Emma

Emma was really beautiful to watch. Though I will say, and I am not trying to be a killjoy here, but the book is better. In general, this mini series was very well done, not only in terms of acting but visually and musically as well. The mini series was exquisitely photographed, with camera work that never felt rushed in any way. It perfectly captured the breathtaking scenery and the gorgeous colourful costumes. I will confess whenever I watch a period drama I always look at how the drama is filmed, and as far as I am concerned Emma scored full marks on that. The music was just as perfect, very beautiful and pleasant. And the acting was fully professional. Romola Garai looked stunning as Emma and managed to stay true to her character. Johnny Lee Miller may look a bit too young, but I do think he was very handsome and charismatic enough as Knightley, and in general Miller is a very competent actor. The two leads's chemistry was convincing too. Michael Gambon is an exceptional actor, and he was superb as Mr Woodhouse. For me, any scene he was in brought some depth, darkness and poignancy that was very much needed. In fact, I don't think there was a single bad performance, maybe not the definitive interpretations, but solid enough. I do have two flaws with this mini series. It does distort the book, and I did notice some modernisations in the script, that sounded uneven and didn't quite work. My other flaw is that there were scenes that didn't quite ring true. As one reviewer said, the scene with the Knightley children screaming Uncle George was poorly done, and that is a real shame because the scene before I thought was very impressive indeed. Despite the flaws, it is a very solid adaptation of a wonderful book. 9/10 Bethany Cox

• not that there's anything the matter at all with the two 1996 versions of Austen's novel or their two Emmas, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Beckinsale, but I think that Romola Garai releases an Emma that's perfect: her obtuseness as far as the hearts of others are concerned is matched perfectly with the special kind of air-headed charm that Garai delivers (so very far from the sensible Cordelia she delivered in Ian McKellen's "King Lear"). Paltrow was beautiful, Beckinsale sweet, but Garai manages an Emma who seems unaffectedly oblivious to her own beauty and sweetness and only strives to do right by others – and fails. This appears to me to be the essence of the character that is the most fallible of Austen's heroines, with the possible exception of Catherine Morland in "Northanger Abbey." But apart from that, the scenes between Garai's Emma and Jonny Lee Miller's Mr. Knightley are electrifying. Especially their argument after Emma has talked Harriet Smith into rejecting Knightley's champion, Robert Martin. Miller's Knightley doesn't just correct Emma with a wish to render her a more blameless person – this Knightley truly enjoys his rows with Emma, without knowing it himself, of course: that clearly comes across.

The fact that the Director O'Hanlon has been extremely aware of every opportunity of non-verbal communication where the camera studiously catches every frown, every half-smile, every twinkling of an eye makes this version a pure delight to watch from beginning to end.

It's lovely.

Definitely the best Emma I've ever seen! The casting was perfect; it is a must watch that goes on the shelf with the other greats, Pride and Prejudice, Wives and Daughters etc. Emma was my favourite book out of all Jane Austens works and this film really does it credit! Michael Gambon is a great actor, he plays Emmas father so well! Jonny Lee Miller is my favourite actor to ever play Mr Knightley, he pulls it off with such ease. In the book he is described as having 'a cheerful manner that always did him good' and that is just how JLM portrayed him. Other Actors always seemed to play him to be a stern man who never smiles much etc, but he plays him just as I imagined he would be! Very impressed. Mr Elton is perfect! Handsome and thinks too much of himself. Romola Garai does play Emma very well. It took me a little while to get used to her but it didn't take me long to decide she definitely plays Emma better than anyone I've seen before. I've watched it twice and Im going to watch it again, most unusual for me I usually can only bear to watch a film once and I only watch it twice if its very good, three times means it amazing! You guys must see it, You will enjoy it if you like the book! Its a must watch!

With the enduring interest in the novels of Jane Austen, an author eons ahead of her time as far as writing stories that dealt with women's view of the world, it is not unexpected that the film makers repeat versions of these rollicking tales. This may be the fourth or so version of EMMA and for this viewer it is the most successful. A large part of the success of this version of the novel is both the screenplay by Sandy Welch and the direction by Jim O'Hanlon who elect to open the graphic gates of Highbury with a sequence that shares with the audience the background of the diaspora of the children whose parents have died and whose lives will eventually come together as adults. It works very well in setting the scene and the mood of class distinction so prevalent in England of the period.

