Anya Taylor-Joy revels in the role of the handsome, clever heroine with a sadistic streak in this amiable adaptation of Jane Austenīs great romcomNot badly done, Emma. Novelist Eleanor Catton has scripted this amiable, genial and interestingly unassuming new adaptation of Jane Austenīs Regency classic, the great prototype romantic comedy, though it may be truer to call it a marriage comedy or marrcom. Music video specialist Autumn de Wilde makes her feature directing debut, with cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt often confecting a buttery sunlight in which to shoot. De Wilde and Catton are pretty content to let the story itself do the work, getting the big moments, letting the subtleties go, but showcasing a very watchable lead turn from Anya Taylor-Joy whose eerily unblinking gaze has something calculating and predatory.This movie does take a bit of time to settle down, with a frantically intrusive musical soundtrack at the very beginning, chirruping away under the action to make sure we understand how sprightly and amusing things are supposed to be. There is also what I can only describe as some startling buttock action. Dishy Mr Knightley is briefly glimpsed stark naked from the, ahem, rear. And Emma herself, standing alone with her back to the chimneypiece on a winterīs day, bizarrely hoists her skirts to get the full benefit of a roaring open fire, without obviously troubling herself to ascertain that the servants are not nearby. But these indiscretions happen at the very beginning, after which the movie keeps its full period costume sedately in place. Continue reading...
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