Emma (2009) DVD, 2009

So what makes this new adaptation of Emma, Jane Austen’s comic masterpiece, worth watching? The writer Sandy Welch (who recently penned TV versions of Jane Eyre and Our Mutual Friend) has a fresh and witty approach, providing a rich insight into one of Austen’s most complex and maybe most modern characters. This compassionate and humorous story of self-deceit and self-discovery is given time to unfold over its four hour running time.

Romola Garai plays the beautiful, clever and rich Emma Woodhouse, a young woman who dominates her small provincial world of Highbury. Misguidedly believing that she is a skilled matchmaker, she repeatedly attempts to pair up her friends and acquaintances, often with regrettable consequences. Certain of her talents, she plays a dangerous game when she persuades her new friend, the young, pretty and socially inferior Harriet to reject an advantageous marriage proposal in favour of the dashing Mr Elton. So begins a story which challenges Emma’s naivety and social preconceptions.