After watching the Sandy Welch BBC adaptation of Emma, I’ve been meaning to re-watch the older versions I own to see how they compare – and have now got round to seeing the short TV movie scripted by Andrew Davies and directed by Diarmuid Lawrence, which stars Kate Beckinsale as Emma and Mark Strong as Mr Knightley. Here are just a few slightly rambling comments before I get on to the other versions!

After the more leisurely pace of a four-episode version (though even that was much faster than the older adaptations), this dramatisation does feel very short at just 107 minutes. It almost seems as if Harriet is introduced one minute and turning down Robert Martin the next, with Mr Knightley bitterly upbraiding Emma a minute after that. However, despite this fast pace, I felt as if Davies manages to pack in all the key scenes from the novel – it would be fascinating to see how he would have treated the story if he had adapted it at greater length.

I think the most striking difference between this version and the Sandy Welch version is possibly in the character of Mr Knightley. As played by Jonny Lee-Miller, he is someone who holds back and stays silent about his feelings much of the time, standing in the background and watching. Mark Strong gives the character a more brooding, smouldering presence, at times recalling Colin Firth in Davies’ Pride and Prejudice. I also think Strong seems more angry and frustrated than I’d imagined Mr Knightley being – there are  more scenes of him hectoring Emma, and he shouts “badly done!” at her about the Robert Martin incident as well as about Miss Bates. In this version, Mr Knightley is probably grumpier than his brother John, one of the characters who is semi-squeezed out because of the short running time. At times I do feel he is too angry and it’s hard to see why Emma can put up with it – but they do a lot with their eyes and body language to show the real affection that is there between them.

Olivia Williams as Jane Fairfax

The dance scenes are beautifully done and I was pleased to see that we do get songs from both Emma and Jane (Olivia Williams) despite the shortness of time. The landscapes and country houses are photographed in soft colours, and combine with the music and costumes to create a feeling almost of getting inside an 18th-century landscape. I especially thought this in the little scene where Emma looks at a painting and imagines the painted face of Frank Churchill coming to life and speaking to her – which is in a way what the whole series is doing, bringing pictures from the past to life.  The dream and daydream sequences in the Sandy Welch version intrigued me, so I was interested to see how many of them there are in this version too – often with Emma imagining a series of possible marriages for Harriet. Davies also used dream sequences in his adaptation of Northanger Abbey, where they were more Gothic.  I suppose they are partly a way of bringing out the real tensions and fears beneath the polite surface and it strikes me  they might work especially well in a short adaptation, as a sort of shorthand in images to show what the character is feeling.

Kate Beckinsale and Mark Strong

Perhaps because of the shortness of the dramatisation as a whole and many of the scenes within it, I think the Highbury of this version has quite a claustrophobic feeling to it, more so than in the Sandy Welch version. Watching this version, it really struck me how much time everyone in this world spends trying to organise everyone else, from Emma’s matchmaking to Mr Woodhouse (Bernard Hepton)  trying to prevent marriages, along with Frank’s bossy aunt and Mrs Elton’s interfering efforts to find Jane Fairfax a job.

I also suddenly realised just how many similarities there are between Emma’s attempts to organise Harriet’s life and Mrs Elton’s to organise Jane’s – both are equally convinced that they are doing the best thing for their protegee and that she should be grateful! Emma and Mrs Elton are both also convinced it is up to them to decide who is a “gentleman” or a “lady” – I realise this is all there in Austen’s words, but I’m not sure I’d thought about it enough before.  Davies seems to put a lot of stress on the snobbishness and rivalry in this little world. I really feel that in the opening scenes Emma isn’t very likeable – in the most recent version, Romola Garai seems quite sensitive to what others are thinking from the start, but in this version Kate Beckinsale makes Emma seem a bit more self-possessed and ready to ride roughshod over people. I didn’t warm to her at all in the first half hour or so, but I think that is probably intentional and that Davies is wanting to keep the audience at a distance.

