Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Becoming Jane

My sister and I stayed up late (1:30am) one night (morning) and watching Becoming Jane. I thought, over all, it was a good movie ... okay, so I loved it!! :) There were a couple of parts that they could have cut out. They had a "bed" scene with her parents. It wasn't bad as far as bad goes but they could have left it out. There was a "swimming" scene, if you know what I mean. But thankfully it was short and Jane (Anne Hathaway) left so she wouldn't seen any more. And then there was a book that Mr. Lefroy (James McAvoy) told her to read that she could have read without us knowing what it said (or seen any of the pictures from 'said' book). If any of you have seen the Masterpiece Theatre version of Northanger Abbey you'll remember the part in the movie when Catherine stays up late to read a book that her friend recommended and that was a little "detailed", the same with the book the Mr. Lefroy told Jane to read. But other than those few spots, out of the whole movie (if my memory serves me right), I loved it. I really liked now they wove Jane Austen's stories into the movie and you could see what may have inspired her to write her books. You can see little things that pop up and make you think, "Ahh, Northanger Abbey ... that one is Pride and Prejudice (or First Impressions (by the first title))." If you are going to watch the movie, watch the deleted scenes and the other things in the extras. There was one extra we watched that had different interviews of the actors and actresses that really shed some light on what was going on and what Jane Austen might have been like, but I'm sorry to say I don't remember what they called that specific extra. :) You'll just have to watch them all. :) But if nothing else, watch the deleted scenes!!!!! Some of the deleted scenes were my favorite out of the whole movie! The filming was amazing!!! I loved it, rain dripping off of green leaves, rain drops in puddles on stone walk ways, rain on a window pane, ink on a page, beautifully formed letters flowing from Jane's pen, flowers, sunrises, clouds, everything beautiful and wonderful. If you are going to watch this movie, although it is rated PG, I recommend not watching it with little eyes around. :) But then again, that's just what I thought of the movie.

4 comments:

Robert said...

I haven't see it yet but I have read mixed reviews of it.It looks well made and Anne Hathaway looks like a good Jane Austen.

I think the extra you are talking about is called Discovering The Real Jane Austen.

Have you seen either version of Emma?

Ana said...

Robert~
I, too, had read mixed reviews of the movie. Some good, some bad, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. But I'm glad I went ahead and watched it!

That extra sounds like it could be the right one. Thank you. :)

And I have seen the Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow. I really liked that one. That's the only Emma I've seen though. But I'm looking forward to the Masterpiece Theatre one.

Elisabeth said...

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on Becoming Jane, Ana! (*Blush* ... I haven't got around to sharing mine on Amazing Grace yet, have I?!?) It looks good - and very 'real' and atmospheric.

Is Masterpiece Theatre producing another version of Emma?

Ana said...

A new version of Emma? I'm not sure, the one they showed last night was the one with Kate Beckinsale. But as to another one or a "new" one I'm not the one to ask. ;)