Miss Austen Regrets

[sciencefan]

I am looking forward to this Masterpiece Theatre film on Sunday. It's supposed to be based on her surviving letters written to her sister and her neice. Someone who saw a preview said it was respectfully done, of which I'm glad.

[sciencefan]

Here's some information I found.

"I have had the pleasure of viewing an advance copy, and am favourably pleased. I think that the writer Gwyneth Hughes and director Jeremy Lovering have handled a very sensitive subject with honesty and respect."
Miss Austen Regrets Preview: A Lively Curiosity « Austenprose (http://austenprose.wordpress.com/2008/01/22/miss-austen-regrets-preview-a-lively-curiousity/)

""The script is very tightly based on Austen's surviving letters to her sister and to her young niece, Fanny. So I must share the credit for quite a lot of the dialogue with Miss Austen herself!"

""Everyone knows Jane Austen never married. For her millions of fans this can only be a relief, because it's hard to see how a 19th century wife and mother could have found time to write her six wonderful novels! All the same, you do wonder whether she minded – how this spinster lady felt about the absence of a real Mr Darcy in her life."

"And then I read the most extraordinary fact. Jane Austen did receive a proposal of marriage from a wealthy young neighbour. And she accepted! She actually said yes to him – till after a long night of discussion with her sister Cassandra, she changed her mind. This intriguing decision inspired the story of Miss Austen Regrets.""
BBC - Press Office - Revealing the romance behind Jane Austen (http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/08_august/21/austen.shtml)

"Miss Austen Regrets was written by Gwyneth Hughes, who based her script on Austen’s surviving correspondence with Cassandra and Fanny. The characters and incidents in the film are drawn from these letters, with Hughes reading carefully between the lines to fill in crucial gaps.

Cassandra notoriously burned many of her sister’s letters after Jane’s death—an act that was probably intended to spare the feelings of still-living relatives and acquaintances, who were the target of Jane’s famous barbs."

Miss Austen Regrets (http://missaustenregrets.com/)

[Niamh]

I was just reading up on stuff about this. I hope its better than Becoming Jane.

[sciencefan]

I was just reading up on stuff about this. I hope its better than Becoming Jane.From what I've read about Becoming Jane, I believe it will be significantly better, though I am looking forward to seeing Becoming Jane eventually.

[Niamh]

becoming Jane is enjoyable to watch. But it was lacking. I wasnt very convinced of the romance between Lafroy and Jane.

[LadyWentworth]

I was going to see "Becoming Jane", but I just lost interest in it when it was finally released in the theaters. I guess I didn't feel like paying the cost of the ticket to see it. Something about it looked so storybook-like. I don't know the correct word that I want to use, but I thought it looked too fictional. I just decided to wait until it was released onto DVD.

As far as "Miss Austen Regrets", when they first described it, they said that it was going to be a biography. Then it was changed to her life based on her letters. Now it seems to be mainly about the romances of her life (involving those letters). Romance is fine, but I wanted to see a little bit more of her life than just that. Though I suppose, since her novels are based on romance, that is why this film may be about pretty much nothing but that. I think it looks pretty good. I just hope that it is. I can honestly say that I think it looks a lot better than "Becoming Jane" did. So I am looking foward to watching it on Sunday. I hope that it lives up to my expectations.

[Niamh]

Its done like a Jane Austen Novel.

[sciencefan]

Its done like a Jane Austen Novel.Which film?

Do you mean that Jane will be the main character in her own story?

Have you seen it?
Did you hear this on a tv advertisement?

[LadyWentworth]

Well, this movie just ended about 45 minutes ago. I have to say that I actually liked it. With only 90 minutes to tell the story, I suppose it is best to just focus on the latter part of her life. I found it interesting how they quoted her letters by using it as dialogue. All-in-all, though, I think that it was a good film.

Now it is on to "Being Jane", at some point, so that I can compare the two. :)

[motherhubbard]

I'm left a little down in the dumps after watching it. My husband thought I was sad because she was sad, but he's wrong. I hate that she could never be independent. I would hate to HAVE to marry. I'm thankful that women can be more than wives and mothers today.

I just realized how ironic it is for me to feel that way- I've been a stay home mother for more than thirteen years

[LadyWentworth]

Honestly, I have always had the utmost respect for Jane Austen because of her choice. I know the situation that she ended up in, but I still respect her for making the choice that she did.

[sciencefan]

I just finished watching Miss Austen Regrets.

It was done well, I thought. I liked it, but as usual there were too many people in it and I lost track of who was who. For instance I don't remember any widower with 6 children so I'm not sure who Fanny married. But after I watch it a couple more times, I'm sure I'll fill in all the gaps.

Also, I missed some of the dialog because of rushed lines and English accents.

The whole time I was watching it though, I wondered how much of her letters we were hearing, and how much of it was contrived - like that line when Jane's mother rails against her and Jane finally retorts, "Would you have had me sell myself for money?!" The feminists put that in there, I'm sure of it. That really BURNS me. It’s a throwback to Mary Wollstonecraft, surely.

See my post:
http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showpost.php?p=336813&postcount=36

Anyhow, Newcomer has read Jane Austen’s letters and studied her life.
I hope he will come and tell us how authentic it was.