I have been blog-awol awhile. Among other pursuits has been viewing a set of BBC films of the Jane Austen novels (from the 70s and 80s Masterpiece Theatre, remastered and put to DVD in 2004). I admire over and again Austen’s creations, the quiet fortitude of her heroines and the grace with which her solid women tolerate the treachery and folly of British society (late 18th into the 19th century).
The merit of these films themselves is in their attention to character, setting, and story. In comparison, recent movie versions of Austen's enduring novels succumb to the cinematic in presenting their dazzling settings and lush photographic imagery, trade-offs preferred to development and intricacy of character and story.
Exception: Who couldn’t enjoy the performance by Anne Hathaway as Jane Austen herself in the 2007 film Becoming Jane? I make no assumptions about the verite of this coming of age story, and it did seem a "lite" rendition also in part miscast. But Hathaway charms as the young writer whose prospects for marriage and family fall apart in the very paradigm of societal class structure and prejudice that provide context for Jane Austen's actual novels.
