Report by Jen K.

We have met Captain Wentworth…and he was, by all accounts, a most charming and agreeable gentleman.

I was feeling a bit sleepy on the train down to Brooklyn College so I resolved to pick up a coffee on my way to the campus. A Starbucks was in my path. I popped in. Oh, look who’s standing at the counter, with his coffee and his cell phone, it’s Ciarán Hinds, just like a normal person. I placed my order and went over to the pick-up area (about a foot and a half to the left of where he was standing) - he very nearly brushed by me on his way out.

I got my coffee, left, and spotted out the campus gate. I noticed CH was walking up the middle path and thought, “okay, he knows where he’s going, I’m going to follow him at an extremely respectful distance.”

While recognizing one of the people he was walking with as a co-JASNA-NY chair I was accosted by some other JASNA people who had come early to help with the party. We all catch up with each other as CH is meeting the film professor who helped create this event. Then it’s “here are the Jane Austen people” and then howdoyado, nice to meet you, howdoyado. Thank goodness I was wearing my gloves while shaking his hand. At least I hadn’t started literally shaking at that point. That came later.

How lovely it was to see P2 on a big screen! Even if the print was showing its age and the sound level threatened to deafen the young, it was still possible in a way not possible on my TV to see many details I had never seen before. Why did I never notice that bizarre paint job in the dining parlor at Bath? How garishly opulent that whole place was? There was more - ladies? What a nice reminder of how much I admire Persuasion as a film. While sometimes it felt rote, having seen it so many times, I really enjoyed the theater experience. This was the first time I heard the Captain blurt out “I regret” and actually believed I knew what he meant. Not, ‘I regret being an ass recently’, but ‘I regret not getting in touch with you sooner’. Conjecture, maybe, but isn’t it nice to get something new from something I know so well?

The Q&A was with a Jane Austen scholar, Captain Wentworth i.e. Ciarán Hinds, and a film professor at the school. It was an interesting discussion - Austen scholarship augmenting the actor’s experience with the work, augmented by the film professor’s take on the cinematic choices. CH had not viewed the film in about 10 years and had nothing but nice things to say about Amanda Root, especially, and all the other actors on the film. The director came from a theatre background and chose actors with RSC/classical experience specifically. Apparently he had said he meant to “trash the hotel room of costume drama” with this new adaptation. The film professor said he felt the movie had something to prove but admired the actors’ subtle performances. The Austen scholar provided color commentary regarding themes of the work and how they played out in the film and CH was very interested and attentive. He called the Elliots ‘ghastly’ and joked about the amount of time they spent in mud. Also praising the realistic effect of having the women wear no makeup (as opposed to the samey 80s versions) but claimed all the ‘boys’ were wearing it. If I think of anything more, I’ll add it, but really, this post is long enough!

In addition to being funny and informative about acting and filmmaking, CH was kind enough to stay for everyone who wanted a photo or an autograph. Chatty and personable and totally understanding. What I understand now is why anyone would like him very, very much.

The Jane Austen Book Club DVD came out Tuesday on DVD. For those new to the blog, here’s our review from when we saw it in the theater. Now all of you who complained about the movie never reaching your town, or being open for five minutes there, have a chance to see it. Let’s support this, fellow Janeites; let’s give this one a long tail and show Hollywood that Jane Austen fans will support quality Jane Austen Brand™ products. Even renting it will help; and if you like it, why not buy it? It’s also available in Blu-Ray!

Cinematical has a nice writeup:

Like any dramatic comedy that focuses on romance — especially one that does so under the mighty pen of Jane Austen — this film is sentimental and romantic, but it’s also got a heck of a cast giving great performances and characters that aren’t the normal flighty heroines.

Yay for real Jane Austen heroines! And there’s even some info about the extras:

As far as the disc goes, there’s a decent number of featurettes, and not all of them are your typical fare. You get: deleted scenes, commentary with cast and crew, a peek behind the scenes, “The Life of Jane Austen,” “The Book Club: Deconstructed,” and for you red carpet fans out there — the Los Angeles premiere.

Speaking of extras, JASNA has an exclusive clip, with Joan Ray, Claire Bellanti, and director Robin Swicord talking about Harris Bigg-Wither, which we believe is from the DVD extras.

Oh, and for those who have said that the not-so-good new films have at least interested viewers in reading Jane Austen, here’s an argument that well-made and funny films will do the same.

Speaking as a Jane Austen virgin, an expression borrowed from “The Jane Austen Book Club,” I am more intrigued by the author after having seen the film — but not enough to read one of her 18th-century sagas, despite urgings from female friends to do so to better understand their affinity for the novels.

Well, almost.

The Philadelphia Daily News (represent!) chats with Kathy Baker about Jane Austen and other things.

As for Austen, I’m assuming you read some of her work before shooting the film?

“I have read some Austen,” Baker said. “I’d always liked ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ but I think I like ‘Sense and Sensibility’ better. But there’s only six, you know, and I don’t know the others. I’m not like my sister, who reads every one of them over every year.

“There are people out there who are just so enamored of her they read her books over and over again. I am not like that. I was playing a character who did that. I was, however, the only cast member who was actually in a book club.”

Was there any type of informal book club on the set of the “Book Club” movie?

“Absolutely,” Baker said. “In fact, we all gave each other books for cast gifts. And we all read the Austen books we needed to read for our characters. And our youngest cast member, Maggie Grace, is one of those Austen-ites.”

Speaking of Kathy Baker, here’s a report of the DVD signing from the other night. Kathy and Maggie both look fabulous!

And good news for our European readers–the movie will be out on Region 2 DVD on March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day!), so drag yourself away from the pub and get a copy! Looks like you’re getting the full complement of extras:

• English, English HOH, Dutch and Hindi subtitles
• Cast and Crew Commentary
• “Making of” The Jane Austen Book Club
• “The Life of Jane Austen” Featurette
• “Character Deconstruction” Featurette
• Deleted Scenes
• Los Angeles Premiere

The film has just opened Down Under, and the Brisbane Times has a review.

This is just a partial list of the dramatis personae and their preoccupations but you can already see that the screenplay - based on the novel by Karen Joy Fowler - is doing its best to duplicate the basic recipe laid down by Austen herself. Take one village, sift through its social circles until you’ve found the characters most likely to provide incident and diversion then spice up their dramatic and romantic prospects with the addition of a few provocative newcomers - which is where Prudie (Emily Blunt wearing a Louise Brooks bob) comes in.

Sadly, we forgot to include Emily Blunt’s wonderful performance in our own review, so we will point to the others that did. (Guess we were too busy fangirling Hugh Dancy.) But both the film and the book come with the highest AustenBlog recommendation possible, for whatever that is worth.