Samantha Morton as Harriet

I especially like Samantha Morton as Harriet in this version – there is a delicacy to her which somehow makes it more believable that her character could be in love with Robert Martin and yet not know her own feelings. I like the change at the ending where Harriet has already decided to accept Robert before she knows about Emma and Mr Knightley – a twist which gives her greater independence and also draws a parallel between her and Emma, that neither of them really knew their own hearts. Harriet is less of a “silly girl” in this version and more of a younger friend who lets herself be persuaded.

I also like Olivia Williams as Jane Fairfax – she doesn’t have enough screen time, but she gives the character just the right kind of reserve and stifled emotion.  Prunella Scales is also great as Miss Bates in this version, an older version of the character than in some other adaptations. She does seem to ramble on breathlessly just as the character should – you’d think she would be less long-winded in a short film, but she manages to get more words into every scene than you’d think possible. I do think she gets the right blend of comedy and poignancy – the Box Hill incident is passed over quickly, but her feeling of hurt is unmistakeable. In this version, I thought Emma realises what she has done immediately, trying to laugh it off, but with the laugh freezing on her lips.

One part that grates with me slightly in this adaptation is the grand dinner at the end where Mr Knightley announces his engagement to his tenants and there is so much stress on just how rich he is and how much he has – a sort of feudal ending which goes beyond the scenes with Darcy at Pemberley in Davies’ Pride and Prejudice. I do like the proposal scene, though, which was very close to how it was done in the Welch version.

Some of the cast in the sunshine

In general, I suppose I like the Welch version the best – but I do really like this one too, and especially Samantha Morton, who is one of my favourite actresses and was wonderful as Jane Eyre in another production I’ve written about on this blog.  All Davies’ costume adaptations are worth watching time and again, and I just hope he gets the chance to do some more of them before too long, despite the current cutbacks by TV networks.

Nothing new to report here; just wanted to put an endcap on Emmma’s volleyball season. Never forget: Holly coached.

Bara den som fallit kan resa sig.

EMMA

Thông tin chung:

Tên khác:
エマ
英国恋物语艾玛
Emma – Eine viktorianische Liebe (German)
Victorian Romance Emma

Tác giả: Mori Kaoru
Thể loại: seinen, kịch tính, lịch sử, lãng mạn, cuộc sống
Độ tuổi: 18+
Số tập: 7
Năm: 2002
Tình trạng: đã hoàn tất
NXB chính thức: Enterbrain (Nhật Bản)
Nhóm Scan & Dịch Tiếng Anh: IIChan Translation Group

Tóm tắt truyện:

Đây là câu chuyện về một cô hầu gái trẻ với cái tên duy nhất: Emma. Vốn là một cô bé nghèo đến từ làng Yorkshire ven biển, Emma bị bắt cóc để bán cho các nhà thổ ở Luân Đôn. Cô đã trốn thoát được, và trong lúc bị lạc ở thành phố sương mù, Emma may mắn được Kelly Stowner, một bà giáo nhận về nhà và cô trở thành người hầu gái. Bà đã thay đổi cuộc đời cô, dạy cô đọc, viết và rất nhiều thứ khác.

Trong thời gian đó, Emma đã gặp William Jones, học trò cũ của bà – đồng thời là con trai cả nhà Jones, một gia đình thương gia giàu có thuộc tầng lớp trung lưu. Anh có cảm tình với cô ngay từ lần đầu tiên gặp mặt. Song tình yêu của họ không được chấp thuận. Gia đình Jones không chấp nhận cho anh giao thiệp với một cô gái thuộc tầng lớp thấp kém hơn. Và nhiều sóng gió bắt đầu…

Nhận định riêng:

Không phải lúc nào bạn cũng có cơ hội đọc một seinen lấy Châu Âu thế kỉ cũ làm đề tài chính. Hãy để đầu óc mình thư giãn một chút, quên đi cuộc sống hiện đại thay đổi liên tục, trở về với những câu chuyện lãng mạn thế kỉ 19 bằng tranh.

