Peneflix MOVIE REVIEWS BY PENEFLIX
Those weaned, gleaned on the poetic property of Jane Austen (1775-1817) will swoon over the enchanting, inappropriately titled “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life”; directed by Laura Piani it marvelously explores protagonist “Agathe Robinson” (insightfully wondrous Camille Rutherford) a lonely, frustrated bookseller and romance novelist, through a contemporary lens, suffused with the late 18th, initial 19th century aesthetics: love, marriage, satirizing social mores of the age; Austen’s female portraits are poignantly intelligent, confrontational, challenged by the conventions of an acquisitive, male-governed society; their manipulative acuity is key to survival. It was a time of dialogue between genders, sans instant intimacy; verbal exploration led to connectiveness or divisiveness, nuanced narrative yielded fruitful, emotive relationships.
“Agatha”, unknown to her, “Felix” (Pablo Pauly) her coworker and best friend, sent the first chapter of her novel to Jane Austen’s Writers Residency; she is accepted; commencing in Austen methodology, she meets “Oliver” (Charlie Anson) reminiscent of “Elizabeth Bennet” and “Mr. Darcy”. Trapped in the bucolic English countryside, suffering writer’s block, her shyness trounced by her fellow writers, in tandem with Oliver’s magnetic allure. As the residency nears its finality, a ball is planned, in traditional Regency style and fashion, couples swirl to the Waltz and Quadrille, without words, hearts are crushed or flourish; Agatha and Oliver eyes and arms intertwined, locked in palpable ardor, requited or unrequited, the scene is a detectable hint. In Austen terminology “To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love.”
“Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” is a tangible reminder of a writer far outdistancing her predecessors; mindfulness of the content of one’s own mind was the cognitive tool that led eventually to permanent affection.
FOUR STARS !!!!
Peneflix
