Journal 3

One of my favorite film adaptions would be the BBC's 2009 adaption of Jane Austen's Emma. Starting from a very young age I watched Miramax Film's adaption of Emma starring Gwyneth Paltrow. I loved this movie and it became one of my favorite movies. Since about a year ago I began watching this new mini TV series of Emma. This movie is much longer in length (about 4 + hours) than the 1996 version of Emma (which is only about 2 hrs). At first when I watched the new version I did not like it because I was so used to tthe older version. However as I watched a few more times I realized that I liked the new one better after all. Since it is longer in running length, it gives more time to develop the characters. It also gives much detail about certain scenes and adds scenes not even mentioned in the Miramax version. For example, Box Hill is a place that they all visit after pick strawberries at Mr. Knightly's estate, and it is here where Emma insults Miss Bates. Also, some of the characters are exaggerated. Mr. Elton is even more prideful, Mrs. Elton is even more annoying, Miss Smith is more air-headed, and Mr. Frank Churchhill is even more rood. I think that this helps to make the movie more funny and interesting. It gives the viewer stronger opinions about the characters in the movie. Emma is more influenced my Frank Churchhill, Jane Fairfax is very soft spoken, and Mr. and Mrs. Weston have larger roles in this adaption. I think that more of the countryside, village, landscapes, and estates are shown more throughout the movie. I really like this added detail because it makes the viewer feel as if they are in England during the Regency Era. After being accustomed to seeing this new adaption of Emma, I saw the older adaption and it seemed as if the movie went by so fast. Now, to me, it seemed as if this version had left out half the movie! I must say that the clothing in the older adaption is much better than the clothing in the new version. Emma is very wealthy and the daughter of a gentleman, yet her clothing style is rather plain. By the look of her clothing style, she didn't look much wealthier than Miss Smith! The wording between the two versions is also different. I think that the older adaption is probably closer to the wording in the novel, but I think that maybe the wording in the new version is easier to understand to us in today's world.