For most people in the United States, Jane Austen is as well known as most movie stars and music artists. Author of six popular novels, she is possibly the most famous English writer after Shakespeare.
What makes this woman so amazing is that over time, her popularity has only seemed to grow, and now a sort of Jane Austen mania is sweeping the nation. From games and book sequels, to websites and Blogs dedicated to all things Austen, there is almost no type of media that does not have some small portion of space dedicated to something Austen-themed, and one of the places her infulence is the most strong in the Movies.
Some of her more popular books that you may have recognized as movies are:
Many have fallen in love with the writing of Jane Austen, and many a fan page has been devoted to her most famous hero Mr Darcy , but I that much of the credit for keeping her books popular for such a long time has to go to the media. With Blogs, websites, games, Facebook pages, and movies, there is no shortage of the different ways people can enjoy all things Jane. Since the beginning of TV, screenplay writers, directors and actors have tried to capture the spirit and essence of each Jane Austen work.
It can easily be argued that some of these visions were more successful than others, but the point is that we keep coming back for more. With only six books to chose from, we would assume that only a few movies would have been made, but thanks to the cleverness of movie people everywhere, from screenwriters to directors, there is no shortage of material for that avid fan to pick from. From 1938 to present day, film makers all over the world have given us their interpretation of Jane Austen’s books, both modern and classic, each film gives us a taste of Austen, like a sequel to a beloved book. What is so amazing about Jane is that although just over 200 years have gone by since the printing of her first book, her popularity still grows, and I think that TV and movies have a great deal to do with that.
Until the 1990’s only one movie every few years, and never more than three, was made in an attempt to bring the spirit of Jane’s books to life. Suddenly, in 1995, four movies were made:
Sense and Sensibility
Clueless (based on the novel "Emma")
Pride and Prejudice
Persuasion
And with these movies, many in America realized that Jane Austen was not as old-fashioned as they had once believed, but a contemporary, whose plots and characters could fit into any time or place. Since then, Jane Austen has maintained her fame, with at least one movie being made every year. The media has not stopped loving Jane, she is just as amazing now as ever before, her movies are both classic and new, since everyone can put a new twist on one of her plots, or even steal her characters to make an entirely new movie like “Lost in Austen” or “Bridget Jones Diary”. Long live Jane, thanks in great part to modern technology.
Some of the more popular film adaptations of Jane Austen’s work have been made in the past 10 years, among them, the ones I most highly recommend checking out are:
2010
Film adaptation of "Emma"
2008
TV mini-series based on the novel Pride and Prejudice
TV mini-series based on the novel
2007
Persuasion
TV movie based on the novel
TV movie based on the novel
2005
Film based on the novel
I never knew that Jane Austen was responsible for ‘Clueless.’ How interesting. I am one of those guilty people who previous to reading this blog thought she was a bit old fashioned. However, there is nothing wrong with that. It’s actually quite refreshing to have tales of old every once and a while instead of some of the completely off the wall movies we are subjected to in this day and age. I’ve seen ‘Sense and Sensibility’ and the Bridget Jones Diary’ (which I watch every time I catch it as I flip channels), but I have to admit that I have not seen the others. I think I will take a renewed interest in movies from the writings of Jane Austen. Apparently many others have to because she is still around.
ReplyDeleteI hate to admit it, but I had the same perception as Kelly did. I thought Jane Austin was a "bit old fashioned". I read on-line that, as critic Gary Kelly has observed, "Jane Austen is one of the few novelists in world literature who is regarded as a 'classic' and yet is widely read." Jane Austen is a world renowned English author and, despite her having lived centuries ago, her fans around the world number in the millions today.
ReplyDeleteI am an avid Austin lover! I love all things Austin, specifically Pride and Prejudice; it is one of many books that I simply cannot get enough of. I totally agree with you in that the media and technology that we have today has helped keep her spirit alive. A good friend of mine literally owns at least one copy of every Austin and Austin inspired book, and it is incredible to see how her ideas have been adapted to make it appealing to young readers today.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, I don't know if you watched the 30 Olympic Opening Ceremony or not, but I thoroughly enjoyed the part dedicated to Britain's many world famous authors, Austin being among them. How incredible that a woman of her time, was able to overcome the odds and become one of the greatest novelists of all time.