Miss Austen Regrets (2008)

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Back in 2007-2008, Masterpiece had an Austen extravaganza with re-airings of the Ehle-Firth Pride and Prejudice and the Kate Beckinsale Emma, as well as brand spanking new versions of Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, and Sense and Sensibility (courtesy of ITV.)  I, an Austen virgin at the time, caught Northanger Abbey on a Liam Cunningham-related whim, and my fate was sealed.  Six TV movies/miniseries later, I was all in.

 

But this glorious season of Austen had more to offer than adaptations.  We were also treated to a fantastically lovely biopic-of-sorts, Miss Austen Regrets.  To give a frame of reference, Miss Austen Regrets is to the Austen extravaganza as An Adventure in Space and Time is to Doctor Who’s 50^th anniversary.  Sold yet?

 

As a biopic, it’s unconventional in that we only get a fragment of the author’s life.  Save for a brief opening scene from Jane’s past, the rest of the film focuses on just a few years – her last, in fact.  We follow her career; she’s working on Persuasion and Emma is awaiting publication.  Her family has a very upper-class attitude of, “Oh, Jane dear, you mustn’t be so concerned with money, it’s absolutely vulgar,” when her pen is providing for herself, her widowed mother, and her unmarried sister.  Even faced with a near-constant stream of admirers at social occasions, she is plagued by worries, haunted by the looming shadow of Pride and Prejudice and afraid that her best writing is behind her.

 

Over the years, much has been made of the unwed creator of some of the 19^th century’s finest love stories, and Miss Austen Regrets is no exception.  Through Jane’s niece Fanny, an ardent fan and a young woman desperate to be in love, we catch hints about Jane’s romantic history.  Her advice to Fanny about marriage is equal parts pragmatic and satirical, with dashes of wistfulness thrown in perhaps to her own surprise.  

 

Olivia Williams (who I know best as Adele DeWitt in Dollhouse) is just phenomenal as Jane, arch and clever and fierce and vulnerable.  Even seeing it for the first time back in 2008, knowing very little about Austen, I was absolutely gripped by her performance.  Whether she is teasing an adoring but clueless fanboy or mutedly reflecting on the wisdom of past choices, she’s Jane through and through.  She’s surrounded by an able cast, including Imogen Poots from Christopher and His Kind as Fanny, and fine supporting performances by Hugh Bonneville, Greta Scacchi, and Tom Hiddleston.

 

Warnings

 

Thematic elements, a little drinking, and a few veiled sexual references.