Emma (1997) Review

(Please note that this Emma really originally came out in 1996, but to differentiate it from the Gwyneth Paltrow version (which I reviewed here), and because it wasn’t released in the US until 1997, I’m referring to it as the 1997 version.)

Unless you count the rather stuffy-looking 1970s BBC version of Emma (which I have yet to actually watch), this version of Emma is probably the most overlooked. It makes sense that it is; it’s a made-for-TV production, it came out the same year as the big-name Gwnyeth Paltrow production and so was overshadowed by it, and it definitely comes across as a smaller-budget affair than the 2009 mini-series or the more recent 2020 film.

However, the avid Janeite cannot overlook an Austen film just because others do, so here I am to review “the brown-haired Emma.”

Emma herself is played by a young Kate Beckinsale. To start with the shallow complaint that I feel mean about making, I don’t think Kate Beckinsale looks quite pretty enough for Emma in this movie. Not that she isn’t good-looking (and in this particular movie I think how her hair is done/how she’s made up makes her look less pretty than she really is), but Emma is supposed to be  an extraordinarily handsome woman, and here she looks too…ordinary, I suppose.

That aside, I like her portrayal of Emma. I think her Emma has more gravitas than Gwyneth Paltrow’s did…Gwyneth’s Emma came across as a little childish and pouty, and Kate Beckinsale’s does not. She’s refined and lady-like, as Emma should be, with that dash of romanticism that Emma should have. Although she shows some warmth and affection (particularly to her father, which was very sweet and book-accurate), she comes across as a little cold and haughty, and obviously feels very sure of herself for most of the film. That’s not really a complaint, though…a pouty Emma is honestly probably closer to the book, but I rather liked this portrayal too. I think the perfect Emma might be a mix of Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Beckinsale.

Samantha Morton is definitely my favorite Harriet Smith that I’ve seen. She’s naïve and shy and sweet and girlish, but she isn’t silly and ridiculous. And while Harriet should be a little silly, some Harriets play it so over-the-top that it’s just annoying, not endearing, and make it hard to believe that a sensible man like Robert Martin would fall for her. That was certainly not the case with this Harriet.

This version also boasts my favorite Jane Fairfax and my favorite Frank Churchill. Olivia Williams completely encapsulates Jane of the book in my eyes, even down to her pale (but lovely!) complexion. She is refined, intelligent, reserved, has gravitas, but is also young enough that we can easily believe her to be the same age as Emma (unlike the Jane in the Gwyneth Paltrow version). I just loved her performance in every way.

Raymond Coulthard is also book-Frank to a T. He’s definitely the handsomest Frank Churchill of the ones I’ve seen – which is all to the good, since Frank is supposed to be handsome – and gives off very “charming rascal” vibes, which is perfect for Frank. He plays it just right so that he mildly annoys us while also making us like him. (If anything, I think Frank might be just a tad more likable in this movie than in the book.)

Also, we’re given a lot of little hints about Frank and Jane’s relationship throughout in this version, and their chemistry is really sweet.

I didn’t love the Eltons quite so much, although they certainly weren’t bad. Mr. Elton comes across as more oily and despicable in this version than he does in some others, which isn’t my favorite. In the 2009 and 2020 versions, however, he’s just a straight-up creep, which I like even less, so I suppose this is my second-favorite Mr. Elton notwithstanding.

Mrs. Elton (who was Mrs. Hurst in the 1995 P&P!) was also not my favorite. She was a little too old (though not so much so as the GP Emma‘s Mrs. Elton), and why was she using a fake American accent? Not only did it sound really bad, but Mrs. Elton is not supposed to be American in any shape or form. I did like some of her scenes, though. Especially the “Mrs. Knightley” scene with Mr. Knightley.

All that being said about the Eltons, I did rather like their relationship here. I mentioned in my review for the GP Emma that I really don’t like it when the Eltons are played as having a chronically unhappy marriage, and this version does not do that. Unlikable as they are, the Eltons do seem to suit each other and care for each other – in their own way – in this version, and I enjoyed that.

Miss Bates was very good – probably one of the best Miss Bateses. She was well-meaning and silly and talkative and all that Miss Bates should be. And she acted the Box Hill scene so well – you could just feel her hurt so much. (That whole scene was really good, by the way. Except for the bit where Mr. Knightley scolds Emma – he was too harsh and angry, instead of the proper mix of anger and disappointment which I think only Jeremy Northam got just right – it was all so well acted and well done. You could feel Emma’s immediate regret and mortification, Jane and Mr. Knightley’s concern for Miss Bates, Frank’s mixed guilty amusement and embarrassment at the whole thing…all as frustrating and embarrassing and painful as it should be.)

Mrs. Weston was good as well, very sweet and mature but a little too lenient where Emma was concerned. And I loved Mr. Weston! So pleasant and good-tempered and book-Mr. Weston-ish. Mr. Woodhouse was absolutely perfect, as well – exactly the sweet, lovable, paranoid old man that the book depicts. We also got to see the John Knightleys a little more in this version, and their family was very cute. Although I don’t think you see too much of Isabella – truth be told, I can’t even remember what she looked like – John Knightley was great. I find him mildly annoying in the 2009 version (the only other version where you see him for more than a few seconds), but I couldn’t help but like him in this one.

But now I must confess my biggest complaint against this version of Emma: I don’t like Mr. Knightley. In fact, this is my least favorite Mr. Knightley that I’ve seen. He’s too harsh – he’s angry and yelling in nearly every scene – and we really don’t see that he has a terribly loving relationship with Emma, in my opinion. It comes across more that he truly does just “love to find fault with her.” I also hated the fact that other characters almost seem to view him as a comic relief – after the “to get his hair cut???” scene (which a couple of my brothers hooted in laughter at when they first saw it) you see the Westons exchanging amused “ah, there he goes again” looks. Mr. Knightley is not meant to be that one guy who’s always yelling about something. (Besides which, he’s a gentleman, and certainly would not be complaining about Frank like that right in front of Frank’s parents.)

The scriptwriters also made a horrible goof in the proposal scene, in that literally the last thing Mr. Knightley says before kissing Emma is that he remembers holding her in his arms when she was a baby. Not sure who thought that was romantic.

Apart from that, however (and apart from Mr. Knightley’s weird speech at the harvest feast at the end of the movie, in which he sounds like he’s campaigning for something), I really like the script for this movie. It’s the shortest Emma I’ve seen, but it doesn’t feel rushed, it doesn’t feel like any important plot points are removed or changed, and all the minor characters feel fleshed-out and real. (In fact, I really like the characterization of everyone in this movie but Mr. Knightley.) The dialogue, too, is either taken from the book or sounds properly Austen-ish, not lame or modernized like some other Emmas I’ve seen.

Besides the Knightley issues, I think the only major thing I would tweak about this movie would be Jane and Frank’s storyline. It’s quite clear early on that something’s going on between the two, which is fine. However, we also see their fight at the strawberrying party and Box Hill, but it’s never explained why they were fighting. I can only imagine that that whole aspect of things would be highly confusing to a viewer who didn’t already know the story beforehand.

(Oh, also, I would not end the movie with their chickens being stolen. That was just Weird.)

However, despite that and despite Mr. Knightley, there is an awful lot that I like about this Emma, and on the whole I would say that this is my favorite version.

Have you seen the 1997 Emma? What’s your favorite version of Emma?