Jane Austen’s novels regularly find their way to the big and small screen, though the adaptations are usually earnest, sometimes lifelessly so. Now a more comical version of Austen arrives via Autumn de Wilde’s Emma. (The title includes a period.) In 1996, a young Gwyneth Paltrow played Emma Woodhouse as a likable busybody. It was followed a year later by Kate Beckinsale in Jane Austen’s Emma. In 2009, a four-episode miniseries produced by BBC and WGBH featured Romola Garai. This year’s Emma is embodied by Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, Split) as a not particularly likable heroine who may or may not learn the error of her ways. The actress’s bewitching looks mask the machinations of a pampered busybody and an uncertain young woman. Emma is a devoted matchmaker but, ironically, has much to learn about the vicissitudes of love and of her own heart. The woman’s matchmaking schemes are serious and ludicrous, as are the manners and conventions of Austen’s provincial upper-class families. De Wilde emphasizes the foolishness of it all.
De Wilde, a successful L.A. photographer, has directed some enchanting music videos (Different Names for the Same Thing by Death Cab for Cutie and Rise Up (with Fists) by Jenny Lewis are my favorites). De Wilde has a knack
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De Wilde, a successful L.A. photographer, has directed some enchanting music videos (Different Names for the Same Thing by Death Cab for Cutie and Rise Up (with Fists) by Jenny Lewis are my favorites). De Wilde has a knack
CONTINUE TO REVIEW AND INTERVIEW . . .