Square Eyes: The adaption of Jane Austen's novels

July 'Square Eyes' Column
Written by: Kat
Square Eyes is Portrait's Movie and TV column written by movie geek Kat. In 'Square Eyes' we'll bring you all the latest movie news, reviews and gossip!

The adaptions of Jane Austen's novels

Read this month Book Club Column to learn about the life and works of Jane Austen, one of classic literature's most beloved writers. In this month's, "Square Eyes" we give you a little information on Austen’s works that have been adapted into film, many of which have starred big names including Keira Knightley, Kate Winslet, Colin Firth and Gwyneth Paltrow.

The Pride and
Prejudice DVD
Pride and Prejudice, Austen's most beloved novel, has been adapted into a number of films. The first film adaptation was made in 1940 and starred Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. Mini-series versions were made in 1952, 1958, and 1980. In 1994 Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle starred in a BBC mini series of Pride and Prejudice. The series was unabbreviated and three hundred minutes long. Two TV films were made in 1938 and 1967 respectively.

In 2003 Pride and Prejudice: A Latter-Day Comedy was released; the film was a modern day version of the novel. In 2005 the Oscar nominated feature film version of Pride and Prejudice was released. The book was compacted to fit into a 127-minute feature, which starred Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. The film received four nominations at that years Academy Awards including best lead actress for Keira Knightley.

The book and movie series Bridget Jones was inspired by Pride and Prejudice and something of a modern retelling.

Sense and Sensibility was Austen's first novel. The feature film version was released in 1995 (following two TV movies in 1971 and 1981) and starred Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant. The film won best adapted screenplay at the Academy Awards and was nominated for six other awards including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress for Kate Winslet, and Best Actress for Emma Thompson.

The Emma DVD
Emma, Austen's fourth novel, was made into a TV movie in 1948 and 1990. It was adapted into both a TV movie and a feature film in 1996. The feature film starred Gwyneth Paltrow as the irrepressible Emma. The film won Best Score at the Academy Awards and received a nomination for Best Costume Design.

The classic teen film Clueless was also based on Emma.

Persuasion, was one of Austen's last novels was adapted to television film the same year as Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. It starred Amanda Root and was nominated for five awards at the Bafta TV Awards. A new TV film adaption of the novel has recently been green lit by ITV following the success of Pride and Prejudice.

Mansfield Park was Austen's third novel. The film was made into a mini series in 1983, and a feature film in 1999. The film was said to be the only adaptation of Austen's novels to fail to win approval of the jane Austen Society. The film starred Frances O'Connor. A new TV film adaptation of the novel has recently been green lit by ITV following the success of Pride and Prejudice.

Northanger Abbey was published the same year as Persuasion and was made into a TV film in 1986. The film starred Katharine Schlesinger and Peter Firth. A new TV film adaptation of the novel has recently been green lit by ITV following the success of Pride and Prejudice.

Jane Austen films on DVD:

Reviews of the Latest Films

Portrait Magazine's hardworking review team have been selflessly suffering their way through the latest and greatest films to bring you their reviews:

Over the Hedge

X-Men 3: The Last Stand

Poseidon

Mission Impossible 3

Polling Booth

Movie/TV News

Amanda Bynes, Zac Efron, Brittany Snow, John Travolta and Queen Latifah will star in Hairspray the new film of the hit broadway show. In the film Tracy achieves her dream of becoming a regular on the Corny Collins Dance Show. She starts using her fame to speak out for the causes she believes in, most of all integration. In doing so, she earns the wrath of the show's former star, Amber, as well as Amber's manipulative, pro-segregation parents. The rivalry comes to a head as Amber and Tracy vie for the title of Miss Auto Show 1963.

Amber Tamblyn has joined the cast of Spring Breakdown. The story revolves around three thirtysomething friends who break the monotony of their uninspired lives by vacationing on an island that is a popular spring break getaway for college co-eds. One of the women works for a powerful senator whose daughter is one of those co-eds, only she's as geeky as her chaperones.

Orlando Bloom and Kate Bosworth will star in Seasons of the Dust a Depression-era drama. In the film Janey (Bosworth) takes refuge with a farm family after grandfather's suicide. But when the son tries to rape her, she injures him badly. Not knowing if he is alive or dead, Janey flees, and ultimately takes up with Ricky (Bloom), a dashing crook who is also on the lam. With the law and two hired hit-men hot on their trailer, Janey and Ricky engage in a frantic cross-country odyssey, trying to stay one step ahead of their determined pursuers.

Eminem is attached to star in a contemporary feature adaptation of the CBS series Have Gun -- Will Travel. Debuting in September 1957, the TV Western starred Richard Boone as Paladin, a gunfighter-for-hire. The concept will be updated to contemporary times and see Eminem playing a bounty hunter. The setting could be Eminem's hometown of Detroit, but those details have yet to be worked out.

Hugh Jackman has joined Nicole Kidman to star in as yet untitled film, a romantic action-adventure set in northern Australia prior to World War II, centers on an English aristocrat (Kidman) who inherits a ranch the size of Maryland. When English cattle barons plot to take her land, she reluctantly joins forces with a rough-hewn cattle driver (Jackman) to drive 2,000 head of cattle across hundreds of miles of the country's most unforgiving land, only to still face the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by the Japanese forces that had attacked Pearl Harbor only months earlier.

Jessica Alba has replaced Lindsay Lohan in the comedy Bill in which a guy (Aaron Eckhart) fed up with his job and married to a cheating wife reluctantly mentors a rebellious teen. Lindsay reportedly dropped out due to filming schedule conflicts.

Kate Beckinsale may star in April 23rd a film set during the Cold War about a Russian spy who comes into America and has to be completely undercover. He has a wife who doesn't know he's a Russian. Kate studied Russian at Oxford University.

Heath Ledger and Rachel Weisz will star in Dirt Music an adaptation of the Tim Winton novel. Set in the dramatic landscape of Western Australia, Dirt Music tells the story of Luther Fox, a broken man who makes his living as an illegal fisherman -- a shamateur. Before everyone in his family was killed in a freak rollover, Fox grew melons and counted stars and loved playing his guitar. Now, his life has become a "project of forgetting." Not until he meets Georgie Jutland, the wife of White Point's most prosperous fisherman, does Fox begin to dream again and hear the dirt music.

Channing Tatum will star in Stop Loss alongside Ryan Philippe. The Iraq war drama tells the story of a soldier (Phillippe) who finishes a tour of duty in Iraq only to be told that he has to serve another so he goes AWOL. Tatum plays a hot-shot fighter from Texas.