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Northanger Abbey [1986]


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Jane Austen a la 80's
Review date: 2008-11-02 Rating: 8 out of 10

When I first started watching this I found the music very offputting, and I couldn't put my finger on why. Then I realised it was because it was 80's 'moog' music and it wasn't the conventional 'period' music that we are used to. If you can get past this and try and enjoy it for what it is; a period drama made in the 80's, then it is in fact a very good film.

Jonathan Coy is very witty and reminded me of a young Oliver Reed. The heroine, Katharine Schlesinger seems perfect to me as I think Jane Austen wanted the reader to believe that even a 'plain Jane' can find love with a handsome man. And although she isn't conventionally pretty, she is very charismatic. And if you want a conventionally beautiful woman, then Ingrid Lacey as Eleanor Tilney is extremely pretty. Peter Firth is wonderful and can deliver passion like no other hero; I think the kiss ends the film beautifully. One of the best things about this film is the sets, they were actually given special permision to film bathing in the Roman baths at Bath which makes for a lovely scene. Northanger Abbey is very atmospheric and the view of General Tilney (the wonderful Robert Hardy) hovering menacingly over the dinner table stays with you.

So for me, it is a bevvy of beauty and drama and romance and excellent acting - BUT ..... only if you are open-minded and can get past that unconventional music. Personally, I grew to like the music.

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Reviews


In defence of this adaptation.
Review date: 2008-09-05 Rating: 6 out of 10

Northanger Abbey [1986]

Having noted all the extremely harsh reviews for this adaptation, I felt moved to submit a review in its defence. Jane Austen's novels are frequently regarded as `simply' love stories, but in all cases they are far more than this. Miss Austen had an excellent understanding of human nature, leading to some unforgettable characters, a lively and sometimes wicked sense of humour, but above all a masterful facility with the English language. Virginia Woolf said `Of all the great writers, Jane Austen is the most difficult to catch in the act of greatness', and I believe it is because her greatness is inextricably bound up with the way she uses the language. To alter even one word can sometimes be disastrous. To change that famous quotation : `It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in posession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife' to : `is in want of a wife' (as was done on the DVD sleeve notes of the excellent BBC adapatation of Pride and Prejudice) is to rob the quotation of much of its humour and all its irony. Thus those faced with the task of adapting a Jane Austen novel are faced with the problem of retaining the spirit of her language while at the same time producing an entertaining love story which will be accepted by modern viewers who expect nothing else. This is particularly difficult if they are also expected to abridge it to fit the modern conventional run-time of 90 to 100 minutes for a film.
If one analyses this adaptation in this light, it certainly deserves more than one star. The dialogue is, in most cases, faithful to the spirit of Jane Austen's novel; the characters are, in many cases, more faithful to those in the novel than are those in the (admittedly superior) ITV adaptation. The acting is not as bad as many reviewers have intimated, and as for the heroine being unattractive, personally I find this an unfair criticism as well as an incorrect one. Physical attractiveness is notoriously subjective after all, and as regards personalities, surely both the leads are attractive - Jane Austen has written them to be so. Admittedly there are some strange scenes connected with the Abbey, but this is a result of attempting to create a `gothic' atmosphere as fantasized by an impressionable teenage girl, and the ITV version is not entirely innocent on this count either. We should be more tolerant here. I agree also that some of the music is inappropriate, but it would be unjust to condemn the entire production because of that.


Very disappointing and truly awful...
Review date: 2008-09-04 Rating: 2 out of 10

I saw this film a few years ago now, and (having read the book and loved it), was very much looking forward to seeing the film adaptation. Alas! I was extremely disappointed. I was surprised at the BBC! I watched it with my sisters (who didn't know the story), and so I was even embarrassed that they should think that was what the story was like. It was confusing and vague, and wasn't faithful to the book at all. The book is witty, brilliant and romantic - the complete opposite to this awful drama. They over-emphasized the gothic aspect of the book, making it have an overall strange feel, and the main actors were not suited to the parts at all.


Dreadful indeed!
Review date: 2008-06-24 Rating: 2 out of 10

I am about to purchase the Felicity Jones version of this in the fervent hope that it will wash away the unpleasant taste of this awful one!

Extremely disappointing...
Review date: 2008-06-24 Rating: 2 out of 10

Until this I saw this I truly believed that all BBC costume dramas were at least good, with the majority being fantastic. This is not one of them. Awful 80s music, bad cinematography and lead female who is not remotely endearing. I would give it -5 if I could.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Katherine Schlesinger
Peter Firth
Googie Withers
Robert Hardy

Creators:
Peter Firth (Primary Contributor)
Googie Withers (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: 2 Entertain Video
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain Video
EAN: 5014503171421
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2005-11-07
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 88 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1986
Language: English (Original Language)

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