Fanny Austen’s match is quite news, and I am sorry she has behaved so ill. There is some comfort to us in her misconduct, that we have not a congratulatory letter to write. Letter to Cassandra Austen, 20 June 1808
The early reviews for the new PBS biopic Miss Austen Regrets are at large, and they are for the most part very favourable.The industry Juggernaut Variety’s review by Brian Lowry is complimentary…
Beautifully shot and graced with a splendid performance by Olivia Williams, Jane Austen biopic “Miss Austen Regrets” focuses on a relatively narrow window in the author’s life, serving as something of a companion to “Becoming Jane,”
Despite the title, however, Williams’ Austen is no shrinking violet prone to recriminations, rather she sees her novels as beloved children and the decision not to wed as vital to the freedom she enjoyed in birthing them. As for men, she says tartly, “I never found one worth giving up flirting for.”
I’m happy that this point came across so clearly. She was a strong woman making unpopular life choices. She may not have married, but her children were beautiful and accomplished.
Hughes (screenwriter) and director Jeremy Lovering inevitably must rely on some filler and guesswork, since Cassandra burned many of Jane’s letters — the speculation being that she did so to spare relatives and friends from her sister’s sharp tongue. Even so, Williams’ soulful and witty embodiment of Austen establishes the novelist as a compellingly independent woman for her day, and her single life seems especially poignant given the happy-ending formula she perfected in such literary fixtures as “Emma,” “Pride and Prejudice” and “Sense and Sensibility.”
I agree that Olivia Williams portrayal of Miss Austen is soulful; – - both joyous and plaintive. You can read the entire review at Variety online.
USA Today’s Robert Bianco raves…
What emerges is a touching, often funny picture of a woman who made her choices and was determined to be happy with them. The film asks us to sympathize at times, but it never makes the mistake of asking us to pity her. She had her freedom, her work and her gifts, and while we may wish she had lived to write more, we at least have the joy of reading the books she was able to complete.
Ms Place has her review of it posted at Jane Austen’s World and has mixed impressions…
I am having a love/dislike relationship with Miss Austen Regrets, … On the one hand it is such a relief to see Jane Austen depicted as a strong, intelligent, witty, independent, tough, and mature woman through the person of Olivia Williams. On the other hand, why clothe the film in regret and gloom? On the occasions when Olivia as Jane declares she is happy with the choices she’s made in life and with the men she’s rejected, you don’t believe her for a moment.
I have my own views that have been posted on the PBS Remotely Connected blog for The Complete Jane Austen series.
Actress Olivia Williams shines in this difficult role. She makes Austen approachable, lively, sharp as tack and as funny as one of her finest heroines; not that dour spinster envisioned in 19th-century portraits. Hurrah!
I admire how the story succeeds in interweaving moments that parallel scenes or lines from Jane Austen’s novels, or is it scenes or lines from her life that make it into her novels? Art imitating life and it is believable. We see Jane represented honestly and with integrity as a strong woman who made a decision to write instead of marrying without love.
Warning. The complete review has been posted, so please read it only if you want to know the details in advance of the viewing on Sunday, February 3rd. on Masterpiece Classic at 9:00 pm on PBS. It should be a very interesting evening. Inspiring thought and garnering much conversation about our favorite subject, Jane Austen.