Emma là câu chuyện tình ngọt ngào kinh điển. Lấy bối cảnh nước Anh thời Victoria, Emma là tổ hợp của những chi tiết tinh tế trong nhiều phương diện, từ những chiếc khăn ăn, khăn tay, họa tiết trên muỗng, nĩa, đến những nhà kính, dinh thự sang trọng của giới quí tộc và các tiểu thư, công tử… Bộ truyện đã cho thấy sự tỉ mẩn và trau chuốt trong từng nét vẽ, và đã làm sống lại thế kỉ 19 của một Luân Đôn xa hoa tráng lệ. Ở đó, bạn sẽ bắt gặp những bộ áo váy đơn giản mà lộng lẫy, những phu nhân với chiếc quạt hoa phe phẩy trên tay, người tỏa mùi nước hoa thượng hạng, và những quý ông thanh lịch trong cả điệu nhảy của mình.

Bên cạnh sự choáng ngợp vì những tiểu tiết đặc sắc ấy, nhân vật chính Emma xuất hiện trong dáng vẻ dịu dàng, hiền hậu mà vẫn thấp thoáng chút hiện đại. Một cô hầu gái đeo kính, có học thức, biết cách cư xử và đã dễ dàng chinh phục William. Có lẽ sức hút của cô chính ở sự khiêm tốn, nhã nhặn và lễ độ ấy. Emma đã từng chút, từng chút thay đổi anh. Và William cũng từng chút một thay đổi cô, từ một cô gái trầm lặng, trở thành một cô gái dễ thương, cởi mở hơn và biết bộc lộ cảm xúc của mình. Tình yêu của họ ấm áp, ngọt ngào như cơn gió xuân thổi qua nhành hoa lily trắng.

Lẽ đương nhiên, chuyện tình của hai người ở hai giai cấp khác nhau, trong quan niệm thời ấy thật khó chấp nhận. Trong Emma, tầng lớp quý tộc được khắc họa rõ nét với những con người khác nhau và những thái độ khác nhau. Nhắc đến quí tộc, người ta nghĩ đến sự giàu có, thể diện và sự hợm hĩnh, thậm chí là tàn nhẫn, nhất là trong cách phân biệt đối xử. Nhưng sự xuất hiện của tiểu thư Eleanor Campbell, mẹ của William, phu nhân Aurelia Jones, hay bà chủ mới sau này của Emma trong gia đình người Đức di cư Mölders,… đã làm cho không khí câu chuyện trở nên ấm áp và dễ chịu hơn; để rồi sau khi gấp quyển truyện lại, bạn sẽ nhận thấy thật ra giới quí tộc là không hoàn toàn đáng ghét, vì ai cũng có nỗi đau của riêng mình.

Còn một nhân vật nữa cần được nhắc tới – Hakim Atawari, chàng hoàng tử Ấn Độ, bạn học cùng Đại học với William. Anh thẳng thắn, dễ tính, hay quan sát và là người bổ sung tính cách cho một William Jones thường hay dè dặt trước sức mạnh của hai từ “quí tộc”. Hakim cũng yêu mến Emma ngay từ lần đầu gặp mặt và đã thẳng thắn bày tỏ với cô sau đó, nhưng bị từ chối ^ ^ Anh ở lại Luân Đôn đơn giản chỉ vì muốn xem mối quan hệ phức tạp nhưng thú vị giữa Emma và William sẽ tiến triển ra sao. Chẳng biết có phải sở thích hay không mà Hakim đem mọi thứ từ Ấn Độ sang trang hoàng khắp nơi, từ căn phòng của mình (trong nhà Jones) cho đến chuyện cưỡi voi trên đường phố.

Emma là một bản nhạc cổ điển tao nhã và duyên dáng. Bạn sẽ có dịp đắm chìm vào những tòa kiến trúc đồ sộ cổ kính và những buổi tiệc sang trọng. Ở đó, bạn sẽ gặp Emma, cô hầu gái dễ thương và e thẹn, để biết rằng con đường đến được tình yêu thật sự của cô không hề rải đầy hoa hồng. Và sự lôi cuốn của manga này, có lẽ cũng xuất phát từ những chi tiết tưởng như nhỏ nhặt nhất trong cuộc sống.

