Yes, amy hecklings 1995 movie, clueless, can be related to the novel emma, published in 1816. Clueless is a 1995 american comingofage romantic comedy film written and directed by amy heckerling. How the new emma movie updates the books love story time. How emma exists alongside clueless, according to the director. Dont miss tuesdays keynote on the way normal life of cher horowitz, and wednesdays staff forum on the movies. According to writerdirector amy heckerling, clueless is a modern retelling of jane austens emma. Clueless succeeds as the best movie adaptation of emma because it transforms the original material in unexpectedly novel ways, while maintaining the original themes, inherent likability, and essence of austens beloved characters. It is not about very muchabout the romantic intrigues of a small group of people who will all more or less have to marry one another sooner or. So there were some redeeming scenes throughout the movie. Martin, a humble widowed farmer connor swindells, and based on harriet and mr. It is loosely based on jane austens 1815 novel emma, with a modern day. Clueless and 8 other top 1990s movies actually based on classic. This movie is loosely based on jane austens emma, and it does an excellent job of transferring the story to a contemporary context.
The movie clueless is based on 90s pop culture, even though the movie is based on jane austens emma which is over a century old. Emmacher just doesnt set her up with anyone in this movie, and they use her teachers to show her. How clueless illuminates the timeless genius of jane. Exactly how clueless overlaps with jane austens emma. Original is perhaps a term wrongly applied since it is based on the queen of romance jane austens emma 1815. Clueless is the best thing shes ever done, in my opinion. Clueless is an american comedy film loosely based on jane austens emma. As did her graciousness in accepting emmas attempt at an apology. Some of you may have heard of the classic novel emma, by jane austen. Clueless perfectly translates the world of emma into 1990s america. Silverstone is pitchperfect as cher, the role of her career. She has taken on harriet, an orphaned girl of unknown parentage, boarding at a local girls school. Clueless understands jane austen better than 1996s more. But what clueless did was update the classic story by coating it with high school drama, teenage girls and shopping and sprinkle it with heavy doses of humour.
Douglas mcgraths emma, starring gwyneth paltrow as emma woodhouse, came out a year after clueless, and reclaimed the story for the 19th century. Clueless is een film uit 1995 onder regie van amy heckerling. I saw some of her other novels and i have to say she was such a good writer with good sense of humor. Clueless is a 1995 american comingofage teen comedy film written and directed by amy heckerling. There is no doubt that clueless substantially derives, and is adapted from emma. As a bonus, the beverly hills comedy clueless was based on the same story. Mia goth and anya taylorjoy in emma focus features emma. It stars alicia silverstone, stacey dash, paul rudd, dan hedaya and brittany murphy. Clueless takes its plot and characters from jane austens emma, much in the same way that bridget jones diary updated jane austens pride and prejudice. As part of the denver film critic association i have apparently gotten myself into something that i might well regret. Cher alicia silverstone and dionne stacey dash, both named after great singers of the past that now do infomercials, are pampered upperclass girls who care less about getting good grades than wearing the right clothes and.
Austen never took her stories too seriously, and heckerlings film marches to a similar rhythm. But when emma coolly tells the servant to not pick a particular flower, but the next one, i almost cheered. Comparing clueless and emma essay 1816 words bartleby. Roger michells 1995 persuasion came in the same year as the far more ballyhooed andrew davies version of pride and prejudice. Emma is the fourth recent version of an austen novel, after persuasion, sense and sensibility and the tv adaptation of pride and prejudice. Based on the novel by jane austen who in the 90s seemed to be in the running alongside william shakespeare and stephen king for the honors of most adapted author in hollywood, this period romantic comedy stars gwyneth paltrow as emma woodhouse, a young woman who imagines herself an authority on matters of the heart. This movie is loosely based on jane austens novel emma, transposed into a modern us high school. Our movie of the week discussion of clueless ends here. The story, for those whose english literature90sera movies. Harriet is an outsider because she is lower class, while tai is the. Clueless has gone on to be a cult classic and with good reason. It stars alicia silverstone, stacey dash, paul rudd, dan hedaya, and brittany murphy.
A comparison of emma by jane austen and movie clueless. Some fans of the iconic 90s high school movie forget that it. Emma may live alone on a giant estate with her father, but her world is very crowded. Jane austen might never have imagined that her 1816 novel emma could be turned into a fresh and satirical look at ultrarich teenagers in a beverly hills high school. The film is set in beverly hills, and is centered around fashionobsessed high schooler, cher horowitz, and her attempts to matchmake and do good in her community.
Although emma was written in 1816 and developed ideas and. Diving in, she noted what made the 1995 movie such a strong take on the original novel, and why it clicked so well with audiences. A comparison of emma by jane austen and movie clueless the film clueless, written and directed by amy heckerling, is an adaptation of jane austens novel emma and closely parallels the story in terms of character development and action. Cher is a beautiful, wealthy and popular student, daughter of a very known lawyer and whose mother is long since dead. By this criteria, clueless is above and beyond the best jane austen film adaptation. My audience for my research paper is people attending a pop culture conference. Loosely based on the 19thcentury jane austen novel emma, the 1995 movie offers a satirical look at rich kids in beverly hills, primarily focusing on the superficial cher played in the original by alicia silverstone in her romantic pursuits while. Special thanks to sally palmer and janet elizabeth hayes for having made postings that pointed out parallels between the two. When clueless updated emma and became an instant classic. Emma makes a project of harriet smith, just like cher makes a project of tai. However, have you ever considered that emma is clueless. Martins interactions, her feelings for him are reciprocated. More than 20 years after gwyneth paltrow charmed in emma, a new version of.
Fascinated with the social mores depicted in the novel, heckerling pulled austens cast of characters and basic plotlines and dropped them into the contemporary setting of beverly hills high school, circa 1995. I know of two that id consider genuinely good movies. And like emma, she ends up falling for an older guy who is already part of the family. It is loosely based on jane austen s 1815 novel, emma. Cher, like emma, enriches her world by match making. It stars alicia silverstone, paul rudd, brittany murphy, stacey dash, and breckin meyer. Emma steps out of england and into beverly hills 1at first glance, the movie clueless 1995 might seem like any other teen comedy as it pokes fun at high school cliques and overly dramatizes the almost weekly changes in love of the main characters. I realize that what im about to say may shock and disturb you, but i think that clueless is the best jane austen film adaptation. It is based on the novel of same name by jane austen. Its an entirely revisionist spin on emma that takes miss woodhouse out of the idyllic environ of highbury and into 1990s beverly hills.
Tv comedy series based on emma reimagined for modern audiences. Clueless was produced by scott rudin and robert lawrence. This is emmaan autocratic perfectionist, who believes she can manipulate people as well as she does flowers, but who can also be endearingly silly. The movie spans a year in the life of privileged and beautiful emma, whose, erm, clueless matchmaking efforts. Why clueless is the best jane austen film adaptation. The movie is a loose adaptation of jane austens 19century novel emma. Whats not to love about a genre that includes both clueless and colin firth in a wet shirt. As emma herself realized, a certain amount of playfulness goes a long, long way. At the height of austenmania in the 90s, when a stream of films adapting jane austen novels occurred, emma was turned into no less than 3 productions. It does feel like a heightened world, but it is based on historical accuracy. Clueless is a comingofage teen film loosely based on jane austens classic novel emma written and directed by amy heckerling. Then clueless made its debut, on july 19, 1995, and became the no. It doesnt feel dated the direction is bright and fresh, and the performances are uniformly excellent.