Everyone loves a good period piece now and then. When it’s Jane Austen and happy endings are basically guaranteed, all the better. The latest Jane Austen-based film, Love & Friendship, is taken from one of her earliest novels: Lady Susan.
It’s been blisteringly well-reviewed. But it’s definitely not the only Jane Austen work to make a very entertaining film. Check out these other Jane Austen remakes from a library branch near you!
- Emma. Maybe you like Gwyneth Paltrow? No? How about the guy who grows up to be Elementary‘s Sherlock Holmes? What about a modern take? (As if!)
- Pride and Prejudice. Obviously if we listed out all of them, we’d be here all day, but here are a few: Colin Firth in a pond! Colin Firth in a succession of terrible sweaters and, eventually, a sense of humor! President Snow as Keira Knightley’s dad! Set in India! Set in some kind of weird time travel-y/interdimensional space! With zombies! On YouTube! (That last link is to the books; if you like them, you should check it out online.) IN SPAAAAAAAACE, probably, soon. (She’s a child of Martian terraformers! His parents founded the lunar colony! They meet at a fundraising gala to send a mission to Europa! Call us, Hollywood.)
- Sense and Sensibility. Look, okay, if you haven’t seen the one that Emma Thompson wrote and Ang Lee directed that’s basically two hours of Emma Thompson being better than everyone, don’t even bother reading the rest of this list: you are behind; you need to catch up. Once you’ve come back, click here to check out all the remakes and updates and whatever else you might possibly need.
- All of Jane Austen is deserving of love and affection, but sadly, not all of her works have been given the level of attention they truly deserve. Which is a quick way of saying Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion are kind of on their own. They’re definitely worth seeing!
Whether you’ve never seen a Jane Austen movie in your life or you’ve watched the part where Colin Firth climbs out of the pond so many times that your DVD skips, there’s something here for everyone. Get started today!