Đừng quên xem Anime của Emma để tìm ra sự khác biệt nhé. Manga này đã nổi tiếng và được yêu thích đến mức bộ đồng phục hầu gái trở nên phổ biến khắp nơi, có một quán café chủ đề riêng ở Shinjuku, và các bản anime gốc lên đến 45000 yên đấy.

X.Gardener

>> Link tham khảo: http://ichinews.acc.vn/bai-viet/980/emma-%E2%80%93-co-hau-gai-thanh-luan-don/xem.htmx

Väldigt mysigt här hemma nu. Mamma väckte mig och så började vi baka saffransbullar. Jag satte självklart på julsånger och nu är det väldigt mys här. Älskar verkligen julen. Allt blir så mysigt då bara.

På senare tid har helgerna varit rätt roliga. Så var det den här helgen också. Jag gillar det!

I eftermiddag ska jag döma och sedan blir det adventsfika här hemma! Ska även träna idag efter julbaket, med alice på apalby. Jobbigt men nödvändigt.

The kids and I got home from Sycamore this afternoon, and as soon as we did we all headed to Growing Grounds to get our Christmas tree.  It’s nice tree shopping there, since all of the trees are inside their greenhouse.  But today was warm and sunny outside anyway, so no matter where we were going, it was a great day to buy a Christmas tree.  The kids were excited, and it literally took us about 5 minutes to find the perfect tree.  Then they just started running.  The greenhouse is probably about 30 feet from where we were to the end, and both kids just ran back and forth and back and forth about a million times.  It was great to see them burning off some energy.  It made me sad we weren’t at the tree farm getting our tree this year, because they would have loved running around there.  Conversely, we would have had to keep track of both of them when they just wanted to run freely, so maybe Growing Grounds was big enough!

We have the tree in the stand, and I’ve got the lights on.  We’re all very excited to decorate it tomorrow.  I hope I have patience while doing so, because I’m pretty sure the kids will not be able to contain themselves.

Emma lernt so viele Kleinigkeiten dazu, dass ich oft vergesse, sie zu dokumentieren. Mittlerweile isst sie gerne Reis (wir haben uns heute unterwegs schnell eine Portion vom Chinesen geteilt – mit Stäbchen!!!!) und Nudeln, Hirsebällchen und Butterbrotstücke, zieht sich überall hoch, leert die Spielzeugkiste erst aus und setzt sich dann drauf, catcht mit uns im Ehebett, schaut gerne vom Fenster in den Hof und spielt verstecken!

Fortschritte

…wird drinnen gekuschelt!

Kuschelkurs

Emma verbringt viiiel Zeit mit ihren Büchern. Am liebsten sitzt sie auf meinem Schoß und lässt sich vorlesen (Tierstimmen-Imitationen erheitern sie besonders), aber sie kann auch ewig selber drinnen blättern.

Leseratte

Ich lese jetzt auch wieder mehr – derzeit Krimis, in denen ein gewisser Kommissar Kluftinger (ein Columbo aus dem Allgäu) Morde aufklärt. Gar nicht schlecht!

iloveit!

Laget et bilde av et par ting jeg kunne tenke meg, i alle fall av det jeg kom på i farten.
Hmm, litt farge ble det jo.

Last Thanksgiving I wrote about how thankful I am for all of the blessings in my life…and at the top of that list of blessings sit my loving husband and wonderful kids.  So this year I thought I should probably change it up a little bit for my Thanksgiving post.  Unfortunately, I can’t even pretend that I am thankful for anything more than Dave, Emma & Ben.  They truly make my heart full and my life complete. 

I hope that anyone who reads this blog has the same kind of happiness I feel on a daily basis.  Sure, the kids make me crazy sometimes, and Dave and I bicker more than I’d like, but my life is truly filled with three monumental blessings. 

 
I hope that I can always remember how lucky I am when the little stuff gets in the way. 

