Becoming Jane dvd movie.|
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List Price: $29.99 Our Price: $17.99 You Save: $12 Features • AC-3 • Closed-captioned • Color • Dolby • Dubbed • DVD-Video • NTSC • Subtitled • Widescreen In Theaters : 10 August, 2007 DVD Release : 12 February, 2008 |
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Becoming Jane description Like Molière, which was released in theaters around the same time, Becoming Jane isn't a conventional biopic. Instead, Julian Jarrold (White Teeth) expands on events from Jane Austen's life that may have shaped her fiction. To his credit, he doesn't stray too far from the facts. In 1795, 20-year-old Jane (Anne Hathaway with believable British accent) is an aspiring author. Her parents (Julie Walters and James Cromwell) married for love, and money is tight. They hope to see their youngest daughter make a more lucrative match, and there's a besotted local, Mr. Wisley (Laurence Fox, son of actor James Fox), who would be happy to oblige. Unfortunately, Jane isn't interested. Then, she meets brash law student Tom (The Last King of Scotland's James McAvoy), while he's staying with relatives in rural Hampshire. As in many Austen novels, it isn't love at first sight--but rather irritation. Just as affection begins to bloom, Tom has to return to London, and Wisley, whose financial prospects are superior, proposes. To complicate matters, Tom's uncle (Ian Richardson in his final performance) disapproves of the outspoken young lady just as much as Wisley's aunt (Maggie Smith, lending the proceedings some subtle humor). Had Austen penned the script, Tom and Wisley would be combined into one person, but life doesn't work that way--and nor does Becoming Jane. Though Jarrold's effort may not be as swoon-worthy as Joe Wright's Pride and Prejudice, it remains true to the spirit of the author's work. --Kathleen C. Fennessy |
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| ♥♥♥♥♥ | Life Doesn't Always Imitate Art. Sometimes It's An Escape... |
| That Jane Austen is one of the penultimate authors of the 19th century is undeniable. Without exception, all of her films have been turned into films. From her lesser known [[ASIN:B000Z27HLS Northanger Abbey]] and [[ASIN:B00003JRCQ Persuasion]] to her more popular [[ASIN:0800141660 Sense & Sensibility]] and, the crown jewel, [[ASIN:B000F0UUT6 Pride and Prejudice]]. Her characters' romances have inspired writers and made women swoon. But where did Jane get her inspiration?
BECOMING JANE tells us--in no uncertain terms--that life frequently imitates art. We're shown, however, that Jane's choices were often in direct opposition to her writings. Jane never married, had only one true love, and was shunned by the literary community of the times because of her sex (women who wrote fiction were often considered scandalous). Connections between her stories and her real life are shoved down the viewers' throats, making true discovery by the movie-watcher impossible ("Oh look. That must be where she got the idea for Mr. Darcy." And, "Oh look. That must be where she got the idea for [[ASIN:0141439580 Emma]].") The list is long and exceptionally easy. The complexity of her stories didn't match the simplicity of Becoming Jane's screenplay is what I'm saying. The relationship between Jane (Anne Hathaway, [[ASIN:B000J103PC The Devil Wears Prada]]) and her one true love Tom (James McAvoy, [[ASIN:B0013XZ6X4 Atonement]]) is well played but leaves little doubt about where Ms. Austen came up with her Darcy personae. The ending made this an easier pill to swallow, which also raised my rating of the film (it is in keeping with the times that Ms. Austen grew up and the restrictions placed on those people of money and property, and those without). This film also points to a sad end for Ian Richardson, who died soon after the film's completion. Richardson plays Judge Langlois who lords over Tom as his uncle (Richardson is known for his amazing TV repertoire ...from [[ASIN:B0009PVZIW Bleak House]] to [[ASIN:6305609330 Sherlock Holmes - The Hound of the Baskervilles]]) Tom (McAvoy) is Judge Langlois' heir apparent, and is forced to do the unthinkable when given the choice between love or money (or family abroad). In true sacrificial fashion, Jane refuses him his sacrifice and, in the end, chooses the life of an unwedded old maid. But she has her writings, and uses them to insert herself into a life she should have lived (living vicariously through her characters). No doubt Becoming Jane was also Hollywoodized, making Jane's life seem more interesting than it was. Liberties with film will always be taken, though. It just depends on how much that irks you as the viewer. For someone as important to literature as Ms. Austen, it might be more irksome than entertaining. |
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