My Favorite Movie Version of Every Jane Austen Novel (almost)

I enjoy watching Jane Austen movies, and I enjoy watching multiple adaptations of the same story. Put these two things together, and over the years I have watched quite a few adaptations of Jane Austen’s books. As is darkly hinted at in the post title, I haven’t actually watched adaptations for every single one of her stories…as will become evident near the end of the list. But I’ve watched enough that I thought it could be fun to scrounge up a list of favorites, so without further ado, let us start with

Pride and Prejudice

And my enlightening answer for this one is I don’t know. I only watched the iconic 1995 P&P once in full, and while there are obviously many good things about it, I didn’t totally love it. Many of the characters felt too much like caricatures (Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Collins are good examples) and while Jane Austen did indeed write them in a caricature-ish way, I don’t think that means there should be no subtlety at all in their portrayals…especially considering the shift in medium from book to film, where I think, if anything, more subtlety is called for. It’s nice to see how close the mini-series stays to the book in most respects, of course. I also thought Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth was wonderful. However, Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy hasn’t really grown on me with time. He feels too unmitigatedly brooding and haughty; when he’s friendly to Elizabeth and the Gardners at Pemberly it feels like a complete shift with everything we’ve seen from him, not like the mix of his changing and the changing of Elizabeth’s faulty perceptions that it should be.

But the 2005 version is not perfect either. I think that the plot and characterizations are simplified somewhat to make it feel more like your generic ‘enemies to lovers’ storyline, and the characterization of Elizabeth especially feels very influenced by modern sensibilities. I like a lot of the other characterizations, though, and I think I do prefer Matthew Macfadyen’s Mr. Darcy, on the whole. While he is perhaps not proud enough from the get-go, his character feels much more cohesive, and it’s easier to believe that the Mr. Darcy at the end and Mr. Darcy at the beginning are the same person.

…you know what, after thinking about it, my most honest answer probably is the 2005 version. It isn’t perfect, but if you were going to watch either it or the ’95 and asked which I would prefer to see, I probably would say the 2005.

I have also seen the 1940 version with Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson, which was a fun time but not that great as an adaptation, and the 1980s BBC mini-series, which had good things going for it but which would probably not qualify for best-version-material either. (Though it’s been quite a few years since I saw it, so perhaps to be fair I should watch it again before I say that for certain.)

Sense and Sensibility

My favorite version of S&S is the 2008 BBC miniseries. I think it does a marvelous job of making the book and the characters come alive, and it manages to feel like its own entity and its own creative project while staying very close to the book. Obviously it isn’t perfect; Willoughby is its main weakness, I think. But on the whole it’s delightful and one of my favorite period dramas. (I must recommend it with the caveat, though, that the very first scene is better skipped…just start it about a minute and a half in, and you’re in the opening credits and all is good from there.)

There is a lot to like about the Emma Thompson version from 1995, too, but I find Kate Winslet’s Marianne not only selfish and high-spirited but also very cold and unfeeling, which puts me off rather. I think there’s a strong feeling of Elinor’s melancholy and isolation pervading everything in the ’95…which is a perfectly legitimate storytelling decision, but I don’t find it as enjoyable to watch.

I also remember rather liking the 1981 BBC miniseries of S&S, but the 1971 miniseries wasn’t the best, in my opinion.

Emma

My favorite Emma is the 1996 made-for-TV version with Kate Beckinsale. I think the script does a really good job of condensing the story well (with a couple minor issues, but hey, nothing’s perfect), and I love so many of the casting decisions – it’s rare that I find a period drama where so many of the major and minor characters feel so well characterized and portrayed. My main issue with it is Mr. Knightley himself, who I think is a bit too harsh and blustering. Even he has grown on me with time, though.

The Gwyneth Paltrow version from the same year has a lot going for it (and probably has my favorite Mr. Knightley) but it feels a little too much like a ’90s rom-com to me, particularly regarding some of the scripting/dialogue.

And while it’s been far too long since I watched the 2009 mini-series, I didn’t totally love it either – Emma herself felt very modern to me, and some of the pacing decisions seemed a little off. (I also didn’t like their portrayal of Jane Fairfax, which was Sad.) And the 2020 Emma was just strange. While I recognize that it’s not trying to be a ‘normal’ adaptation and is trying to be quirky and tongue-in-cheek, the way that they did it felt more like a satirical and mocking kind of tongue-in-cheek, not a good-natured tongue-in-cheek. (I would say the 2019 David Copperfield provides a good example of the latter.) That being said, I only watched it once (expecting to dislike it), and I wouldn’t be averse to seeing it again some time, since there were things about it I liked. (It was a very pretty movie visually speaking, for instance.)

Persuasion

This is by default the 1995 movie, since that’s the only adaptation of Persuasion that I’ve seen. I liked it on the whole, though the story in general is not one of my top favorite Austen stories. (A little detail I really liked was when we saw Anne on board the ship at the end, hearkening back to that little conversation earlier about captains bringing their wives aboard their ships. It was so perfect that I actually thought it was from the book, and was surprised when I re-read it and found it wasn’t.)

I do intend on watching the 2007 version at some point…I’ve heard quite varied opinions about it, so my curiosity has been peaked. (And I’ve seen enough of the 2020 Persuasion to be simultaneously horrified yet fascinated by it.)

Mansfield Park

I would have to say the 1983 BBC miniseries, though I only saw about half of it. It wasn’t great quality, the acting wasn’t all great (though some of the casting decisions I quite liked) and neither was all the scripting, but it wins by default due to the defects of the other versions.

The 2007 version (which I also began but never finished) butchered poor Fanny’s character, and I know enough of the 1999 version to know that they do the same in that one (and also add in a lot of unnecessary Skippable Stuff).

Northanger Abbey

And Northanger Abbey is the only Jane Austen story that I have not seen any movie versions of, and truth be told, I don’t really have plans of watching either movie version. So…whoops.

And I also haven’t watched any of the Jane Austen biopic-ish movies or any movies based on her short or unfinished stories, so that is that!

What are your favorite Austen movies? Do you agree or disagree with my picks? Any recommendations for me?