As a Jane Austen fan, it is very unobjective to say that this version is the most detached from the original book I have ever seen. It turned out that I didn't quite understand the protests of book fans when I watched a movie based on a novel, but this time I felt the same way.
The first is the character design. Emma should be the richest heroine in Austen's novels. Her condition is that she is uniquely endowed, and she is the master of the family, and she does not need to take into account the restrictions of money or status on herself. And this has created some of her obvious shortcomings. The most obvious is the stance of superiority in class. This is generally the most villainous in today's school dramas. For example, the friendship with Harriet is actually to find a younger sister who is not as good as himself, and to control others with his own preferences. Knightley made this very clear. But the novel is not critical of this. Austen's critique is still a combination of lack of reason and lack of education -- not being obsessed with money, beauty, and rhetoric. That is to say, things are clustered together, and people are divided into groups. Even if there is a class difference, it is quantitative, not qualitative, and the most important thing is that intelligence, education and morality must be matched. And Harriet, in addition to being more virtuous, lacks the other two. In Emma's mind, Harriet was far inferior to herself, and she didn't even need to compare. Everyone around her knew it. After Emma grows up at the end of the novel, it's not that she feels wrong to manipulate Harriet, but that she should not continue a close friendship with someone like Harriet. Therefore, Emma would never consider Harriet's feelings after Knightley confessed to herself. Even without the emotional factor, she never felt that Harriet's intelligence, upbringing, and character could match Knightley's in any way. The new version is a completely modern perspective, and Harriet actually questioned Emma, and Emma had to consider Harriet's feelings. Greatly exaggerated the role of the friendship between the two. In addition, the casting of the new version of Harriet is really not suitable, and there is no feeling of youth and beauty at all. The charm of this character is indeed somewhat related to his appearance. The setting of the new version of Emma's father has also changed a lot, and it is also more subservient to the modern perspective. He never felt that Emma was perfect, and he couldn't imagine that Emma would cry in front of him about her various shortcomings, while he sat silently beside him. Mr. Knightley has become a hairy boy trapped in love. Such direct emotional expression makes the charm of some details of the novel itself missing.
In addition to the changes in the characters, the new version also omits a lot of plots. This makes the original charm of the novel a lot less, and the plot of the movie lacks coherence and fragmentation. For example, Emma suppressed her tears when Knightley talked about Taylor's wedding, which I think shows Emma's charm. The second episode that impressed me was that Emma first argued with Taylor about Frank's absence at the party, and later discussed it with Knightley and stood in the exact opposite position. The idea of people is very interesting, but the new version only retains the discussion with Knightley. The third episode is when Frank almost confesses to Emma about his relationship with Jane before leaving for the first time. On the one hand, Emma clearly recognized her own emotions. On the other hand, from Frank's point of view, when Emma talked to him about Jane, it was interesting that every word and every word had something to say. Other things that don't show up are Emma's intentional questioning of Knightley's feelings for Jane - I personally like this part a lot, especially for a gentleman like Knightley who is so rude; and Frank's A duet with Love?; Frank goes to Knightley's party, comes up to Emma and complains about Jane walking home on a hot day, etc. Frank also did some things like pretending to be close to Emma, and disgusting Jane with Dixon. Greatly simplified the Frank and Jane line.
In short, as a book fan, it is impossible to say that the new version is satisfactory, and it is difficult to watch it as an independent film without the influence of the book. So I think if it is an adaptation of this kind of novel, it is still necessary to grasp the last charm of the novel. Or be completely innovative. This kind of adaptation, which is a bit innovative and unwilling to break away from the story, is extremely unsuccessful.
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