Bridget Jones’s Diary: A Classic Homage to Austen - by Laurie Viera Rigler

I don't know about you but I love the Bridget Jones's Diary books (by Helen Fielding) and films. Laurie Viera Rigler (author of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict) has written a great short article for International Chick Lit Month about the parallels between Pride and Prejudice and Bridget Jones's Diary.





You can read it here.





Pic 1: Pride and Prejudice Mr Darcy and Lizzy Bennet
Pic 2: Bridget Jones's Diary Mark Darcy and Bridget Jones

Going Bollywood, Emma? A look into 'Aisha'

A few months ago we uploaded news about the making of a Bollywood version of Emma. The Indian adaptation is titled 'Aisha', played by Sonam Kapoor, and to be released this 6th of August (in India, at least). Now I know many of you might never watched any Bollywood movie... but I sort of dig into this genre (Slumdog Millionaire is a must-see!), and I'm actually wondering how Emma would be translated into Indian silver screen.

There was another Bollywood adaptation of Jane Austen's novel in 2005, Bride and Prejudice (Aishwarya Rai as Lalita/the Indian Lizzy), and although Martin Henderson who played Darcy could have been better, I like the way the music and story intertwined there. But 'Emma' is different. 'Emma' should be funky and cute, and annoying at the same time, and that's a recipe that Bollywood usually excels at.

Anyway, just tidbits from the gossip columns of One India:

The first look of Anil Kapoor Films Company's Aisha is finally out. This Abhay Deol and Sonam Kapoor starrer is an adaptation of the classic novel Emma. Sonam plays Aisha, a young upper class Delhite who has trouble minding her own business and loves interfering in other people's lives while Abhay plays Arjun, a rich Delhi boy who has problem with Sonam's ways and is trying to get her out of the mess she merrily gets herself into.

I have to say I do not fancy the heart glasses, but if Emma is to be transported to 21st CE, that might be the sort of stuff she would wear too... I do fancy the frock, though...

Pic 1: Sonam Kapoor as Aisha, the funky Indian Emma, from One India

Pic 2: That's more like it. I heart Aisha's frock, from Desi Hits

Emma- open-air theatrical production

My most recent post was about an event in the uk and now I have another for you Brit fans out there....or others who dont mind travelling a considerable distance!

In various open-air locations around the uk, there is to be a theatrical version of Emma this summer.

For more details, please visit the heartbreak productions site

The tour begins on July 1st in Leamington Spa and ends on August 29th at the national trust site, Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire.

I am going to look into getting tickets this weekend as some of the venues are beautiful in their own right; add Emma and Mr Knightley into the mix and it will be magical!

Pic: Emma and Knightley

JA-inspired Sci-fi movies

Okay Janeites, don't kill the messenger. It's a few months old news anyway, but it might worth knowing, in case some of you (like myself) are avid fans of both Jane Austen and sci-fi. So the story from sci-fi site io9 goes... that we are to have three JA-inspired sci-fi movies. Claps or collapse, your choice my dear friends.

First is the Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, a movie based on the recently published (ahm, rather twisted) novel of the same title. Amazon.com informed me about this book yesterday, and the first few pages of the novel caught my attention to the point of me laughing merrily...so honestly, I'm tempted to read more (just don't shoot me...). I am uncertain of my degree of affinity to the book, so I might tell you much later on...

Second is the Pride & Predators, to be produced by Elton John (yeah, that Elton John the song writer and singer). It's about alien attack in the Regency world... etc etc etc... ahem, and shooting is to begin in London later this year. Again, don't shoot the messenger.

Third is the movie version of Lost in Austen by Columbia Pictures, as we have reported earlier. Well, since LIA incorporates time warp journeys elegantly, I am very much looking forward to this one... perhaps by the end of the year? Not sure. I know for sure I love the ITV series version tho!

I guess, in spite of everything, I'm still happy that Jane Austen's works reach far into the 21st century, and even to the stars and the alien world!

Pic 1: Keira Knightley now must face the Predator! Pic from io9

'Lost in Austen' series will be adapted into movie

Thanks a lot Mariana for the news, here's a very exciting news for 'Lost in Austen' fans like myself (my apologies to the ladies who dislike the ITV series, hehehe...). LIA will be made into a movie.

