I've read Jane Austen's classic Emma, and enjoyed it, but there is nothing like seeing the new Masterpiece Theater version of this tale. This movie was a mere four hours long, but I wanted it to go on and on. I was simply taken with this film. It was brilliant.What made me love this version of Emma so well? The casting was amazing. The young woman who played Emma was stunning. She exuded the same sort of fresh naïveté as I imagined while reading the original text. She was beautiful, but did not seem full of herself. And Mr. Knightly. Oh my. I was fully in love with by the end of the first hour. I could have listened to him in his manly seriousness for many, many more hours than PBS had to offer! He was handsome and charming and Emma really, really upset me for not realizing what an absolute gem he was until the very end. Uggh! Just as frustrating as in the book.
If you're at all a fan of Jane Austen or even just like watching "period" films, you should definitely check this out. The landscaping and the architecture and costumes are so well made and filmed. I truly wanted to jump through my TV and take a stroll through the gardens or try on a dress or two. It was that beautiful. I promise that your four hours will not be wasted!
You, too, can watch Emma!
