Our Favorite Jane Austen Adaptations
A sensible, prejudiced guide to the best screen adaptations of Austen’s most popular novels
The novels of Jane Austen, with their Regency era social snark and passionate but understated love stories, continue to inspire filmmakers and fascinate filmgoers even 200 years after her death. While we wait for the next reboot or remake (No one has done Austen in space. Yet.), here’s our highly subjective guide to our favorite screen adaptations of four of her best-loved novels.
Mansfield Park
Fanny Price is sent to live with her rich relatives and becomes a sort of Cinderella sibling to Tom, Edmund, Maria and Julia. As she grows up and grows closer to Edmund, she must overcome prejudice, rigid social strata, and various romantic rivals to remain true to herself and find her place—in love, in family, and in the world.
The Adaptations:
Our Pick: Mansfield Park (1999 feature film)
Written and directed by Patricia Rozema and starring Frances O’Connor, James Purefoy, and Jonny Lee Miller this film holds up wonderfully. Not only is it my favorite adaptation on this novel, it’s my favorite adaptation of any Jane Austen work, period. While it may not have a lot of pomp, celebrity flash or unexpected tricks, this truthful adaptation features the cunning characters, wonderful writing, and steadfast heroine that made the book such a gem.
See Also: Mansfield Park (2007 TV movie)
Part of the complete Jane Austen series on Masterpiece Theatre and starring Billy Piper of Doctor Who fame, this short but true adaptation is perfectly respectable—but falls short in the emotion and chemistry of both the comedic and romantic scenes, where the 1999 film succeeds.
For Historical Value: Mansfield Park (1983 miniseries)
This BBC serial, the work’s first screen adaptation, is rather dated even for a period piece. Directed by David Giles, this version is more true to the novel than other adaptations, but a bit bland to watch in the 21st century. I recommend it only for die hard Austen fans dedicated to a comprehensive viewing of all her adapted works. Interesting trivia: Jonny Lee Miller, who would later play Edmund in the 1999 version, has a small role.
Pride and Prejudice
In Jane Austen’s best-known novel, Elizabeth Bennet (the second of five sisters) repeatedly encounters Mr. Darcy as her older sister is courted by Darcy’s friend. Although the two start out at odds, they both develop an admiration for each other that is hampered by, you guessed it, their respective prides and prejudices.
The Adaptations:
Our Pick: Pride and Prejudice (1995 miniseries)
This BBC production, directed by Simon Lanton and starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, consists of six 55-minute episodes, for all the torturous understated romance you could possibly squeeze out of this book. Both critically and culturally acclaimed, the series started a wave of Austen-crazy fans that likely led to many of the adaptations on this list as well as, maybe most directly, the Bridget Jones series. If you’ve never seen this adaptation in its entirety, complete with the famous Mr. Darcy wet-shirt scene, you should make some time to do so.
See Also: Pride and Prejudice (2005)
Directed by Joe Wright, this adaptation sought to be true once again to Austen’s vision and then promptly upset audiences with an “American-ized” ending. Although it deviates more in period and plot than other adaptations, it earns deserved congratulations for the combination of modern film-making techniques with period elements and the performances of both Keira Knightly and the lesser-known Matthew Macfadyen.
A Modern Take: Bridget Jones Diary (2001)
Not only a witty, modern take on Pride and Prejudice, but a fun and self referential one. In Sharon Jones’ adaptation of the book by the same name, our heroine talks about seeing the Pride and Prejudice miniseries when she was young. Her resulting disappointment in romantic life is full of laughs—until she meets her own Mr. Darcy played, amusingly, by Colin Firth. The plot points are the same but the story takes wonderful liberties to offer a fresh take on the material. Now a hit franchise with two sequels, the first film is one of the most fun Austen adaptations you’re likely to encounter.
Sense and Sensibility
The story of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, sisters with the faults of too much sense and too much sensibility, respectively, has everything you could want in an Austen novel—including mistaken love, secret engagements, and lectures on decorum whilst in the throes of love. While sense may prevail, happy endings do too.
The Adaptations:
Our Pick: Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Written for the screen by Emma Thompson and directed by Ang Lee, this may be the most Austen-y movie to ever Austen. Thompson also stars as Elinor Dashwood, big sister to Kate Winslet’s Marianne. Their star-studded love interests include Hugh Grant and the dearly departed Alan Rickman. Sweeping cinematography, wonderful performances, and smart writing have earned this film critical acclaim and many awards and nominations, including a screenwriting Academy Award and Golden Globe for Thompson’s adaptation. Have your handkerchief handy and try to resist this modern classic, post haste.
See Also: Kandukondain Kandukondain: I Have Found It (2000)
Sure you’ve heard of Bride and Prejudice but Sense and Sensibility, too, has its own Bollywood adaptation, and this one its pure Indian magic. Written and directed by Rajiv Menon and starring Srividya, Raghuvaran and Manivannan, this is my personal favorite non-traditional adaptation of Jane Austen. The bestselling soundtrack and musical numbers really make it shine. Pull this one out for your book club, and celebrate Austen in a new way.
A Modern Take: From Prada to Nada (2011)
Despite the cheesy title, this film (directed by Angel Gracia) reimagines Sense and Sensibility as a sort of revered, Latino fairytale, where two very different but very rich sisters are left penniless after their fathers’ death and forced to move in with their Aunt in east L.A. The girls discover their respective romances but also get in touch with their family and a culture with which they had previously never identified.
Emma
Featuring one of Jane Austen’s most distinctive heroines, Emma is a novel of hubris, naivety, and the perils of meddling in matters of the heart. Part love story, part coming-of-age journey, and more than part comedy of manners, Emma is a charming story of an ultimately lovable character and the people she is determined to fix—as well as fix up.
The Adaptations:
Our Pick (Really): Clueless (1995)
A classic of ’90s teen comedies, many moviegoers were not initially aware Amy Heckerling’s Clueless was based on a Jane Austen staple. Starring Alicia Silverstone, Paul Rudd and Brittany Murphy, this movie is burned into my memory from countless re-watchings, along with so many of its catchphrases (“Ugh. As if.”). Against a backdrop of privilege and high fashion we get to know Cherilyn “Cher” Horowitz—who, like Emma, is headstrong and nosey, but ultimately lovable—as she repeatedly fails to make up and match up her friends and herself.
See Also: Emma (1996)
If you’re craving a more faithful adaptation of the novel, look to the 1996 feature film from (then) first-time director Douglas McGrath. It stars many a household name, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Alan Cumming, Toni Collette, Ewan McGregor, and Jeremy Northam. The film follows a year in the life of the erstwhile matchmaker as she tries and fails to remake her friend Harriet into her own image, and set desirable men in the community upon her. The movie is a fun adaptation in the book—though some found Paltrow’s Emma is not so much humbled as gently set down by the comedic lilt of the plot.
Did we miss your favorite Austen? Let us know in the comments, or on Twitter @TribecaSL.
Watch the 1999 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park on Tribeca Shortlist now.