From Broadcast Now:

Sam Mendes to exec Lost in Austen movie

ITV's Jane Austen time-travel drama Lost in Austen is to be turned into a movie, with Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes as an executive producer.

Indie Mammoth Screen will develop the movie version with Revolutionary Road producer Neal Street Productions for Sony Pictures, the studio behind the Spider-Man franchise and more recently the James Bond film Quantum of Solace.

The original four-part series, starring Jemima Rooper and Gemma Arterton, aired on ITV1 in September last year, drawing a mainly ABC1 audience of around 4 million per episode.

The show's original writer, Guy Andrews, is currently working on the movie script.

He will also act as executive producer alongside Mammoth Screen's Damien Timmer and Michele Buck, and Neal Street Productions' Mendes and Pippa Harris.

There are no casting details as yet for the movie adaptation, although Mendes' wife Kate Winslet could be a contender.

Winslet won a Bafta and was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of the lovestruck Marianne Dashwood in Ang Lee's big screen adaptation of Austen's Sense and Sensibility in 1995.

Pic: Jemima Rooper (Amanda Price) in 'Lost in Austen'

'Lost in Austen' series, anyone?

I am SO grateful for Maria's information, and so ashamed of myself for letting this slipping out of my radar. Ive been lost in my own research world anyway these past few months... But I'm so grateful for the info as well, for then I can wait for the DVD, and available funding of course!

I'm talking, ladies and gents, about the new ITV drama 'Lost in Austen'. Basically, it's about a modern London girl named 'Amanda Price' that one day found the very Miss Elizabeth Bennet in her bathroom, and - having foolishly following Lizzy's example of entering a hidden door in her bathroom wall - suddenly found herself in Longbourn amidst the Bennets. Click here for the plot summary in Wikipedia.

I think it's a cool fanfiction-ish series for Pride & Prejudice lovers. It's unexpected that such a series could be made, but hey, I think it's a great progress, despite the jumbles it made on the PP storylines (hence hardcore PP fans might be flared by this production). But hey, that's what fan-fiction is all about!

Here's where you can buy it at Amazon.uk. I think I have to access that wonderful site for my own copy; seemingly the series is not in Australia yet. Sigh... And check Enchanted Serenity of Period Films; a wonderful site that gives you much more info about this movie!

Here's the first part of the first episode of Lost in Austen from YouTube, thanks to Chicawapa. The rest of episodes can be found there as well.



Anyone up for a review, anyway? Team Jane can always find time to post it here for you!

UPDATE! I've seen all four episodes in YouTube (thanks Chicawapa!), and is it not one of the most amazing miniseries I've ever seen! YES! I love Amanda Price, I love this version of Lizzy Bennet, I even love Wickham, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and Mrs. Bennet! Oh, I don't have time to write a proper review now, but in a few days I hope to. And really, a DVD is worth it!

Pic: DVD cover of 'Lost in Austen' from Amazon.co.uk

Jane Austen Book Club DVD & Blu-ray USA release date

The Jane Austen Book Club will be released on Region 1 DVD and Blu-ray on 5 February 2008, one week before the USA DVD/Blu-ray release of Becoming Jane.

An all star cast joins acclaimed director / writer Robin Swicord (writer - Little Women, Memoirs of a Geisha) in this critically acclaimed film Six Californians start a club to discuss the works of Jane Austen, only to find their relationships -- both old and new -begin to resemble 21st century versions of her novels. Stars Kathy Baker (Cider House Rules), Maria Bello (A History of Violence), Emily Blunt (Devil Wears Prada) Amy Brennemen (Juding Amy), Jimmy Smits (Star Wars Episodes 1-3).

Special features will include: Audio Commentary with Cast & Crew• Featurettes: "Behind-the-Scenes of The Jane Austen Book Club," "The Life of Jane Austen," "Walking the Red Carpet: Los Angeles Premiere," "The Book Club: Deconstructed"• Deleted Scenes


References:
HDDVD
BluRay

Pic: Jane Austen Book Club movie poster from: IMPAWARDS

The Jane Austen Book Club

I did write a post a few months ago (see here) but we now have more information to post.

