998)

Soundtrack:

Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly

Good, but not brilliant

This is a good adaptation of Austen's novel. Good, but not brilliant.

The cinematography is inventive, crossing at times the border to gimmickry, but it certainly avoids the trap of making this look like a boring TV soap in costumes, given that the entire story is dialogue-driven.

The acting is competent. Ms Paltrow is aloof, as her character requires, but the required distance from the other characters is accompanied by a much less appropriate detachment from her own actions. In other words, she does not seem to care enough of the results of her match-making endeavours. Some of the supporting cast is guilty of over-acting - very much in the style that is appreciated on stage but out of place in motion pictures. Personally, I had problems accepting Alan Cumming as Mr Elton - to no fault of his own, except for having left such an impression as a gay trolley-dolly in "The High Life" that it is now difficult to accept him playing any serious part. Acting honours go to Toni Collette who manages to radiate warmth, and Jeremy Northam who pitches his character at just the right level.