Top Ten Jane Austen Films

Front Row at the Movies by Shirrel Rhoades

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There’s a new movie out called “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life.” It’s plot: “A lonely bookseller, immersed in fantasy, must pursue her writing aspirations to improve her love life. She’s compelled to turn her dreams into reality to stop sabotaging a romance.” It’s a French rom-com … and I have to say the title sounds drastic. I know many Jane Austen fans.

With this in mind, I give you a list of the Top 10 movies (and TV series) based on Jane Austen’s books. The ranking was done by Audrey Fox for SlashFilm.

10. “Sanditon” (2019) – This was the only Jane Austen novel published as an incomplete work, as she wrote only 11 chapters before falling ill with the disease that would cause her death at age 41. In this miniseries, Rose Williams play a young woman who visits the seaside resort of Sanditon as the guest of the town’s developer. Things get more steamy when she meets his brooding younger brother.

9. “Sense & Sensibility” (2008) – It would be hard to outclass the 1995 version, but this miniseries comes pretty close. Since this is a BBC period drama, it only has hints of star power rather than a full A-list cast. Dominic Cooper, David Morrissey, Janet McTeer, and a pre-”Downton Abbey” Dan Stevens make this a delight to watch.

8. “Lost in Austen” (2008) – This “cheekily meta fairy tale” gives Austen enthusiasts the chance to literally step into “Pride and Prejudice.” Amanda Price (Jemima Rooper) is a modern-day Austen obsessive who discovers a portal between her bathroom and the attic of the Bennet family home, allowing her to swap places with Elizabeth Bennet. The more Amanda tries to stick to the script, the more she ends up causing the narrative to diverge in new and unsettling ways.

7. “Emma” (2009) – Emma is a hard character to pull off, because she has some unlikable qualities. Romola Garai is the best of all the recent Emmas and Jonny Lee Miller is especially good as Mr. Knightley, Emma’s dreamy suitor.

6. “Persuasion” (2007) – The empathetic performance of Sally Hawkins as Anne Elliot makes this movie special. Hawkins creates a character that audiences are tremendously sympathetic to without making her come across as pathetic.

5. “Sense and Sensibility “(1995) – Emma Thompson not only starred in this superb adaptation, but she also wrote the screenplay. And directed by Ang Lee, this version of “Sense and Sensibility” is prestige literary filmmaking at its finest.

4. “Emma” (2020) – Audrey Fox says, “Autumn de Wilde’s adaptation of ‘Emma’ is all about aesthetics.” It stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Johnny Flynn, as Emma and Mr. Knightley, respectively.

3. “Clueless” (1995) – Yes, this Alicia Silverstone comedy is based on “Emma.” This teen classic is the gold standard when it comes to modernizing Jane Austen. Audrey Fox tells us: “Cher (Alicia Silverstone), a well-meaning but spoiled teen girl, Mr. Knightley is her estranged ex-stepbrother (Paul Rudd), and Mr. Elton (Jeremy Sisto) is a brooding, entitled classmate who is perpetually misplacing his Cranberries CD.”

2. “Pride and Prejudice” (1995) – The scene everyone remembers from this version is Mr. Darcy (Colin Firth) taking a swim in his pond at Pemberley and emerging as if “prepared for a Regency-era wet t-shirt contest.” The extended runtime of a miniseries allows it to flesh out the story in ways that few adaptations are able to accomplish.

1. “Pride & Prejudice” (2005) – “While the 1995 version of “Pride and Prejudice” leaves some pretty big shoes to fill, the 2005 film is more than up to the task.” Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen) and Lizzie (Keira Knightley) are well-matched to the story.

There you have it – the Top 10. SlashFilm actually gave us 15 – but this will give you plenty of screen time to enjoy Jane Austen’s period romances.
If that doesn’t satisfy you, you can always watch “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” that 2016 mash-up that puts Austen’s characters in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.

Email Shirrel: srhoades@aol.com