I truly am thankful, but not just on this Thanksgiving night.  

• I am thankful when I have to get up in the middle of the night to someone yelling, “MOMMY!” 
• I am thankful when I and trying to get dinner on the table and someone’s at my side begging for attention. 
• I am thankful when I’m the only one who can stop the fights, the fits, or the tears. 
• I am thankful for the arms thrown around me every day for giant hugs. 
• I am thankful for the millions of smiles and giggles that fill up this house.  
• I am thankful that I get to hear, “I love you” absolutely every day of the year.

I’ll say it again…Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year.  I hope you stay thankful all year, too.

I wanted to post sooner, but…well, I have a 1 yr old! That’s my excuse for everything now. I tell ya, she is wearing me OUT! She is so much fun, such a great baby (toddler), and is well, overall wonderful, but I am exhausted. It’s different than newborn exhaustion, that is sleep derpivation…now, it’s plain physical exhaustion. Chasing her around, picking up after her, and well, just trying to keep up with her, it’s all I can do. But it’s so much fun and I wouldn’t trade it for ANYTHING!

So, we made it through her 1st birthday and her 1st birthday party. It turned out really great. My aunts and Emma’s Godparents came into town, which was nice. My one complaint is that our house is too small…I wish we could have better accommodated everyone, but other than that, it was a lot of fun. She was adorable in her pink tutu (sadly, I did not get a good picture of her in her outfit), LOVED her cake, and is totally enjoying ALL of her presents! As far as 1st birthdays go, it was a good party. Now, 2nd birthday…hmmm…Chuck E. Cheese is starting to sound pretty good!

Nov. 11, Emma's birthday. Her 1st time to eat cake.

Speaking of Chuck E…we went to a birthday party there yesterday, and Emma loved it. We weren’t too sure how she would react, but once we put her down, she took off running. Here’s a picture of her riding one of the rides. She couldn’t get enough of it!

As for her 1 yr check-up…she is doing fabulous! She is 21 lbs 13 oz (50 – 75 percentile) and 30 3/4 inches (75 – 90 percentile). She is completely healthy, developing perfectly, and using her right arm without any problems. She is walking and talking up a storm (not sure where she gets that). Words that she can say: mama, dada, uh-oh, shoes, keys, go, bye-bye, baby, ba-ba, and quack. I’m pretty sure she’s a genius! Just kidding. But, she does amaze us everyday with the things that she learns/knows. She loves books and music, which we only hope continues as she grows. She has been completely bottle free for about a month now, and it turned out to be a lot easier than I thought. Now, we just have to work on the paci. She is also formula free (yay!) and is eating all table foods. She is a really good eater and loves gross things like beets and cauliflower (she gets that from her daddy). Of course now, after her birthday, she loves cake too (she gets that from ME).

Today is Thanksgiving, and Mike and I have so much to be thankful for. First and foremost we are so blessed to have a healthy and happy baby. I can’t express enough how much she has enriched our lives…our cups runeth over. We are so thankful to have such wonderful families, friends, and loved ones. We are thankful to be healthy, to have jobs, and so thankful to have each other. Our Anniversary is on Sunday, hard to believe it’s been 6 years. Seems just like yesterday…

Today is also a little sad for me…I guess this next year is going to be sad because I’ll always be comparing it with this past year…this day last year, I remember eating and holding Emma while she slept. I remember her little white and pink outfit, the same one we brought her home in…I remember propping her up on the green pillow so we could take some pictures…(sigh). And this year…she would not sit still!

We were at Nona’s house today, had a fabulous meal, and wonderful company. However, Emma was not as impressed. She had not taken a morning nap and was very fussy. She couldn’t hold out for the turkey to get done, so she had her regular lunch, chicken, cauliflower, and ravioli, and ended up sleeping while we ate…which I guess that was the same as last year. She did get to eat some leftover turkey for dinner and loved it! Next year, she’ll be 2 and will hopefully be able to sit with us as we all eat.

I hope everyone had a joyful and blessed day! What are you thankful for?

