Emma. 2020 Movie Review
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Emma. (2020)
Runtime- 2hr 4min
Air date- March 6th, 2020
Director- Autumn de Wilde
Writers- Eleanor Catten
Filming locations- England, UK
Where to watch- Stream on Freevee or rent/buy on Amazon Prime Video
Starring Anya Taylor-Joy as Emma Woodhouse
The most recent Emma period adaptation isn’t like most period adaptations… Some creative liberties have taken charge of this film. Are these changes in your favor?
Thoughts
I enjoyed this film. The composition and character development worked really well in this film. Though the creativity and some character expressions have strayed from the book and historical accuracy, I still thought it was a solid and well-done adaptation.
Aesthetic
This movie is very colorful. It is so colorful that it is historically inaccurate for the time period. But, I have to say in a visual and artistic sense, it works well. I love the color compositions, especially the scenes at the church and shops. The colors are light and bright and a lot of elements are given the jist of the time, but are not historically accurate in themselves.
If you are a stickler for historical accuracy, this might not be the film for you. If you appreciate the artistry, you will love this.
Another mention to add is that the landscape and wide shots are very striking and beautiful as well.
Emma Woodhouse
This Emma, I found to be snobby and at the same time in her own head. The most defining situation of her snobbiness that struck me was meeting Mr. Martin. Emma gave little acknowledgment as she walked by while Harriet engaged in a short conversation with him. I could have been shown due to status, but Mr. Knighley had no qualms about conversing with him, and I suspect that he would hold the same manner if Mr. Martin did not rent from him.
I did think that it was a good contrast when it came to Emma’s redemption arc. She goes out of her way to fix things between Harriet and Mr. Martin that she contrived shows real character development and cares for her friend. The way isn’t put in the book, but I believe the movie did an excellent job of giving better character to Emma.
I also liked how it showed that she only saw what she wanted to see. Just the slightest looks from Mr. Elton made her run away with her ideas of him and Harriet, and she fails to see the whole scope of Mr. Elton’s jesters was for
Emma and Frank Churchill
Other than those qualities and beyond her scheming, I did think that this Emma was actually a good person. The only time I actually saw her be mean was under the influence of Frank Churchill.
This was the film when Emma made a comparison to her and Frank Churchill’s upbringing on how they were very similar. Upon reflection, I had to agree. Everything he did, at least to us the audience, showed Frank to be of good character, except in the presence of Emma. It showed that Frank was the instigator of this bad behavior, but I feel that both Frank and Emma bring out the worst of each other.
Mr. Knightley
As for Mr. Knightley, I did like how his character was portrayed. Similar to thoughts of the parallels of Frank and Emma, I thought the same with Mr. Knightley and Jane Fairfax. Both are very agreeable and amiable characters, that also claim affections to complex and flawed characters.
Do you agree or disagree? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