The popular book ‘The Jane Austen Book Club’ by Karen Joy Fowler has been made into a film, directed by Robin Swicord (Little Women and Memoirs of a Geisha).
It had limited release on 21st September in parts of the US with the main release on 5th October and has been very well received at the box office. I am writing this now as I am very excited because the film will be released here in the UK next week (16th November).

The premise of the film is six Californians (five women and one man) who regularly meet up to discuss Jane Austen’s novels over a six month period (a novel per month). Bernadette is a very strong, older character who has set up the book club to help her friend Sylvia to deal with her marriage breakdown. Sylvia has a feisty lesbian daughter, Allegra, and a single friend Jocelyn who also join the club. The final members are a strange, uptight teacher called Prudie and the rather dashing Grigg. They are each interesting characters and the plot focuses on their individual lives which cleverly parallel the themes of Jane Austen’s writing. The story really allows us to appreciate how relevant Jane Austen’s themes still are in the 21st century.

To see a short clip, visit here

The great cast includes Maria Bello (Jocelyn), Emily Blunt (Prudie), and Hugh Dancy (Grigg).

Overall, the majority of reviews have described it as a ‘feel-good film’ which is the best kind in my opinion. One particular review found at Yahoo Movies is pasted below:

The performances in Jane Austen are definitely one of the keys to the film's allure. Maria Bellois particularly good as Jocelyn, a woman who won't open herself up to a meaningful relationship, preferring to lavish affection on her canine best friends. Of course, when Jocelyn finally realizes how idiotic she's been, passing up a tasty morsel like Grigg, Bello turns it on like the pro she is. For his part, Dancy (Evening) shares some mean chemistry with Bello and plays the Jane Austen novice with style; as his eyes are opened to Austen's writing, so are the audience's. Blunt--the Brit who made such a stunning American film debut in The Devil Wears Prada--plays Prudie right on the edge, evident in Blunt's perpetually teary-eyed and quivering-voiced performance. She's the snooty literary snob of the group but her personal life is in shambles--married to a kind man (Marc Blucas) who doesn't really understand her, which prompts Prudie to consider having a fling with a charismatic high school senior, Natch. As the more veteran members of the cast, Baker, Brenneman and Smits are all a little more predictable in their roles but well-fitted for the story nonetheless.
Jane Austen is one of those rare cases in which the movie is as good—if not maybe better—than the book. That's a true testament to writer/director Swicord. While the book occasionally plods, the movie mostly zings right along. Swicord cuts through Fowler's long expository passages on the characters' pasts and succinctly recaps each one's individual backstory without ever showing it. Instead, Swicord focuses her attention on the intertwining relationships as they relate to Jane Austen's nine novels. The only drawback could be that Jane Austen tends to be sappy—but it is its exuberance for Jane Austen and her work that gives the film its pulse. True, this movie is for women, by women, but as far as a lesson on the late 18th century novelist, Jane Austen is far more entertaining than taking an English college course on Victorian writers. Let's just say, if the movie doesn't get you to read a Jane Austen novel, nothing will.

If you have seen the film already, please tell us your opinion and comments. I cant wait to see it!

Pic 1: The Jane Austen Book Club book cover at amazon

Pic 2: The Jane Austen Book Club film cover at new orleans box office review

Pic 3-5: Taken from Yahoo Movies

The Jane Austen Book Club

As I wrote a post focussing on the theme of latest Jane Austen productions, I thought that it was only right to mention another one that will be gracing our screens shortly. It is The Jane Austen Book Club directed by Robin Wicord (responsible for the screenplay of two of my favourite adaptations; Memoirs of a Geisha and Little Women) and based on the popular book by Karen Joy Fowler.

I read the book being a lover of Jane Austen novels and I thought it was a very clever way of introducing a more modern audience, that would not necessarily read Jane Austen, to the novels in an indirect fashion. It was very enjoyable.

It has a great cast list, starring Maria Bello, Emily Blunt and Hugh Dancy, to name just a few.

In the latest Jane Austen's Regency World Magazine there is a feature about the film in which Diana Birchall and Natasha Zwick (JASNA members) spent an afternoon on the movie set and reported their adventure. There are some great pictures.

Pic: The cover of The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler from http://www.turnerbooks.co.uk/

Article taken from Jane Austen Regency World Magazine: July/August 2007, issue 28, pages 10-14