We thought things were a little quiet on the Becoming Jane front, considering that the film opens in two weeks, but have been in strict training for Harry Potter Weekend so appreciate the lack of distraction. However, a few things popped up today, and we begin to think that rather than laying low, the film’s been kicking around for so long between Europe and the Antipodes that its imminent arrival in the States is something of an anticlimax. Instead of obeying the dictum No News Is Good News, perhaps what we’ve been seeing is a result of the law of physics No News Really Is No News. The other day, we had Anne Hathaway refuting rumors that Ang Lee talked her into taking the role. Does anyone care? Or are we really reduced to posting articles about Anne Hathaway’s dog? For Ang Lee may not have helped, but the dog apparently did.

New York actress Anne Hathaway says her sick dog inadvertantly helped her snag the starring role in Julian Jarrold’s new period film, “Becoming Jane.”

“Julian didn’t like my first audition and I begged him for a second one,” Hathaway told UPI in New York. “I was extraordinarily nervous before the first audition and I didn’t read it very well.”

Hathway, who plays British author Jane Austen in the film, said the night before the second audition, her pup ate a slipper and she spent the whole evening caring for him and cleaning up his mess.

“When a 70-pound dog eats a slipper… it’s not pretty,” she said. “So, I stayed up all night cleaning up my dog’s bodily fluids, basically, and I showed up at the audition (the next) day too tired to be nervous and too tired to be self-conscious and just too tired to do anything except get to the end of the audition, so I think that worked to my benefit.”

Aren’t we all glad she shared? Speaking of sharing, the New York region of JASNA was invited to attend a screening and panel discussion last night. The panel included Anne Hathaway herself as well as Masterpiece Theatre executive producer Rebecca Eaton. Julie P. posted a report of the event at Molland’s. New York Magazine mentions it as well, but in the context of oh-look-at-the-silly-Janeites-aren’t-they-bizarre?

Last night’s Tribeca panel on Becoming Jane, the Jane Austen biopic coming out in August, resembled a twittering Austen book club more than it did your typical post-screening Q&A. The crowd of Austen fans, mostly women of a certain age in awe of the movie, didn’t shy from shouting things out at star Anne Hathaway and her fellow panelists (including Masterpiece Theatre’s Rebecca Eaton). Trays of white wine circulated; we think a few audience members might have had more than their fair share.

And can we just stop it with the Sex and the City comparisons right now, please?

But after Austen’s near-canonization in the literary firmament, was she really just a
Regency-era Carrie Bradshaw? She even had a fling with a Mr. Big(g-Wither)! Eaton acknowledged the resemblance, while staking out Austen’s claim to a certain un-HBO refinement. “People are saying Jane Austen’s attraction is like Sex and the City. I like to think of it as Extensive Hand-Holding in the Country.”

We like to think of them as Jane Austen novels, but then we’re one of those wacky Janeites.

Since word about the film started leaking out, one of our goals has been to get out the word that it’s not really as true a story as the producers might have liked to claim. Having got our grubby paws, er, languid white ladylike hands on the press packet, we’re pleased to report that there’s lots of “Well, it’s not a TRUE story, you know, we’re just having some fun with Jane, ha ha ha ha ha!” in it. We would like to think that even without our constant snarking occasional judicious Cluebatting gentle persuasion things would have shaken out the same way; alas, the Editrix has learnt cynicism in a hard school. Apparently she is not the only one, as Cinecultist expounds on why the idea of this film makes many Janeites itchy.

Another Jane Austen reworking on the movie horizon is Anne Hathaway’s Becoming Jane, a fictionalized biopic which imagines that Jane’s spinsterhood sprung from a disappointed great love. It is out Aug. 3. While CC always finds Hathaway charming and thought this was also a good role for the on-the-cusp-of-stardom James McAvoy, it plays a little too fast and loose with what we understand as Jane’s life story. To suppose that one of the greatest romantic comedy wits ever had some sweeping movie-style affair in her life is just a little too Hollywood convenient.

In case you couldn’t tell, Cinecultist is very protective of Madam Austen. We don’t want to see her too tinkered with, just to tap into a continuing trend from the ’90s. We take appropriations of her work and her person oddly personally. If you’re going to riff on her, ye puny novelists and filmmakers, we demand you be smart about it.

Hear, hear!