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Rating:  - Northanger Abbey
Continuing in the wonderful BBC tradition of period productions this is just another fine example of Jane Austen's written word made for viewing. I enjoyed it and highly recommend it to the Austenites.
Rating:  - Fantastic Production!
This is a wonderful adaptation of one of Austen's best novels. The young cast is excellent, and portray their characters superbly. Utterly convincing and enjoyable. I will never grow tired of this dvd! Highly recommended.
Rating: - Best version yet
This is the best of the new adaptations of Jane Austen's novels. It sticks to the story, is well done, the actors are good and the costumes are beautiful. They got it right on this one!
Rating: - A Great Adaptation
Finally! We have a great adaptation for this story.
I read this story years ago and I didn't understand it the first time around. Seriously, I just didn't get it. Then I read somewhere that she is mocking (in a fan way) the novels of the time. That made the story make a little more sense. Then, last year, when my husband went to the UK on business he brought me back a book that Jane Austen had read and liked well enough called Emmeline by Charlotte Smith. After I read Emmeline, I really understood Northanger Abbey. If someone is not fainting every page then it is not a good chapter.
So having the overly dramatic Emmeline under my belt I reread Northanger Abbey, understood it, and loved it. I still wasn't sure if they would be able to translate it well to the screen. I was a little nervous.
But after watching this, I think I can say that they used their 90 minutes very well. They only changed a few things from the book so it is very faithful to the original narrative and some of the changes actually help you understand the storyline better such as the introduction of Elinor's 'friend' earlier on in the tale.
The only thing that I think they could have shown differently is the trip to Woodston and the last page of the book which tells what Catherine's actual claim to inheritance is. They also could have given a little more information about the deceit of John Thorpe as it intertwined with the story of General Tilney.
I loved the actors who play Henry Tilney and Catherine Morland. They give their characters the perfect mix. I am definitely looking forward to seeing this movie again.
Rating: - A must for your Jane Austen DVD collection!
The two leads were terrific-- very believeable and charming! I especially liked that this director actually took the time to show Cathy Moreland's return trip as it depicted how very dangerous it was for a single, gentile girl to undertake alone, especially at night! It suceesfully translated the full force of General Tilney's anger at sopposedly being hoodwinked! I also enjoyed the performance of Carrie Mulligan as Isabella. The only thing that really annoyed me was that the voice-over at the end, made up a different epilogue. The voice over could have just as easily explained that Henry and Cathy had to wait for Gen. Tilney's acceptance as well as her parent's blessing, to get married-- which they eventually received after Tilney's sister married well and is able to persuade her father to sanction Henry's marriage. Other than that, I wholeheartedly endorse this film. It was a delight! And Northanger Abbey isn't even in the Top 5 of my favorites of Jane Austen's 6 novels!
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