Northanger Abbey

TV Movie
2007
PG
1h 24m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

William Beck, Liam Cunningham, Felicity Jones, and Carey Mulligan in Northanger Abbey (2007)

Coming-of-Age Period Drama Drama Romance

A young woman's penchant for sensational Gothic novels leads to misunderstandings in the matters of the heart.A young woman's penchant for sensational Gothic novels leads to misunderstandings in the matters of the heart.A young woman's penchant for sensational Gothic novels leads to misunderstandings in the matters of the heart.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

17K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination total

Photos68

+ 62

User reviews55

7.216.9K

Featured reviews

8Eowyn1967

A witty and light adaptation

I've really enjoyed that adaptation. It's witty, charming and the necessary changes brought to the book narrative are clever and do not jar too much with the original. It made me reread the book, which I think should always be the effect of a good adaptation.

The actor playing Henry Tilney was charming (maybe more than the book Henry Tilney in fact) and all the others seemed to fit their roles. Carey Mulligan makes a very effective Isabella Thorpe and plays her part with subtlety while Felicity Jones looks just naive enough for the role of Catherine. I was only bothered by the choice of William Beck of Robin Hood to play John Thorpe. His physical appearance simply did not seem to fit the character. He is a very good actor but hardly attractive enough to make a valid love-interest for romantic Catherine.

The only reason I do not give it "10" is because of the absurd over-sexualisation of Catherine's dreams or the lending to her of "The Monk" by Thorpe.

This is taking incredible liberties with the historical period in order to "make it relevant" to 21st century viewers which TV film-makers must assume to be incapable of viewing anything with interest if it does not contain overtly sexual contents, though the contrary has been proved again and again.

9crazy_smart

A thrilling and bang-up-to-date adaption of a fantastic book.

Northanger Abbey is not just one of my favourite Jane Austen books, but also one of my favourite books full stop. So, when hearing of an ITV adaption, I was in equal parts excited and nervous.

Well, after seeing it I can only praise it. The cast performed extremely well - especially JJ Field as the charming and likable Henry Tilney, and Felicity Jones as the naive and excitable Catherine Morland - the direction was top class, and the narrative - though not always faithful to the book - was pretty much faultless.

Some people may be disappointed in the less-faithful parts of the feature, but I felt that they fit in very well with Ms. Austen's novel. They were charming and felt very up-to-date in a way that would appeal to both Jane Austen lover's, and people who just wanted to watch a good film on Sunday night.

If you haven't seen this, then I highly recommend it, and I know that I certainly will be buying the DVD.

6summeriris

Very lightweight

I've watched the film twice now and I have to say, I think this is a very lightweight version of Austen, There is nothing terribly bad about it, but nothing that great either. The one exception I would make is Carey Mulligan's Isabella Thorpe. She is very good as the manipulative and venal Isabella. But she also has a tinge of the pathetic about her. She seems to be a person who is determined to make the wrong decisions. As always in Davies adaptations, it is the 'villains' who are more interesting, but not even Andrew Davies and Mulligan can make John and Isabella Thorpe more than simply manipulative and venal. Felicity Jones is suitably innocent as Catherine, Fields is kind and understanding as Henry. The great Liam Cunningham is criminally wasted as Gen Tilney though. Everyone else is very nice and the costumes are lovely. Lismore Castle makes for a suitably large and intimidating Abbey and Dublin makes for a great 19th Century Bath.

In conclusion it's all very nice and pretty, (a kiss of death IMO) . The biggest gripe apart from the lack of any real tension and conflict in the plot would be Davies obligatory insertion of sexual misbehavior that is just so unlike Austen's novel. The Gothic elements introduced by Catherine's vivid dreams seem to have been heavily inspired by the 1987 version. I could be wrong about that, perhaps every adaptation has these boring dream sequences.

All in all, not my favourite Austen. You should never be bored by Austen.

6veronika-jelinkova2010

Absorbing show about nothing

It is a real art if the director together with actors are able to father a agreeable show based on a trivial story. In the middle of the movie, we realize the half of the time is gone, but nothing still happened. The team was able to create the tension so appealing that we are absorbed, even without any grandiose plot and without any impassioned actions. The second half of the movie is filled by actions more moving, obviously very well known due to its literal master. There is a touch of misfortune, a typical British frightening countryside serves as a suitable background. All necessary components for a romantic novel are present. As an interpreting of J. Austen, the movie plays with many internal thoughts belonging to people within a romantic tradition of the end of 18th century. It seems these conversational games can last forever, never mind what's going on anywhere else. Evident, but quite pleasant case of escapism. The whole movie is a nice adventure, but with a touch of honesty, it is also a bit waste of time.

6Doylenf

Pleasant version of the Austen tale...richly detailed settings...

NORTHANGER ABBEY is a charming version of the Jane Austen tale, covering somewhat familiar Austen territory in its tale of a young woman who comes to a vast estate and falls in love with an aristocratic young man who is willing to give up his inheritance to marry her, if he must.

It's beautifully lensed in color with excellent vistas of the English countryside and some impeccable performances from a first rate cast. FELICITY JONES and JJ FIELD are excellent as the young lovers, whether exchanging dialog that is on the humorous side or deadly serious, and CATHERINE WALKER is fine as Jones' confidante, Eleanor.

Time constraints make it impossible to ever do full justice to Austen's stories, but fans of the author should find this an enchanting enough version of the tale to satisfy Janite admirers, even if there are many omissions in the telling.

Very worthwhile, with high quality production values throughout.

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Trivia
Felicity Jones spoke about Jane Austen --- "People think Austen is a lot more romantic and straightforward than she actually is. She is quite practical about love and relationships --- she's very measured about who people should marry. What's quite interesting with Henry Tilney is that he doesn't necessarily fall madly in love with Catherine straight away. It's a very gradual development, and it's her enthusiasm for him that prompts him to return her affections. It's very subtle how she draws her characters, which is what I like."

Goofs
At one point the dance caller announces that the next dance will be "Upon a Summer's Day." This dance was actually performed in an earlier scene, and is not the next dance in sequence.

Quotes
[last lines]
Catherine Morland: He thought I was rich?
Henry Tilney: It was Thorpe who misled him at first. Thorpe, who hoped to marry you himself. He thought you were Mr. Allen's heiress and he exaggerated Mr. Allen's birth to my father. You were only guilty of not being as rich as you were supposed to be. For that he turned you out of the house.
Catherine Morland: I thought you were so angry with me, you told him what you knew. Which would have justified any discourtesy.
Henry Tilney: No! The discourtesy was all his. I-I have broken with my father, Catherine, I may never speak to him again.
Catherine Morland: What did he say to you?
Henry Tilney: Let me instead tell you what I said to him. I told him that I felt myself bound to you, by honor, by affection, and by a love so strong that nothing he could do could deter me from...
Catherine Morland: From what?
Henry Tilney: Before I go on, I should tell you there's a pretty good chance he'll disinherit me. I fear I may never be a rich man, Catherine.
Catherine Morland: Please, go on with what you were going to say!
Henry Tilney: Will you marry me, Catherine?
Catherine Morland: Yes! Yes I will! Yes!
[They kiss, and she backs him into a wall in her passion]
Catherine Morland: [voiceover]
The Voice of Jane Austen: To begin perfect happiness at the respective ages of 26 and 18 is to do pretty well. Catherine and Henry were married, and in due course the joys of wedding gave way to the blessing of a christening. The bells rang and everyone smiled. No one more than so than Eleanor, whose beloved's sudden ascension to title and fortune finally allowed them to marry. I leave it to be settled whether the tendency of this story be to recommend parental tyranny or to reward filial disobedience.