Emma: A poorly acted classic remake

Historian/novelist MariaElenaVidal loved the latest version of Emma.

However, I turned it off after about 15 minutes.

The main character is played with a flat affect (no emotions in her face) and not very believable. Asperger's syndrome is in fashion, of course, but here it doesn't work: she comes off merely as unlikable.

and I can't abide movies about unlikable people.



 Mr Knightly might be interesting, for unlike most of the other characters he at least acts like a normal human being, but why did the movie introduce him by a longish nude scene showing him dressing (trying to attract the gay audience was my take on this).

The actor who played the minister seems to be smirking all the time, as if he were mocking his role. 

Even Emma's father seems to be grimacing at her all the time as if he had a headache. Another waste of a good actor.

Unless you know the book, you have no idea of what is going on, or that Emma had manipulated that couple to marry (did anyone mention it?) and went on to try to manipulate a lot of other people into marriage. I was watching with my son in law, and was trying to explain the plot to him when I gave up and turned it off.

Unlikable protagonists might be tolerated, as might nude scenes that have nothing to do with the plot, but a bad screenplay/plot on top of this is just too much for me to waste my time. (I felt the same way about The Favorite by the way, but that's another story).

The whole point of Jane Austen is that people kept their emotions inside: a lot of the "action" has to be portrayed or explained by hints and facial expressions. But a movie or film has to show they are real people underneath: and from my limited viewing of the film, I really didn't believe the characters (except for Mr Knightly when he finally got his clothing on) were real human beings.

previous versions were better: Why remake a classic like this when the 1996 version is much better:



or better yet, watch the 2009 BBC miniseries that is now on Amazon Prime.



Or stick with Belgravia if you want to watch a period piece (done by the guy who was behind Downton Abbey).

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the heck with kinky remakes of classic stories: K drama rule.

Right now we're watching Strong woman 



with english subtitles on youtube. Some episodes missing from youtube,  so you'll have to google for asia streaming sites.one two