Tea at Trianon: New Film on Emily Brontë

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, February 7, 2023

New Film on Emily Brontë

It could be either really wonderful or really terrible. From Town and Country:

Instead of being a traditional biopic, Emily —which features a cast including Olivier Jackson-Cohen and Fionn Whitehead—tells an imaginative, magical, and eccentric story about the writer before she became a legend.
"Emily Brontë has always been a touchstone for me in my life and stepping into writing and directing I wanted to tell my first story about something and someone I felt very passionately about," O'Connor tells T&C. "The reason I felt so passionate about Emily is that she was so much her own person, she was so authentic." The film gets at that. As the trailer—premiering here exclusively—makes clear, the movie doesn't just paint by numbers to portray Brontë's life but instead takes cues from her work and that inspiring authenticity to capture the spirit that's made her such an enduring force.
"I'm excited to share this film with U.S. audiences and to see what the reaction is to Emily," O'Connor says. "I wrote the film for young women who are in the middle of working out who they want to be, and so I really hope the film speaks to them. Emily Brontë was also just so smart and funny and creative and wild in a way that really inspires me. It did when I was younger and it still does!" (Read more.)

More HERE.

Mary Kay said...: After reading the post and watching the trailer, I strongly suspect this movie to be the work of feminists, male and female. The lead actress has a modern, arrogant demeanor that very likely was not known in her era. And of course, there are the 'witch-hunt' scenes, always required in 21st century films about historic characters. The trailer was enough for me to decide that I won't watch it, unless I see abundant positive reviews by writers I trust. Life is too short to waste on politically tainted, modernized retellings of the lives of well-kmown authors of past centuries.; February 7, 2023 at 1:39:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Not doubt you are right, MK. I probably won't watch it either unless, as you say, it is highly recommended by people I trust. Please let me know what you hear!; February 7, 2023 at 2:04:00 PM EST