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Marcy Gomez |
Date: 2007-12-08

This version of Jane Austen's novel "Northanger Abbey" is sure to be a crowd-pleaser. I've seen 3 out of the 4 new adaptations of Jane Austen's novels ("Sense & Sensibility" will not be broadcast in the UK/US until Jan. 08), and this is - in my opinion - the very best of them all.

What the early 80's version of "Northanger Abbey" (starring Peter Firth and Katherine Schlesinger) lacked, this version more than makes up for. NA 07 (as it is fondly known among Janeites) stars newcomers Felicity Jones (Servants), JJ Feild (Nicholas Nickleby, Ruby in the Smoke), William Beck (Robin Hood) and Carey Mulligan (Pride & Prejudice), and British tv and stage veterans Liam Cunningham, Sylvestra LeTouzel ('80s Mansfield Park) and Gerry O'Brien. Screenplay is by Andrew Davies, who also penned the well-loved and swoon-inducing period drama favorites Pride & Prejudice (1995), Daniel Deronda, Doctor Zhivago (2002 tv version), Middlemarch and Wives & Daughters. True British period drama fans do not need introduction to him or his work.

Those have read the books know the story. For the novice, the story is as follows: young 17-year old Catherine Morland accompanies the wealthy Mr. and Mrs. Allen to Bath for her first introduction to Georgian society. She meets the charming Henry Tilney and gregarious John Thorpe who both vie for her attentions, and befriends John's sister Isabella and Henry's sister Eleanor. She meets General Tilney (Henry's father), who mistakenly takes her for an heiress. After the whirlwind social life of Bath, she is invited by the Tilneys to their country estate, Northanger Abbey, where - due to the influence of her fondness for gothic novels - she thinks up some fanciful ideas about the General. She falls in love with Henry, but her fancies and the General's discovery of her family's true social standing land her in trouble and threaten to tear her and Henry apart.

This adaptation triumphs in many ways. Fans of the novels know Henry Tilney as one of the most memorable and well-loved of Jane Austen's heroes. He is charming, outgoing and witty as Mr. Darcy is serious, proud and aloof. Henry as played JJ Feild is aptly charming, handsome and swoon-inducing. Young and naive Catherine is played perfectly by the delightful, lovely and talented Felicity Jones. JJ and Felicity have an undeniable chemistry that echoes through every scene that they share. They are - beyond a doubt - perfectly cast. Also well cast are the lovely Carey Mulligan as the ambitious, shallow Isabella and William Beck is perfectly sleazy as her brother John. Liam Cunningham adds a certain gravity to the role of the imperious General Tilney while Sylvestra Le Touzel and Julia Dearden are endearing and often funny as the flighty Mrs. Allen and maternal Mrs. Morland.

The screenplay blends romance, satire, humor and drama perfectly while still staying true to Jane Austen's novel. The costumes and production values are top-notch. The only things I could really find fault on was that I wish ITV had made this into a 2 or 3 hour miniseries (instead of only 1.5 hours) and that Bath was actually used for the Bath locations. Viewers like me who have actually been to Bath will be able to tell the difference. And there is certainly enough material in Ms. Austen's novel to warrant a longer running time.

Nevertheless, this is an excellent period drama and is rightly one of the best Jane Austen adaptations since the 1995 versions of Pride & Prejudice, Persuasion and Sense & Sensibility (though I also admit a fondness for Pride & Prejudice 2005 & 1980, and Emma (with Gwyneth Paltrow)). Of the 3 recent adaptations that will be shown in Masterpiece Theater in 2008, this is my favorite. "Persuasion" comes next, and "Mansfield Park" comes last. Time will tell how the new version of "Sense & Sensibility" will compare to these three. As it stands, however, "Northanger Abbey" is an absolute gem and a crowd-pleaser that is sure to delight period drama fans. I trust that female (and some male) viewers will become a JJ Feild fans after they see this.

