for an adaptation of ‘Emma’ that
is too reverent to the novel for
its own good.
Chances are if you haven’t read
Austen’s book, you’ll likely be fa-
miliar with its premise from one
of its many screen adaptations,
the best of which is Amy Heck-
erling’s Clueless, which updated
the story to ‘90s Los Angeles.
Largely unconcerned with inject-
ing any modern relevancy (the
story is practically anti-feminist,
and the era’s intolerant attitude
to “gypsies” is left intact),
De Wilde’s film maintains the
novel’s original setting of 19th
century England.
It’s there that we find Emma
(Taylor-Joy), introduced in
opening text lifted directly from
Austen’s book as “Emma Wood-
house, handsome, clever, and
rich, with a comfortable home
and a happy disposition... and
had lived nearly twenty-one
years in the world with very
little to distress or vex her.”
Watch the trailer for Emma
NJ STAGE - ISSUE 68
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