Miss Austen Regrets (2008) Movie Review

**Ladies, this movie is so beautiful! It is filled with elegant and romantic thoughts that any hopeless romantic would appreciate.**

Cast: Samuel Roukin, Olivia Williams, Greta Scacchi, Imogen Poots, Phyllida Law, Pip Torres, Harry Gostelow, Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Bonneville, Tom Goodman-Hill, Adrian Edmondson, Sylvie Herbert, Jack Huston, Jason Watkins and Sally Tatum.

Pros: For a movie that’s about one of the most read romance authors in the world, you would need excellent dialogue that could match Miss Austen’s books. This movie did just that. I was highly impressed by the countless quotes, sentimental narrations by Miss Austen throughout the movie as well as feeling as though you became part of her family. Can I just officially say that I think Olivia Williams who played Jane Austen is one of my favorite actresses now? Olivia is the first actress I’ve seen portray her, so any other movie with another actress playing Jane Austen will have to measure up to Olivia’s spectacular acting. I’m a huge fan of botanical gardens (especially English gardens) and the one featured in this movie is incredibly alluring and beautiful. One can only imagine getting married on one. The costumes are perfect and you can tell the props department took great care in detail of every little thing that was a close up to the camera. Throughout the movie, you hear Jane’s narration of her thoughts, which I might add, are just as eloquent in speech as they are written down describing a character. I absolutely and totally fell in love with this movie. I think refined English stirs up the mind like no other, at least for me.

(Olivia Williams)

Imogen Poots, who played Fanny (Jane Austen’s niece) was superb too in her portrayal of a naïve, romantic, eager to please her Aunt kind of girl. Imogen’s beautiful eyes and smile displayed perfect timing with what she was saying and hearing from others who spoke to her. Possibly the prettiest natural beauty of an actress since Grace Kelly.

(Love her necklace! Where can I get one just like it?)

Cons: The title of the movie is a bit misleading, but it does touch upon people asking Jane if she ever regretted not marrying someone whom she did not love. Miss Austen did love someone very much, but he ended up marrying someone else for her money and social status. Other than that, this movie is flawless.

Cinematography: David Katznelson was Director of Photography for this movie. David has 46 credits to his name, some of whom he shot for “Game of Thrones” and “Downton Abbey”. The entire movie felt like a painting where all the characters within the picture came to life. There were scenes where the stills were just like paintings. I was impressed! There were some great depth and dimension angles that he played with when a character was by him/herself in a scene. I liked the maze scene with Fanny and John Plumptre because it was somewhat of a metaphor without any words spoken that only attributed to what the entire movie was about. This movie was well made by David Katznelson.

Music score: Jennie Muskett produced the moving music score. I appreciate great piano music, especially when it has a haunting sound like the score called “After Dinner Speeches”. I feel like I have heard it somewhere. The song “Courtship” is pretty too, but also very sad to me because it intertwines such hope and love in it, but at the same time it has a bit of depressing undertones mixed in there. “Desire” was composed with such tender thought, you can almost feel yourself being carried away by inner and hidden feelings you thought were gone. “Beyond Reach” is depressing. This song was played when Jane saw the man she longed for show interest in someone else. By this time, she had made up her mind about him and that was that. Nothing is worse than seeing someone you like blatantly show interest to another girl as you sit there and try to have fun with him. This song reflected Jane’s mood perfectly. Amazing music scores from a movie. I will be adding several songs of Jennie into my little ipod for inspiration when I begin oil painting once again.

Favorite quote: In my opinion, the entire movie was one huge quote. There were so many quotes within this marvelous movie, it was hard to just pick one. However, I did choose ones which stood out in my mind.

“I’ve loved and lost. Pined and yearned.” – Jane Austen telling her niece, Fanny, a secret.

“I am mistress of all that I survey.”- Jane Austen when she discovered she was all alone in the house.

“She’s having more fun than me and it’s my house!” – Fanny jealous of watching Aunt Jane dance while she couldn’t.

“I never weep over anything that might make me some money.” Jane Austin explaining to her weeping sister after reading an excerpt from her latest book.

“A sort of wonderful creature on two legs, something between a man and an angel.”- Jane Austen being Jane Austen as she admires the man who capture her heart from afar.

“How hard it is to find words to express one’s deepest feelings.” John Plumptre’s awkward attempt to propose to Fanny. (I think)

Audience reaction: I fell in love with this movie. The entire time I was captivated by what I was hearing and what I saw. As a person who loves art, music, poems, botanical gardens and love, I was in my element.

Relatability: Initially I wanted to watch this movie for another reason, but as the story began to unfold, I knew I was being pulled into an Alice in Wonderland mind maze of a complex yet strong woman who was reliving her past through her favorite niece, Fanny. I don’t read romance novels at all because I prefer to live them out instead of just reading about them. This movie was not a romance movie at all. This movie was more about reflections of an author and I appreciated that. I never knew much about Jane Austen, but I found her quite fascinating after watching this film. For someone who believed in principal, Jane Austen knew what she was sacrificing when she turned down a marriage proposal. Back in the day, a woman’s worth was shown by whom she married and how much money the man had. Many women married for money and status and not for love. I think deep down, she wished the man she loved married for true love and stood strong on principal instead of what society wanted or expected of him.

Usually I relate to the male characters of movies I review, but in this one I was in for quite a surprise. I related to not only Jane, but to Fanny as well. I kept going back and forth with whom I felt more connected to. At the end, I connected more to Fanny. I still believe in romance and never will be bitter about it. I think you can always carry with you a piece of innocent, wide eyed view of love and romance if you allow yourself to. I don’t believe in regrets. The only regret I have is that I wished I had seen this movie earlier because it’s so good! If you can, there are 8 parts on YouTube if you want to see it online. Just type in “Miss Austen Regrets” and you’ll see a channel that shows the entire movie.

“Life is a maze of complex feelings, undiscovered thoughts and dreams. One must carry on the hope and faith that it will all make sense at the end and that it will be beautiful because it was always your destiny to begin with“. -JavaGirl

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Video Credit: JustFilmNL