E. Griesbach |
Date: 2008-01-28

Northanger Abbey is in my opinion the funniest of Jane Austen's novels. Written as an intentional parody, it is lighter fare than her other works, with still enough social satire for it to be thought-provoking as well as entertaining.

I was nervous about seeing it adapted for the screen. I haven't seen the old versions because of there overwhelmingly bad reviews, but as I loved and read the book, I felt that it would be very difficult to adapt for the screen. As someone else mentioned, much of the humor is in Austen's wonderful narration and frequent side comments to her readers. Also, the work is a parody of two genres not well known anymore: the "innocent girl enters society" novels of writers like Frances Burney, and the original Gothic novel as typefied by Anne Radcliffe. Even for readers of the book, it is disjointing when the parody switches genres halfway through when Catherine leaves Bath for Northanger Abbey.

Luckily, the film adaptors handled it masterfully, disregarding most of the parodying of Burney-type works for a consistant ribbing of gothic fiction played out in Catherine's over-acted fantasy scenes based on the novels she is reading, which also serve to familiarize the modern viewer with the genre being lampooned.

The only serious problem is roles Catherine is romanticizing in her fantasies. Catherine seems to fantasize about her abductors and captors, giving excited and inviting looks to the imaginary robber as he fondles her gold necklace, and grinning rapturously at her prison guard before fainting into his arms. This is not what Gothic heroines do, at least not the one's Catherine idolizes. What they seem to have missed is that there were two genres of Gothic fiction going on at this time. In Anne Radcliffe's books, the books that Jane Austen actually shows Catherine reading, rape and seduction constant threats, but are never successfully perpetrated, or at least never on the main characters. Villains are never glamorized, and in fact exist only to put the heroines in situations from which they need to be rescued by their real love interests. Their popularity stemmed from the "savior-on-a-white-horse" fantasy.

At the same time, books like "The Monk" and "Tom Jones" were being written by a different set of authors, in a different style, for a different audience. In novels like these, the villains are the main characters, raping and seducing their way through the novels in scenes described in intentionally erotic and provocative language. Though the characters are punished in the end, there are definite elements of sadomasochism, and no nice young lady would let herself be caught reading them. These two genres are sometimes called the "female" and "male" Gothic, because the more innocent novels were often written by women with female protagonists and aimed at a female audience, while the gender was reversed in the second type. (It is unknown how many women read works like "The Monk," but we have evidence that there were a lot more men reading works like "Udolpho" than society perceived.)

Jane Austen would never write a protagonist who would read such novels, nor one who would fixate her desires on her abductor rather than her rescuer. In fact, John Thorpe's relish of "The Monk" and the fact that he would actually recommend it to young lady is yet another clue that he is not a good or proper young man, since he enjoys that book in the first place, and in the second, does not realize how improper it is to tell Catherine to read it. Catherine is too naive to pick up on this, but Austen's readers at the time would have.

Not that this is something the movie should have portrayed (it's way too subtle and not really central to the plot), but it would have been much truer to simply portray scenes from the books she actually is portrayed reading and had her looking at the heroes with desire. It's not true to the book, or the time, or Catherine's character, and seems a really cheap way to add edginess to what is among Austen's most innocent stories.

But it's a minor issue that only the over-educated would probably catch. Overall, it's wonderfully written, skillfully acted, and beautifully shot. The humor is note-perfect, and let me conclude by saying that I'm now even more in love with Henry Tilney than I was when I read the book, and that his actor not only captured his charm and wit perfectly, but is extremely nice to look at besides.

dee |
Date: 2008-08-16

"Northanger Abbey" has never been a favorite with me; Catherine is too naive to suit my tastes. Still, I wanted to see what would happen with this one, and Andrew Davies shows again why he's a master.

