Emma. review

There are few cinematic experiences as fun as a good Austen adaptation, and should you find yourself in the mood there are no shortage of options. Despite being one of the lighter novels Emma has a pretty good track record of engaging and witty productions, so this new interpretation from first time fiction director Autumn de Wilde has a lot to contend with in terms of keeping your attention. Thankfully it does so with great verve.     

Anya Taylor-Joy stars as the acerbic and solipsistic young woman around whom the citizens of a fictional English county revolve, at least according to her. It’s a great bit of casting, Emma is just as sharp as she’s ever been on screen but there are enriching layers to Taylor-Joy’s performance that keep you from settling on one strong opinion of her, giving the impression of a girl in the process of change as life begins to throw harder and harder choices her way. Not that her life is all that hard, the film plays everything a notch or two above sensible to make sure you never forget that most of these people live lives of never ending comfort, where your social standing feels like life and death and the most important question is who’s going out with who. There’s a reason this story worked so well in Clueless’ high school setting.   

The rest of the cast is in equally fine form; Mia Goth’s wide eyed naiveté and Johnny Flynn’s upstanding charm are well balanced counter notes to the sharp wit of Emma, while Miranda Hart finds surprising pathos as Miss Bates in a key moment. Crucially though, all are also tremendously funny, as is Josh O’Conner as the goofball Mr Elton, and Bill Nighy whose subtle and tick filled performance is well suited to exactly this kind of material. The comedy is what drives the film by keeping it contemporary and light on its feet, never pretending that the stately home courtship mishaps are any less ridiculous than they look.

However, despite how frothy they can be an adaptation of Emma does not work unless you can get invested in the romantic melodrama of all these people’s day to day lives. The dramatic crux of the story basically comes down to Emma saying something a bit catty at a pick nick, and unless you are genuinely shocked and upset by that then the film is not working. I am happy to report that I was scandalised by Emma’s social faux pas, and thus completely invested in her redemption. The movie flat out works.

The exquisite costuming on display here is common for even the shakiest Austen adaptations, and her words still haven’t lost their cutting edge or piercing insight, but as with Shakespeare it takes a skilled hand to modulate the period trappings of a book like Emma and make them resonate with a modern audience. Autumn de Wilde has such a hand, and has crafted a delicious French fancy of a movie that stands among the best Emma adaptations yet made.