Olivia Williams, Greta Scacchi and Hugh Bonneville lead an
all-star cast in BBC Ones feature-length period drama Miss
Austen Regrets.
Beautifully and graced with a splendid performance by Olivia
Williams, this Jane Austen biopic focuses on a relatively narrow
window in the authors life, serving as something of a companion
to Becoming Jane (
/gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=becoming%20jane ), the
2007 film about a young Austen starring Anne Hathaway.
This drama depicts a passionate and emotional chapter of Jane
Austens romantic life, inspired by the great writers own
novels, letters and diaries.
As Jane Austen approaches her 40s, her success as a writer is
assured and her witty and sharply observed romantic novels are
widely admired. To her niece, Fanny Knight a young, pretty girl
desperate to fall in love Jane is a favourite aunt who offers
the wisdom and knowledge to help her in her own search for a
happy marriage.
Yet, when asked by Fanny to help her vet potential husbands,
Jane's usual confident composure is threatened. Surely the woman
so capable of writing love on the page must have experienced love
herself, so why did she never marry?
Protected by her wit, Jane has presented a front as dazzling as
many of her novels' young heroines, but as she reflects on her
own romantic encounters and affairs, we are drawn into the
passions, suitors and choices of her life the cruel flirting,
the proposals spurned and the love that seemed to arrive too
late.
As she recalls missed rtunities, the doubts arise. Did she
make the right choice for herself and her family? Could the great
romantic expert have been mistaken? And, could her principles
about love and marriage possibly have been ill-judged?
Starring:
Jane Austen - Olivia Williams
Fanny Austen-Knight - Imogene Poots
Cassandra - Greta Scacchi
Harris Bigg - Samuel Roukin
Rev. Brook Bridges - Hugh Bonneville
Charles Haden - Jack Huston
Written by Gwyneth Hughes. Directed by Jeremy Lovering. Produced
by Anne Pivcevic and Jamie Laurenson.
From .co.uk
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A BBC costume drama that focuses in on author Jane Austen as she
heads towards her 40s, Miss Austen Regrets is a fine piece of
television, grounded by a terrific performance from Olivia
Williams (best remembered still for her supporting role in The
Sixth Sense).
Miss Austen Regrets finds the title character at a point where
her writing career has already proved to be a success. However,
theres the small matter of romance, which throws up a key
paradox: given that Austens books deal with the matter so well,
how has she failed to properly address it in her personal life?
Its an interesting dynamic for a drama, and it works
particularly well. Miss Austen Regrets finds her considering some
of her past choices, and whether shes made the right choices
along the way. And buoyed by the aforementioned Williams and
Imogene Poots as her young niece, it makes for highly enjoyable
and rewarding television.
Miss Austen Regrets sits happily alongside the recent film
Becoming Jane as an interesting and well-measured dig into the
authors life. And with good production values matched by a fine
cast, it proves worthy not just as a fine drama, but the kind
thatll be enjoyed time after time. Recommended. --Jon Foster