Emma is brought fully to life by Romola Garai and this role further establishes her as one of the more important character actresses on film. The remainder of the cast is perfectly balanced, with Michael Gambon as Emma's ever needy father, Jonny Lee Miller as the perfect Mr. Knightley, Lousie Dylan as the ditsy Harriet Smith, Tamsin Grieg as the hilariously boring and mouthy Miss Bates, the striking Blake Ritson as the vicar Mr. Elton, talented Laura Pyper as Jane Fairfax, and Jodhi May as the governess turned neighbor Anne Taylor. The ensemble casting is as fine as any of the Austen transitions to the visual and the cinematography and costumes are first class.

The words may not all belong to Jane Austen (Sandy Welch has introduced some very apropos new lines), but the feel of the novel would likely please the author as much as it pleases the audience. The 4 episode BBC production comes in two CDs and the quality of production is superb. In every way, this EMMA is a joy.

Grady Harp

There is a clichéd version of Period and Regency characters which grew up in the 1920's and 1930's fostered by UK and US film studios with straight backs, ironed crinolines, stiff upper lips and emotionally strangled dialogue from which a number of recent adaptations have dared to depart.

Sometimes, as in the case of 1999 Mansfield Park, adapters and cast have departed for the hills and created something so far off Austen's wavelength that it might be a prequel for the Pirates of The Caribbean franchise. Enjoyable perhaps. But not MP.

That's not what we have here. What we have here is something that is entirely on Austen's wavelength, with characters behaving as her characters would and saying the sorts of things her characters say. Something which is faithful to the purpose and meaning of the book, which aims to get the characters Jane Austen wrote onto the screen where we can see, recognise and enjoy them. This series is triumphantly successful at doing just that, partly owing to the care that has been taken with the script and partly due to the outstanding performances of the leads.

It built on a wonderfully realistic foundation of what love, loss and family all mean. If it did, perhaps, labour the point a bit at the beginning, there were superb contrasts between where Emma's life was full and empty. Her lack of self knowledge, her yearning for companions and challenges worthy of her sense and intelligence clearly illustrated the traps she made for herself.

And whilst we follow the progression of their relationship from Knightley's point of view more than the book warrants, Emma's bursting discovery of her love for him is actually dramatised here just as Austen wrote it, not watered down by injections of artificial chemistry between the lead actors.

I think there are lots of people who could turn out an Emma adaptation like the two films from the 90's. This version set itself the much harder task of adapting the book (as Clueless did) rather than just animating selected bits and stringing them together. And it succeeds. The reason Garai's Emma is different to all the others is that Garai is playing the character Jane Austen wrote and Sandy Welch, as she did with Jane Eyre, got her onto the screen by dramatically recreating her rather than transposing her dialogue into a screenplay.

There are, of course, unnecessary departures from the canon. Perhaps it is highly unlikely that Emma would have allowed Knightley to kiss her within sight of the house, or that Knightley would have forgotten himself that far either. However, were they sure of being unobserved, I think Emma and Frank would have been perfectly capable of shocking even modern dowagers with a passion that is written carefully into the novel but seldom gets up onto the screen. If I was servant at Hartfield, I'd be very careful to make them aware of my presence outside the bedroom door before taking their morning tea in.

I had my reservations about this adaptation at first but having watched it more times than I now care to admit, I cannot now name a better Austen adaptation. I think the unusual start was a gamble designed to illustrate the insecurity of early 19C family life to newcomers and wilfully detach dedicated Austen fans from their comfort zone from the opening seconds, both of which worked triumphantly. It instantly drew parallels between the lives of Emma, Jane and Frank (and, more subtly, Harriet) which are at the core of the book and completely absent from any other adaptation. A very, very clever trick for which some purists have yet to forgive her. Not this one, however. Once you have adjusted your goggles, this adaptation hits new heights for the whole genre and becomes an unalloyed pleasure.

It's beautifully shot, all the characterisations are incredibly detailed, even minor characters like John Knightley and Mrs Goddard are fully realised and Garai and Miller hit their top notes reliably again and again.

I'm sure Austen would love it.