Period pieces make me happy
I saw The Young Victoria the other day at an arthouse theater near Lincoln Center. We were the babies of the audience; everyone else looked as though they knew Her Maj personally. I've seen Emily Blunt in a couple of things before but never thought she was anything to write home about. As for Rupert Friend, it appears he was in that god-awful Pride and Prejudice with Keira Anorexia Knightley. (Which explains why he was vaguely familiar but not placeable; I have done my best to forget that terrible, terrible film.) The Young Victoria, however, was the antithesis of terrible terrible. I enjoyed both leads; I enjoyed the political intrigue; I enjoyed the pretty costumes and set design. The Marxism/"Imma help the poor!" business was out of place -- mostly because we never see Vicky and Bert come near the unwashed masses -- but other than that it was thoroughly enjoyable. The supporting cast was Awesome British Actor Camp: Jim Broadbent as demented King William, Miranda Richardson as Victoria's scheming mother, Mark Strong as Sir John Conroy, Victoria's mother's baby-daddy*.
*Not Victoria's daddy, though. She was as plain as only a Hanover could be. The hemophilia was probably a spontaneous mutation. (Or maybe not; her cousin Princess Charlotte died of a post-partum hemorrhage, which is the only reason V became queen.)
Then yesterday night I studied/did a writeup while watching the new Emma on PBS. I had super low expectations, based on the trailer I'd seen the week before, but it was actually Not Horrible Either! Romola Garai smiles too much (Ha, I sound like Mr. Darcy talking about Jane Bennet!) and Johnny Lee Miller is ten years too young for Mr. Knightley, also I am not convinced that he understands his dialogue. Did you ever see the Branagh Hamlet? (The answer, if we are to remain friends, is YES.) You know how Jack Lemmon phones in his lines from the set of Grumpy Old Men? Yeah. I could have done without the voiceover prologue, too. The sense of the adaptation, however, was intact. Emma is Austen's airiest, most joyous novel, her pastoral, and this is an airy, joyous adaptation. Mr. Elton rivaled Mr. Collins in pomposity and hilarity. Michael Gambon was of course perfect as Mr. Woodhouse. Frank Churchill is actually charming! And Miss Bates is a jabber-mouth without being a halfwit (I already feel for her in anticipation of the picnic on Box Hill). Overall: well done, screenwriters and actors!
*Not Victoria's daddy, though. She was as plain as only a Hanover could be. The hemophilia was probably a spontaneous mutation. (Or maybe not; her cousin Princess Charlotte died of a post-partum hemorrhage, which is the only reason V became queen.)
Then yesterday night I studied/did a writeup while watching the new Emma on PBS. I had super low expectations, based on the trailer I'd seen the week before, but it was actually Not Horrible Either! Romola Garai smiles too much (Ha, I sound like Mr. Darcy talking about Jane Bennet!) and Johnny Lee Miller is ten years too young for Mr. Knightley, also I am not convinced that he understands his dialogue. Did you ever see the Branagh Hamlet? (The answer, if we are to remain friends, is YES.) You know how Jack Lemmon phones in his lines from the set of Grumpy Old Men? Yeah. I could have done without the voiceover prologue, too. The sense of the adaptation, however, was intact. Emma is Austen's airiest, most joyous novel, her pastoral, and this is an airy, joyous adaptation. Mr. Elton rivaled Mr. Collins in pomposity and hilarity. Michael Gambon was of course perfect as Mr. Woodhouse. Frank Churchill is actually charming! And Miss Bates is a jabber-mouth without being a halfwit (I already feel for her in anticipation of the picnic on Box Hill). Overall: well done, screenwriters and actors!