Catherine here is displayed in all her glory. Her naviete is evident, but she demonstrates some very great character qualities; her eagerness to think well of people is very sweet, and her loyalty to her brother is beautiful. Felicity Jones shows very clearly but very properly Catherine's unhappiness and suspicion (even in Catherine Morland!) of Isabella Thorpe's flirtation with Frederick Tilney. Her sadness and regret when she discovers how easily she's been swayed by her Gothic novel reading is palpable. The writing is fantastic and Jones carries off the character brilliantly with all the wide-eyed innocence necessary for the role.

JJ Feild's Henry Tilney is fantastic. He's everything that he should be: smart, gentle, upright, friendly, and patient with Catherine. Tilney's the sort of guy people would have a drink with *and* entrust their children to, and Davies and Feild capture that. Sorry, Peter Firth, Feild's got you beat on every single count here.

I have to mention Carey Mulligan's Isabella Thorpe. Mulligan plays all that sweet-faced innocence while being a money-grubbing jerk underneath; she's fantastic. When she gets her comeuppance at Frederick Tilney's hands, it's hard to be sympathetic. Still, Davies puts in that moment when Frederick Tilney outmaneuvers Isabella and she gets her comeuppance - excellent addition - and Mulligan carries it off brilliantly. That momentary pathos Mulligan infuses into Isabella really manages to drive home Elinor's warning to Catherine that Isabella will be hurt.

Eleanor is lovely - a wonderful, female version of her brother Henry, with all the spirit and gentleness he has. (They're my favorite brother-sister pair in all of Austen.) Frederick Tilney is wonderfully rakish. The Allens are very cute.

There are flashes of Davies in the script. He sort of does the over the top sometimes, and the visualizations of Catherine's Gothic imaginings fit that over-the-top bill. Still, Davies is a master at catching Austen's humor, and the joke's on Catherine - which he manages to capture with brilliance.

Beating the 1986 Maggie Wadey-written "Northanger Abbey" isn't a huge feat (sorry, Ms. Wadey), but this version does more than that. As of right now it's set a pretty high mark to beat.

K. Youd |
Date: 2008-04-07

I am a huge Jane Austen fan, and I have never seen a good movie version of Northanger Abbey before. The 80s BBC version did not capture any of the humor or sarcasm, and Mr. Tilney creeped me out. This version does a very good job keeping as much of Jane Austen's wit as is possible (some of the funniest parts of the book just can't translate to film). I would definitely recommend this movie to any Jane Austen fan.
(Oh, and J.J. Feilds as Mr. Tilney being quite nice to look at didn't hurt the movie at all!) :)

Koschnitzgirl |
Date: 2010-01-15

Masterpiece Theatre has done it again!!

Northanger Abbey is definately Austen's most obscure story, with the least developed characters, but for all that, this movie is a fantastic adaptation. I'm an avid Austen fan (heck all things period drama fan) and have seen every movie adaptation of all her books and do you know what's funny? I keep finding Northanger Abbey at the top of my list! Seriously, I'll be sitting at work and then I will just think "I have to go home and watch Northanger!" It's so well done and always puts me in a good mood.

Masterpiece made this gotic tale into a sweet, funny and endearing movie. I smile the entire time I'm watching it and its become my standard "go-to" movie whenever I need something to watch. The girl who plays Catherine is completely believable as the navie imaginative girl she's suppose to be, and Henry Tilney is downright charming (keep an eye out for all the sensitive looks he gives her when they are dancing or talking...she's so oblivious!). The actor's performance has rocketed Tilney onto the list of my top three favorite period drama men (placing him with the likes of John Thornton and Fitzwilliam Darcy). His tender teasing of Catherine and the way he wears his heart on his sleeve to her (there is no doubting that he likes her at first meeting and he makes no mystery about being jealous of the other guy) is so different from the rest of Austen's heros - its refreshing.

I recommend giving this adaptation of Northanger Abbey a try - even if you have reservations because its not your favorite book. This one is a breath of fresh air and I promise you, if you watch it, you'll love it...and I dare you not to fall in love with this Henry Tilney.