Yesterday afternoon I decided to treat myself with a movie. The movie I chose was Becoming Jane staring Anne Hathaway. A certain English professor I know poo-pooed the movie because it concerns the romantic endeavors of Jane Austen, and as everyone knows, Jane Austen was a spinster. Ergo, she could not have had a romantic life. After having seen the movie, I can firmly say that this professor is totally wrong in her opinion.
This film is rather like the film Immortal Beloved, in which the mystery of Beethoven's will is explored. Yes, the film is speculative, but the speculations are grounded in fact. In Becoming Jane some of the facts are tweaked a bit so that they might be presented (like Jane's "challenged" brother, George, going to church with them,) within the context of the film, but on the whole, the film does a good job of showing what life was probably like for Jane Austen.
The speculative aspect of Becoming Jane concerns her affair with Tom Lefroy. While there are only two letters surviving that make mention of Lefroy, the film implies that there were several more letters that did not survive, and that perhaps the reason Jane remained single her entire life was because of the love she had for Lefroy. To me, this seems a very plausible bit of speculative fiction. After all, just because the woman never married, it can't be assumed that she never loved, and what better reason to never marry than because she could not have the one she truly loved.
The film is a joy for any Austen fan to watch, but be prepared to start crying about half-way through the film. (I'm sure not everyone will cry, but for those of us who have a propensity for it, bring tissues.) It's chock full of the heartache that comes from the audience knowing how everything will end, while the characters do not. It's beautifully acted, directed, and shot. The music fits the time period, and the costuming is so subtle it can be nothing but accurate. While I'm sure that there will be some Austen fans who can resist the pull of this film, I can't see them being the majority. For while it is a love story, it is a love story that goes beyond mere romance. It is an "epic" love story, one that examines what it really means to love, not just a mate, but life, family, work, and anything else worthy of such feeling.
It's been a long time since I've watched a film that touched me as much as this one has, and I can definitely say that it will become a part of my collection on the very day it is released on DVD.
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3 comments:
Sometimes, it's amazing what a good movie can do for our state of mind. How, sometimes you just need to watch a flick. I'm glad it was wonderful.
Jenny and I finally saw it last weekend. I thought it was a great, sweet film. Jenny thought it mirrored her books too much and didn't include enough about her life (stuff about feeding the poor and the real consequences of being an old maid). But you'll have to take that up with Jenny if you want more detail. Having not studied Austin the writer (I know, how does one get an english degree without studying Austin?) I didn't mind the fiction or the focus.
To a certain extent, I agree with Jenny, but then again, the movie was not about her "life," but rather about this very short period of her life. It was about the few months that hold a great romantic mystery. I would love to see the movie that encompasses more of what Jenny missed in the movie, but I think that this movie, and the bit of speculative fiction that powered it, would have been weakened by including the rest. After all, this was about the heartbreak of not being able to be with your true love, not about how you pick up the pieces afterwards.
Now, about the film mirroring Austen's fiction, well haven't we all been discussing lately how writers steal from their lives? About how this is a good thing? It's a bit hypocritical, then, to imagine that Jane didn't do it, as well as to chide the film creators for stealing from Jane's fiction to speculate about her life.
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