ITV’s official Jane Austen site
Alert Janeite Sylvia M. posted in comments that ITV now has an official Jane Austen season web site. For now, one can view the trailer (which we’ve been enjoying already), but as of 12 March, the site promises opportunities to “find your perfect match, send a Flirtmail, join in our Seduction Survey, and much more.”
Hmm. Jane knows we love our Flirtmail, and have worn out our cootie-catcher in pursuit of our Favorite Hero so that Seduction Survey will come in handy. But we’re hoping that a fresh, insightful approach to classic literature (and some great pictures and interviews!) just might be covered in the “much more” section.
February 28th, 2007 at 10:52 am
Yup, I just caught the site updates while browsing the ITV site to check schedules. Loved the pictures of the couples, though I will always quietly mumble to myself whenever I see Fanny Price’s blonde untidy locks. In all the time that I’ve read “Mansfield Park” I never once pictured Fanny as a blonde…..
I think Felicity Jones and JJ Feild have amazing chemistry onscreen. I think NA2 is the one I’ll enjoy the most, esp. since it will be hard to go wrong with such a delicious and attractive cast. RP-J looks dashing and handsome as always. And although I never quite thought of Edmund Bertram as a ‘byronic’ figure, Blake Ritson is really starting to look the part. As much as I adore Jonny Lee Miller, I think Mr. Ritson will soon take his place as the ideal Edmund for me (plus he has a smile that melts!).
The dvds are preordered, so now I sit back and wait, and hope that the Janeites across the pond will have no qualms in sharing their thoughts/opinions and let us know how these adaptations turn out. 2-3 more weeks?? Let’s hope!
February 28th, 2007 at 11:50 am
How lovely they all look together! Rupert Penry-Jones & Sally Hawkins are simply brilliant as Capt W & Anne, she’s not plain at all! Blake Riston is perfectly Edmund, but Billie Piper’s looks are too bold as Fanny, let’s hope her acting isn’t as bold as her unkempt hair! Felicity Jones & JJ Feild are perfectly Catherine & Henry, I think I am also going to enjoy this adaptation more than the others and not just because NA is my favorite novel ever!
Can’t wait for more updates to the site!
February 28th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
I actually gave this a thought one day while in shower: did Jane Austen really write romantic novels? After much consideration, I arrived in this conclusion: no, she didn’t. Her books do centre on love-related themes, but they are not particularly romantic in tone in general. It is not what they are about. What is interesting is that so many modern people are uncapable of seeing beyond the plastered-on girl-meets-boy-they-fight-and-fall-inlove romantic comedy concept someone attached on them.
I mean, I recently read aloud from P&P to a colleague (55-yo man) a passage I find most amusing (about the one sonnet) and this very smart, sharp guy was genuinely surprised that such a fluffy writer could say anything so intelligent and insighthful. He hadn’t read the books, but his ex-wife and two daughters have forced him to see every adaptation ever made.
So, perhaps even the best of adaptation cannot really express the depth of Austen’s writing - and hence, the-girl-meets-boy-they-fight-and-fall-inlove concept takes over and leads to Flirtmail (what is Flirtmail anyway?) and Seduction Survey.
I really need to start spending less time under shower
February 28th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Perfectly right, Lisa! I only wish some producers, script writers and directors would spend more time in the shower!
February 28th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Lisa. Spot on.
February 28th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
I guess with Billie Piper’s hair I sort of assumed that it was a a visual way of differentiating her from her cousins, a sort of visual cue that Fanny has been kept from being level with them. Younger children kept their hair down, and this sort of ties in with Fanny not really being ‘out’ and being treated rather like a servant. That was my thought, anyway, when I saw the hair.
February 28th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
I think the cast looks pretty well. But don’t they seem to be lined up and looking very angsty, like an Army of Couples Who Are Preparing to Battle Money and Rank To Find True Love? Or flirtation and seduction — by the way, “flirtmail” is just plain cheesy.
Did anyone else notice the cross Fanny is wearing? Yay, I suppose it is the one William gave her! It looks rather large however.
I think one thing that looks a bit different about Fanny is that her hair is blonde and her eyebrows very dark. Is she naturally dark-haired? I’m afraid I haven’t seen her in anything.
February 28th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Lindsay, I thought that too about Fanny’s hair. It won’t bother me so much if she eventually wears it up.
February 28th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
That is a rather large cross, and it is hanging on what looks a great deal more like Henry Crawford’s necklace than Edmund’s chain!
February 28th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
Army of Couples Who Are Preparing to Battle Money and Rank To Find True Love
I’m inclined to agree, LauraGrace. An army indeed. But it is nice to see some new pictures of the couples; Catherine and Henry look perfect together.
