Emma (2009) Review

" But people, their hopes, their dreams, their aspiration's; there I am the expert!"

-Emma; Emma (2009)

Hello again! It's been awhile since my first post, mainly due to the fact that, as afore mentioned, I am not techy, and I had a few Blogger bumps I wanted to get figured out before I continued. But here I am, back with my fist review!

Oh where do I start? How do I convey to you all, the loveliness, and happiness, and overall gorgeousness of one of my most favorite, and beloved movies of all time! How do I, very gently, break it to you all that my darling, dearest Emma is even more beloved than *whispers* Pride and Prejudice (1995). *ducks rotten vegetables and the wrath of the P&P95 Forever Club.* 

Of course you've probably already guessed that I love Emma, hence my name. It's just such a warm and fuzzy and beautiful movie, who could help loving it? And I must mention that Emma (2009) is THE Emma. Don't give me Gweneth Paltrow, Don't give me Kate Beckinsale, but I could not live without MY EMMA. No! Life would be a blank to me! 

SO. 

Do we have that straight? Ramola Garai Emma is THE Emma. Right? Right! Now we may proceed!

 I'll start with the summary from the back of the DVD case, because Miss Novice (I mean Woodhouse) is to lazy to think up her own.  

Twenty-one year old Emma Woodhouse has very little to worry about. She is beautiful, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and some of the best blessings of existence. More than anything, she loves playing matchmaker to her friends and family. When young, pretty, naive, and socially inferior Harriet arrives, Emma decides to indulge her passion. Against the advice of family friend and surrogate older brother Mr. Knightley, she persuades Harriet to reject an advantageous proposal from a local farmer in order to hold out for an offer from the dashing Mr. Elton. But Emma soon discovers that Mr. Elton is far more socially ambitious and mercenary than she had ever realized, and her advice to Harriet goes terribly awry.

Hopefully that will suffice. 

Now for the characters (I've been waiting for this part!)

Ramola Garai's Emma is just so vivacious and bubbly. It's hard not to like her! Some people find her annoying, but I loved her from the beginning! She's so full of life and happiness! She's amazingly loyal too. Her relationship with her father is the sweetest thing, and even when she was SO in love with Mr. Knightley, she refuses to leave him. If that's not loyalty I don't know what it is. She bugged me during the whole "Harriet- Robert Martin" thing, but I loved how in the end she was in full support of them.

Her scenes with Mr. Knightley were all the best scenes in the movie. Their arguments were so well acted and so real!! And their friendship was really sweet. Watching the two interact was wonderful!

This scene was THE BEST!!

Which of course leads me to..... (drum roll please!)

 Mr. Knightley!!! Oh Happiness! Oh Joy!! Good Saints Above, I Think I Shall Swoon!!

Give me a moment here folks...

*Siiiiigh* Alright. I believe I am recovered. Let us continue.

Mr. Knightley is, BY FAR, the best Jane Austen hero ever written. Period. No buts, ifs, or ands. I know there are plenty of Darcy fans out there who would love to disagree, and if you are one of them, feel free to let me know in the comments. A good row about hero's is my one weakness. But until then, we shall MOST HAPPILY content ourselves with Mr. Knightley.

One of my friends once said, "Mr. Knightley is the man. He is who every man should try to be." I couldn't agree more. Mr. Knightley is kind, loyal, truthful, thoughtful, and is genuinely concerned about Emma's well being, happiness, and character. Johnny Lee Miller does an excellent job of portraying him. He shows that he is so in love with Emma, and it's the sweetest thing. Yes he scolds her a lot, but it's only because he cares about her and wants to see her happy. When he argues with her he is trying to better her character, because as most people have probably noticed, Emma is Jane Austen's most flawed heroin. She needs Mr. Knightley to help hold her together, and bring her back when she starts to wander. This movie is a lot about how Emma grows and changes in her character from a self-centered, rich girl, to someone who genuinely cares about the feelings of others, and Mr. Knightley is there to help her and hold her up through all of that. 

 

Louise Dylan's Harriet is the perfect combination of silliness, and cuteness. Yes, at times she is very annoying, but you can't help but like her. And she looked very much like the Harriet from the book was supposed to which I appreciated.

" Ship? Court?... Shipcourt!" 

I do feel genuinely bad for her after Mr. Elton gets married, and I couldn't have been more delighted in the end when she finally did end up with Robert Martin! Yay Harriet! We ALL congratulate you on your choice! 

I must admit, when Frank Churchill first appeared upon the screen, he received an applauding approval of Oohs and Ahhs from all the women folk in my family. I will give it to him. Rupert Evans is handsome, unlike some I could mention, *cough cough, Raemond Coulthard, Ewan McGregor, cough cough COUGH!* 

He was VERY likable, and I don't blame Emma at all for thinking she was in love with the Before-Donwell-and-Box-Hill-Frank. After his pouty moment at Donwell though, my admiration for him was considerably lower. After Box Hill though, I was most seriously displeased! Putting his head in her lap!! No, no and no. That entire scene was excruciatingly frustrating. And so was he. 

The rest of the characters in this movie are all wonderfully quirky and lovable, but unfortunately, there are too many for me to cover, and too many to keep you interested if I were to do so. Thus we will be content with what I consider probably the main four. 

Moving on! 

The Ending

*SPOILER ALERT!!* This movie has one of the best endings EVER! It's so beautiful and so touching. I'll go into more detail in a later post, but for now I will just say that it was absolute HAPPINESS. Mr. Knightley's proposal was so sweet. 

 

And of course, the honeymoon!  *END SPOILER ALERT*

The Music

The soundtrack for this movie is AMAZING! It's so light and airy and just fun! There are some gorgeous pieces. "Cliff Tops", "Ship's Cook", and " Last Dance" are some of my favorites. Unfortunately my iTunes is being schnibly unto me and won't let me listen to the soundtrack! I am most seriously displeased!

The Scenery

There is a lot of gorgeous scenery in this movie. Some of the walks Emma takes are through beautiful woods and of course Box Hill is very pretty. 

Beautiful Gardens!

The Costumes

The costumes in this movie were lovely! Emma has some of my all-time favorite period drama dresses, and the other ladies had nice outfits as well. They were all very historically accurate (with perhaps a few exceptions to some of Mrs. Elton's dresses) which I always appreciate. 

Just a few of Emma's lovely outfits

Well, I wish I had more time to cover all the wonderful twists and turns of this beautiful movie, but this post is too long already. Tell me your thoughts on this movie, and if you have not seen it, then by all means, get thee to the T.V. and watch it! Have a lovely day!

Yours Truly,
Miss Woodhouse