"Life Disrupted by Jane Austen's Influence"
In the world of literary swings and slides, reputations bubble, burst, and sometimes resurgent. These days, few writers command a more sky-high valuation than Jane Austen, who's climbed from being a fabulous wordsmith to a marketable brand.
Beyond the sea of adaptations, we've seen movies like Austenland and The Jane Austen Book Club, Anne Hathaway playing the young Jane, and Mr. Darcys cropping up everywhere from Bridget Jones' Diary to the Hallmark Channel's Mr. Darcy Trilogy. As I type this, the Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice is enjoying a 20th anniversary re-release, while over on Masterpiece, that queen of British television, Keeley Hawes, stars as Jane's sister, Cassandra, in the series Miss Austen.
Even France has jumped on the bandwagon with the release of Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, an amiable new romance written and directed by Laura Piani. Immersed in the filmmaker's passion for the writer, the movie - whose title is just a tease - encapsulates the joys and limits of Austenomania.
The charming Camille Rutherford stars as Agathe, a 30-something would-be romance writer who slogs her days away at the famous Paris bookstore Shakespeare and Company. Stuck on her writing, emotions, and love life, Agathe spends her time chilling with her co-worker Félix, played by the amusing Pablo Pauly, a likable scoundrel who's her best bud.
Agathe is hovering in limbo until she's invited to a writer's retreat at the Jane Austen Residency in England. There, she meets – you guessed it – a grouchy attractive chap named Oliver, played by Charlie Anson, an actor who's roughly a house-brand version of Hugh Grant. We sense that they're destined for each other, even as we cogitate whether she'd be better suited to Félix, with whom she shared an unexpectedly steamy kiss as she bid bon voyage for England.
Austen is rightly lauded and adored for crafting enduringly engaging heroines who are strong, intelligent, principled, witty, and willful. They brim with character. Even when they're off-base, they're never insignificant, particularly when it comes to matters of the heart. You see, in Austen's world, a woman's freedom to act was profoundly curtailed. The choice of a man was more than just about chemistry; it was about financial security and social status. Indeed, Austen illustrates the society that chains her heroines with X-ray accuracy, exposing the greed, vanity, and class snobbery of a rigid social order where only a few reveled in comfort.
And, Austen's mind is a thrilling powerhouse. She writes with the dazzling brilliance of her own creations - with immaculately composed phrases, a stinging satirical gaze, and a sense of judgment that can be ruthless. There's nothing vague or wishy-washy about her.
The pitfall in explicitly referencing Austen is that it instantly jackets our expectations. And sadly, Piani – much like the majority of contemporary Austen-inspired filmmakers – can't match her model's clarity or flair. Her movie is tamer and mushier, and resolutely unconcerned with society.
In Agathe, Piani replaces the brilliance and zest of Elizabeth Bennet or Emma Woodhouse with low-key neurosis, as if dreading that a modern woman who's sharp or sometimes unlikable might not appeal to us. You keep hoping that Agathe will, well, act boldly or say something genuinely witty.
The movie is weighed down by all its nods and borrowings, which become a substitute for creating something new. Doing this isn't impossible. Hollywood managed Austen's turf marvelously during the '30s and '40s – check out The Shop Around the Corner or The Philadelphia Story – while over in post-war France, Eric Rohmer conjured up a score of sharp movies about romantic desire and illusion without ever needing to resurrect Mr. Darcy for one last bout of pride and prejudice.
Virginia Woolf once wrote of Austen that "of all great writers, she is the most difficult to capture while she's being great." One measure of her greatness is that, two centuries on, filmmakers like Piani are still so inspired by her work that they feel compelled to generate their own versions. As an Austen devotee myself, I understand the temptation. And anyway, better that than repeatedly remaking Batman.
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In the realm of adaptations, books like 'Jane Austen Wrecked My Life' add to the collection, encapsulating the joys and challenges of Austenomania. Moreover, the film, directed by Laura Piani, offers an insight into the world of entertainment, showcasing movies and TV series inspired by Jane Austen's works.
