What I Watched: Emma (2009)

I will be tackling GoT episodes 2 and 3 next week. As always, I will have thoughts. Lots of thoughts.

This week: the 2009 BBC adaptation of Emma.

First things, first. If you follow me on Instagram, you already know that Emma is my least favourite Austen heroine. I understand that this may be a controversial opinion for some of you, but bear with me. I think a big part of my dislike comes from the fact that the very first adaptation I saw was the Gwyneth Paltrow version from 1996; I’m not even sure anymore if I had read the book before or not. Was there ever a more perfect embodiment of Pretty Blonde Rich Girl Privilege than 90s era GP? Of course, Emma is not a terrible person (she just has a lot of growing up to do) but to my teenage self, she was a snobby brat who had or got everything she wanted without much angst or hard work. Teenage Adina was big on underdogs and ugly ducklings, and Emma … well, she’s neither of those things.

In Clueless – my favourite Emma adaptation – Cher is a far more likeable character, even though she’s as “princessy” as they come. Put that down to Alicia Silverstone’s performance, and the fact that the story is set in high school, making Emma’s behavior more palatable – she is a teenager after all. Book Emma is supposed to be 20 when the story begins; GP was around 22-23 when she played the part, but seemed older (and more self-assured) to me. Now, the interesting thing is that Romola Garai was probably a few years older than GP when she played Emma in the 2009 adaptation, but she was able to convey the youthful vulnerability behind Emma’s brashness much better, in my opinion. Next to Cher, hers is my favourite Emma to date.

At the start of the 4-episode series, Emma is still an annoying know-it-all. I mean, look, I was 20 once; I know what it’s like to think you have it all figured out and to want everyone to know it too. The annoying part comes from the fact that Emma gets indulged by almost everyone in her life. Once again, that’s probably my own life baggage showing up. By the end of the series, Emma has emerged a more mature and likable character, without losing all of her spunk. Having 4 hours’ worth of narrative space (as opposed to half that amount for a movie) probably helps that evolution feel more organic.

Now, the revelation for me in watching this series was Mr. Knightley. Excepting Paul Rudd’s Josh, Mr. Knightley never registered for me as a swoon-worthy Austen hero. I honestly can’t recall any line of dialogue from Jeremy Northam in 1996 Emma, much less any lingering feels … and considering that at one time or another I’ve had a crush on almost every middling-to-well-known British actor of the past 20 years, that’s saying something. Now, Jonny Lee Miller was actually not on that list, believe it or not. Prior to Emma, I had only every watched him in Trainspotting (and I had a crush of Ewan McGregor at the time, like everyone else), Mansfield Park (due for a rewatch), and Elementary. Y’all know I’m currently obsessed with the latter, but Sherlock Holmes is not my sexual orientation, as they say. Jonny Lee Miller as Mr. Knightley? That’s another story.

When you break it down, the Emma-Knightley love story has a high potential creep factor; he’s 36 and she’s 20. He’s known her since she was a child. (Also, their siblings are married – how did I forget that?) Garai and Miller definitely look age-appropriate, but somehow their pairing didn’t feel icky. I can’t put my finger on why, so I will attribute it to the actors’ talent and chemistry. This version of Knightley is not a stodgy “older man”, but he is also not a dashing young stud a la Frank Churchill (more on him in a minute). He reminded me a bit of Col. Brandon, minus the tragic backstory and with a bit more humour. [And I say this as someone who adores Col. Brandon, especially as played by Alan Rickman, so it’s about the highest praise I can give.] It felt like the series gave us a lot more insight into Knightley’s thoughts and feelings, some of which was not the result of dialogue as much as Miller’s non-verbal performance. He, like Garai, was excellent.

Some of the other performances were great as well. I really liked the small glimpses of the other Woodhouse-Knightley relationship; both were tertiary characters, but portrayed a rare arc in this type of story – a happy marriage years after the wedding. Jodhi May as Miss Taylor was wonderful as well, though she didn’t look old enough to me to have been Emma’s governess since childhood. One of my favourite games to play while watching any period drama is to figure out from which other roles I recognize the secondary cast members. Here, I recognized May from her role in Aristocrats (adaptation of a book about the Lennox sisters, highly recommend), Tamsin Greig (Miss Bates) from Episodes, Robert Bathurst (Mr. Winston) from Downton Abbey, and Michael Gambon (Mr. Woodhouse) from, well, everything.

I also recognized Blake Ritson (Mr. Elton) from the 2007 adaptation of Mansfield Park in which he played – fun fact – the same character as Jonny Lee Miller in the 1999 version. In the world of British acting, everything is 5 degrees of Jane Austen. Ritson was an appropriately smarmy Mr. Elton, although far better-looking (in my opinion) than Frank Churchill, which was not ideal for the story as far as I’m concerned. Frank Churchill, on the whole, was the biggest disappointment for me with this adaptation. He was simply not attractive or charming enough to make up for the brattish behavior and, unlike Emma, the character undergoes no growth that would help endear him to the audience. Ewan McGregor, who played the same role in the 1996 Emma, was also kind of miscast, but at least had enough charisma to make Churchill an appealing rascal.

All in all, this was a wonderful adaptation of one of my least favourite Austen novels, which has given me a newfound appreciation for the characters and, quite possibly, a Jonny Lee Miller Problem. We shall found out for sure after I re-watch Mansfield Park (1999). Join me next time as I dissect one of the weirdest Austen adaptations to date.