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‘Jane’ captures writer’s essence
In the mode of “Shakespeare In Love,” this season’s most alluring screen literature is “Becoming Jane.” Movies like this shouldn’t be expected to record events like a text or documentary any more than should a great novel. The best ones (both movies and novels), however, may tell grander truths than mere facts. A film is an art form in its own right. Slavish adherence to specifics could very well make a quite, well
unentertaining piece of work.
The above statement is a warning. Those who want citations, references and footnotes from “Becoming Jane” will be disappointed. Those who want the essence of Jane Austen, her books, a feeling for the countryside and the period in which she wrote (the late 1700s and early 1800s), surely will not.
Those looking for grievances will easily find them. For instance, Austen wrote with a quill, not a pen, and anyone who graduated from a typewriter to a computer for writing long documents has to have some grasp of the difference those two tools might make for an author. The temptation to gripe about such a discrepancy is great.
The movie was filmed in Ireland. Austen lived in Hampshire, England. Who cares? Director Julian Jarrold achieves the solemn palette required of the subject and the suffocating social mores of the turn of her period without sacrificing color and style.
Having gotten all that out of the way, those looking for romance, beauty, a feeling for what makes some novels so great they change the world and continue to do so for generations, will love “Becoming Jane.” Frankly, I am in the latter group. From here on, you will see nothing but raves. About the cinematography, costuming, casting and acting. All are givens.
Truly exceptional is the stitching together of parallel story lines that nip at character motivation much like Austen’s novels themselves are structured.
I loved how the specifics of her craft informed Austen’s character. “Too many adjectives!” Jane says and then, lacking a delete button, physically clips them from the letter she has written, apparently with a razor blade or embroidery scissors.
I love how the sexual reluctance of the times heightened the romance of the story rather than diminishing it. A technique, by the way, that is used by romance writers today.
But most of all, I loved the theme. This was a time when prejudice ran rampant, a time — no matter how exquisitely mannered — when cultural mores left few opportunities open to any but the rich and titled and left even them gasping for freedoms we have come to expect.
My hope is that this movie reminds us to be watchful in our own time, one in which many are willing to make excuses for incursions on our own freedoms.
Harkening back — from McCarthy to today — the battle Jane fought then is one we might take even more seriously today.
CAROLYN HOWARD-JOHNSON of Glendale writes poetry and fiction exploring the ramifications of intolerance.
unentertaining piece of work.
The above statement is a warning. Those who want citations, references and footnotes from “Becoming Jane” will be disappointed. Those who want the essence of Jane Austen, her books, a feeling for the countryside and the period in which she wrote (the late 1700s and early 1800s), surely will not.
Those looking for grievances will easily find them. For instance, Austen wrote with a quill, not a pen, and anyone who graduated from a typewriter to a computer for writing long documents has to have some grasp of the difference those two tools might make for an author. The temptation to gripe about such a discrepancy is great.
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Having gotten all that out of the way, those looking for romance, beauty, a feeling for what makes some novels so great they change the world and continue to do so for generations, will love “Becoming Jane.” Frankly, I am in the latter group. From here on, you will see nothing but raves. About the cinematography, costuming, casting and acting. All are givens.
Truly exceptional is the stitching together of parallel story lines that nip at character motivation much like Austen’s novels themselves are structured.
I loved how the specifics of her craft informed Austen’s character. “Too many adjectives!” Jane says and then, lacking a delete button, physically clips them from the letter she has written, apparently with a razor blade or embroidery scissors.
I love how the sexual reluctance of the times heightened the romance of the story rather than diminishing it. A technique, by the way, that is used by romance writers today.
But most of all, I loved the theme. This was a time when prejudice ran rampant, a time — no matter how exquisitely mannered — when cultural mores left few opportunities open to any but the rich and titled and left even them gasping for freedoms we have come to expect.
My hope is that this movie reminds us to be watchful in our own time, one in which many are willing to make excuses for incursions on our own freedoms.
Harkening back — from McCarthy to today — the battle Jane fought then is one we might take even more seriously today.
CAROLYN HOWARD-JOHNSON of Glendale writes poetry and fiction exploring the ramifications of intolerance.
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