Tag Archives: British Literature

Film Reviews

Film Review: Emily (2022)

STORY

Nearing her death and after the publication of her novel, Emily Brontë remembers her troubled past when she and her brother Branwell spent their time playing, drinking, and scaring people out. During all this, a handsome curate William Weightman becomes a frequent visitor to the Brontës. And he and Emily, out of nowhere, develops a romantic affair.

THE BRONTËS

British literature history will never forget that one of the houses in Yorkshire produced not one, not two but three writers who at such young ages wrote one of the most beloved novels. They were three sisters; Charlotte, Emily, and Anne. Charlotte wrote ‘Jane Eyre‘. Emily’s only published novel was ‘Wuthering Heights‘. And Anne, the youngest of them, wrote only two novels in her lifetime, ‘Agnes Grey‘ and ‘The Tenant of Wildfell Hall‘.

This tendency of minimal but significant writing makes us believe that blessed literary prodigies came into existence who left this world at such young ages. They would certainly have done wonders had they all lived longer.

REVIEW

The film dramatizes all the family members and centralizes on Emily by reimagining her life with creative liberties. Unsure if the writing of Emily’s character in the film is accurate. But I get the motive that the filmmakers wanted the audience to understand why Emily chose to be sadistic as compared to the other sisters.

The dramatization of the old British era has always been on point. So the technicalities were not the primary concern for me. My keenness towards the film was to observe if Emily Brontë is characterized by the personal rank that justifies her significance to the birth of ‘Wuthering Heights’. Therefore, I couldn’t settle myself into that presentation.

EMILY AS EMILY

Something looked off in the writing. And that persistently is Emily’s portrayal of herself. Because she was an introvert, a timid and reserved woman who sometimes was unable to speak in public. She was a daydreamer who is understood to have created her own fictional universe. She was considered ‘The Strange One’. But the hows and whys of being ‘The Strange One’ were not fully understood.

And due to the reason Emily is so unknown to us, the filmmakers gave their vision and took liberty about her life and tried to reason it. But a fictional reimagination will come to debate when you alter the timeline or historical accuracies.

HISTORICAL INACCURACIES

For example, the film shows that ‘Wuthering Heights’ is published under her name whereas it was published under her name after her death. The Brontë sisters used male pseudonyms for publishing novels because the author being a woman was quite unthinkable and there was a fear of rejection that would hurt the publishing company’s business. Thank Lord, how much the world has progressed from there.

Charlotte’s ‘Jane Eyre’ doesn’t revolve around the film and is depicted in a way that she got that inspiration after Branwell and Emily died. Whereas ‘Jane Eyre’ happened before ‘Wuthering Heights’. If this is all intentional, for me, it makes no sense. The power of writing compromises for lacking critical factualities.

Affair with Weightman?

The biggest mess is Emily shown to be in love with William Weightman. There is no trace or fact-finding if Emily ever fell in love. And then I also question, how come she wrote ‘Wuthering Heights’? The principal curator of Brontë Parsonage Museum, Ann Dinsdale, has told The Telegraph that there is no evidence that Emily had a love affair with anyone. William Weightman is rumored to have an affair with the youngest sister, Anne.

So the director tried to squeeze the younghood of feminine liberty and didn’t only make Emily kiss William Weightman but commit multiple intercourses. Unsure of how far you can go with the character. Not being a conservative here but I believe Emily would have been written much better.

THE BIGGEST PLUS

Yes, I must praise Emma Mackay‘s selection for the titular role. She really fitted in that character and gave us a thorough look at the suffering and desperation. The devastation that she throws on William is what I am talking about.

CLOSING REMARKS

‘Emily’ is an assumption galvanizing a possibility of vibrance in Emily Brontë’s supposedly love life. But the attempt of justifying the What-Ifs is ridiculed by passive writing.

RATING: 6/10

 

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World of Comics

Comic Book Review: Kingsman – The Secret Service (2012)

Gary “Eggsy” Unwin lives with his mother and brother Ryan in Peckham, South London. One night, he gets arrested for smashing up a stolen car. His uncle Jack London bails him out and recruits him to work for the British spy agency. After a three-year training, Eggsy is put in use to work as an agent, and along with Uncle Jack, they investigate a series of celebrity kidnappings that leads to the dangerous Doctor James Arnold whose mission is to reduce the human race to only one billion population to avoid facing a total extinction and establish a brand new society of intellect.

British literature has a proud history of presenting one of the most pre-eminent spies and detective writings. Kingsman may not rank amongst the great writings but established a cult status, especially after the first graphic novel was turned into a film. The popularity of the novel can be observed this way that Kingsman’s first novel ‘The Secret Service‘ was published in 2012 but the idea of filming the book began the very next year.

The Secret Service was created by a trinity of Mark Millar, Dave Gibbons, and Matthew Vaughn. Millar wrote, Gibbons drew, and Vaughn co. plotted. The novel has six issues and those who have watched the first film in the series will enjoy reading this and remember a lot of scenes coming straight from this novel. But after reading this, I feel that the film improved by sensationalizing the story. The audience will get more joy in watching than reading because of the ideas and the changes that were developed in the film.

And these are major changes I am talking about. Professor James Arnold, a small character portrayed by Mark Hamill in the film is actually the main antagonist of the novel as Doctor James Arnold. Colin Firth‘s Harry Hart is Jack London in the book but his relationship with the main character Eggsy differs. He is an uncle to the kid in the novel but not in the film. In fact, the film had a backstory that well supported the cause that introduced Eggsy to the spy agency. The famous William Horman quote Manners Maketh Man wasn’t written in the novel but picturized in the film. Jack London’s death scene is totally different, he got killed by Professor Arnold without knowing his identity whereas, in the film, Harry Hart is killed by the antagonist Richmond Valentine portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson after that magnificent action sequence inside the church. Gazelle is an African-American man in the book who can also speak but is a mute girl in the film.

So many things changed in the film but these are acceptable because it was the trinity of Millar, Gibbons, and Vaughn who made this film. Millar and Gibbons were the executive producers and Vaughn directed this. So there is no point in questioning the changes if the creators of Kingsman were responsible for the decision making.

Dave Gibbons’ artistry has a classic detailing of old-school comics with pretty good care on facial moods, posh attires, and brilliant bloody violent action scenes. Observe the gunshot exploding in Jack’s head. I don’t know why I have this feeling but the Blu-ish theme used in the night scenes is striking like Eggsy’s team flying near the mountains in Switzerland or the balloon in the air.

The Secret Service is a short story that gives the readers its share of entertainment, enjoyable humor, quality violence, and such an impressive character detailing of Eggsy and Jack. The fans of the Kingsman series can definitely give a try to this book.

REFERENCE

Kingsman: The Secret Service Issues 1-6 (2012-2013)

FREE DOWNLOAD

https://kingsman.fandom.com/wiki/The_Secret_Service_(comic_series)

SUPPORTING VIDEO

If any reader is willing to watch a visual commentary about the graphic novel and the film, watch this video.