Doesn't get any better than this!

“¡Muy bien señorita Hermione, se merece un diez!”

Pocas cosas tengo que decir ante esta imagen. En ella podemos apreciar a la virginal Hermiada haciendo experimento magicosos, sin darse cuenta de que nos esta mostrado un poco descaramente un pedazo de cielo. Esta captura es de las primeras peliculas de Jarry Puter, cuando Emma Watson estaba mas chiquilla y por eso mismo, tenia un encanto mas perturbador, prohibido y criminal. Como buena lolita, Emma exudaba un erotismo vibrante y pecaminiso dificil de ignorar, aun cuando era de forma involuntaria, lo cual la llevo a ser una de las hembras mas deseadas del publico en general. Sin embargo ¿Porque diablos las lolitas tienen que crecer, porque no pueden quedarse en los 13, 15 o 16 años, cuando estan en su mero  punto? Ni modo, el paso del tiempo es inexorable para todos, asi que nomas nos queda apechugar…

Cara de un tiraneta al ver el post¿Se le ven los chones a Emma? ¡Ahhh, si, es cierto! 

Jeg loner så sykt for tiden. Jeg smser mer med folka på jobben enn med noen andre
jzzz

Tyra Banks.

Eragon – Christopher Paolini
Northern Lights – Philip Pullman
Stormbreaker – Anthony Horowitz
Emma – Jane Austen (Clueless)
Shawshank Redemption – Stephen King

Emma begint steeds meer te snappen, maar soms ook net niet. en zo kan ze dus heel grappig zijn, maar meestal vergeet ik de grappige uitspraken… Ik ga ze nu dus proberen te onthouden en meteen in dit berichtje zetten!

Deze is van 13 augustus 2009 (Evi’s eerste verjaardag): We gaan naar Intratuin en daar hangen allemaal vlaggetjes op het parkeerterrein, Emma’s conclusie: “Dat is voor Evi’s verjaardag!”
Emma begint met school, maar ze is best zenuwachtig, want ze kan geen ’school’ zeggen. Ze zegt namelijk ’shool’.
Voor Emma is het heel duidelijk wanneer ze wel of niet verlegen is: “Mama, ik ben niet verlegen op die jongen hoor!”
Evi heeft een heel leuke bromtol, Emma noemt het speelgoed alleen wel een ‘trol’…

Wordt vervolgd!

This afternoon we celebrated our first American-style Thanksgiving at a potluck hosted by some of Greg’s colleagues. The food was amazing, the conversation good, and they had wine! So all was good with the world.

Americans really do celebrate Thanksgiving in a different way. It’s on a Thursday, for starters (instead of a Monday), and it’s marketed as an official kick-off to shopping for the holidays. We actually get the impression that Thanksgiving and Christmas are linked in the American psyche as one big, month-long holiday season. I suppose the Grey Cup can be seen as a kickoff of sorts to Christmas in Canada, but it’s just not the same.

Now we’re debating whether or not we want to participate in Black Friday tomorrow – also a popular US tradition.

The pups are both doing very well. Abernathy has his energy back after getting his annual shots last week, and Emma’s feeling much better after a steroid injection, some canned pumpkin and puppy yoghurt. That being said, although her tummy issues have been resolved, now she has a weepy and itchy eye. She’s having a really tough week.

She’s also leashed throughout the day while she’s being potty trained, which I also don’t think she likes very much. We are quite literally joined at the hip, but I suppose that also helps with bonding.

This morning we took the pups to the Botanical Garden so Emma could meet the turtles. The visit went quite well, and I think Emma loves it there just as much as Greg, Abbie and I do. She fears the car though, which is a bit of a problem. We have to literally drag her in kicking and screeching, and when we open the door to let her out, she bolts. We’re hoping she’ll get used to the car in time, as it’s just not possible to get anywhere here without one.

Tonight we’re taking it easy – Greg’s playing football on our new TV (purchased pre-Black Friday deals, but we like it all the same) and the pups and I are chilling nearby.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our American relatives and friends!