Fanny’s cross does look large on that fancy chain.
February 28th, 2007 at 10:32 pm
Where do I join the First Church of Lisa? I hate constantly defending writing (my own and that of others) as “not a romance novel.” URGH! Some people!
Another site for favorites!
Flirtmail???
February 28th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
Billie Piper looks more like Jay-Z or Madonna with that huge cross. Edmund’s like, “Yo! Fanny-Fan! What up, home girl? What’s going down in the MP house!” And those pouty lips, oy vey.
On the other hand Jane’s got her own ITV webpage yeah!!!!!
February 28th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
P.S. Seemless posts, Heather L. I did not even notice Mags snoozing off the Tullamore in the corner and that it was you at the computer.
February 28th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Billy Piper is a pretty good actress, so I want to give her a chance. I am rather partial to her because I enjoyed her so much as Rose on the Doctor Who series. I love Doctor Who, call me a dork…:)
I was thinking about the ‘Is it a Romance?’ thing, and while MP is not really, I think NA and P are more so than the other novels. I mean, “You pierce my soul”?! The whole of P is filled with regret and longing, but I think it’s very different from the other novels. It’s not Romantic in a Willoughby-literally -sweeps-Marianne-off-her-feet sort of way, sure…now I’m just rambling…
Anyway, ITV started up this whole ‘Let’s Make Drama’ thing partly because they want to win BAFTAs, so I’m guessing that however cheesy their marketing campaign might seem at this point (and believe you me, I think Flirtmail is as unbearably cheesy as the rest of you) the quality of these films is probably going to be pretty good. Now what remains to be seen is whether they are faithful adaptations…I’m going to be optimistic for this once!
March 1st, 2007 at 12:08 am
Did anyone else notice: if you stick around the ITV site long enough, words form and drift behind the characters. I saw desire, embrace, and infatuation. Any others?
I’m guessing Flirtmail will be some sort of e-card, featuring the hero(ine) of your choice. If that’s the case, I hope they provide naughty ones too, like Mary Crawford and Frederick Tilney.
Re: Fanny — who needs a hairbrush when you’ve got bling?
March 1st, 2007 at 12:25 pm
>>Re: Fanny — who needs a hairbrush when you’ve got bling?
Bwaaa! Yes, I noticed that HUGE gold cross. What happened to the little amber cross from brother William?
I’ve seen my first publicity poster for the ‘Jane Austen season’ on the tube here in London. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a pic of it with my phone (it was on a moving roll, drat!) but it was one of Anne and Captain Wentworth, and was the same picture that appears on the website.
March 2nd, 2007 at 10:48 am
I’ve been pondering Lisa’s comment (it takes me a while sometimes), and I agree wholeheartedly, and it got me wondering: how should a studio market a Jane Austen film? How do you attract new fans and bring in the crowds without resorting to cheap-and-cheesy techniques? I do think one has to push the romance angle, because that sells. I’ve thought about promoting the heroine’s (and hero, to a lesser extent) journey of self-awareness/maturation, secondary themes of friendship, trust, etc. depending on the novel’s focus, with romance as the icing on the cake. “The thinking person’s romance”. But I don’t know if that approach would really sell. How would you do it? Any thoughts?
March 2nd, 2007 at 12:08 pm
I agree that the romance is a must, but I would also emphasize the humor. So few people realize how hysterically funny Jane Austen’s works are.
The Austen purists and costume movie people will see it anyway, so there’s no need to specifically push to us. I think maybe people see Jane Austen and think “boring costume drama.” So for me humor would be number 1.
March 2nd, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Yes, Ina, but beware—if you say that, they might come up with something like a “romantic comedy” marketing campaign. Bleggggh. At least in this case it’s romantic melodrama.
Here’s hoping the PR people are all just wrong.
March 3rd, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Yes…I agree with all…it is harder to sell integrity, manners, true wit, self-awareness and evolution, self-sacrifice, adherence to principles above gratification, intelligence, and perceptive characterization, than it is to sell attraction between the sexes. They think what Jane Austen offers is so complex that it can’t be watered down for general consumption, though I think they underestimate audiences. Her greatest tool is her humor, and that is actually in short supply in many of her films, though I still find them compelling viewing. My husband only laughed at Mr. Bennett’s comments/barbs in P&P 1995, leaving me itching to read him the novel and expose him to so much more of Jane’s sharp wisdom.
Thinking person’s romance…I like it, but this assumes Hollywood actually perceives women as “Thinking People.”