Everything you need to know
about
BECOMING JANE
…and how it relates to you
and the world around you.
Includes info on the actors,
director, with news, reviews,
and photos.
Presentation by
David Bruce,
VisualHollywood.com
SYNOPSIS
Movies Contain the
Essence of Being Human
Becoming Jane is the story of the great, untold romance that
inspired a young Jane Austen, played by Anne Hathaway. Willful
and spirited, Jane is not ready to be tied down to anything but
her writing. That is until she meets Tom Lefroy (James McAvoy) a
charming rogue from London who spends more time drinking
and socializing than on his law studies.
CAST
The Cinematic Arts Have the
Power to Transform
Anne Hathaway - Jane Austen
James McAvoy - Tom Lefroy
Julie Walters - Mrs. Austen
James Cromwell - Mr. Austen
Maggie Smith - Lady Gresham
Anna Maxwell Martin - Cassandra Austen
Joe Anderson - Henry Austen
Lucy Cohu - Eliza de Feullide
CREW
Director:
Julian Jarrold
Soundtrack:
Adrian Johnston
Screenplay writers:
Kevin Hood & Sarah
Williams
Cinematography:
Eigil Bryld
Costume:
Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh
Casting:
Gail Stevens & Gillian
Our Artists Are
Our Liberators
CAST
ANNE HATHAWAY
(Jane Austen)
Continuing to emerge as one of
Hollywood's most engaging talents,
she most recently starred with
Meryl Streep in the hit comedy THE
DEVIL WEARS PRADA, following on
the heels of her critically admired
turn in Ang Lee's drama,
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN opposite
Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger and
Michelle Williams. She also recently
starred in the independent drama
HAVOC directed by Barbara Kopple,
and provided the voice for "Red" in
the animated film HOODWINKED.
Actors are
Liberators Unaware
CAST
JAMES MCAVOY
(Tom Lefroy)
was most recently seen in THE
LAST KING OF SCOTLAND,
starring opposite Forest
Whitaker as the physician to
Idi Amin, and in the romantic
comedy drama STARTER FOR
TEN. After playing Dan in Paul
Abbott's highly acclaimed TV
series "State of Play," he went
on to film the role of Leto in
the Science Fiction miniseries
"Children of Dune" in 2003. He
starred in Stephen Fry's
directorial debut BRIGHT
YOUNG THINGS .
Actors help us: laugh, be happy, cry,
get angry, and even think.
CREW
JULIAN JARROLD (Director)
made his feature film directorial debut
with KINKY BOOTS (2005). He has
worked in the UK television in
successful British TV drama series and
mini-series in that period. In 1994
Julian directed a BAFTA winning
episode of the acclaimed ITV drama
series "Cracker, The Big Crunch,"
which he followed up with the two hour
film for Granada, "Some Kind of Life,“
which was nominated for a BAFTA.
Working with the BBC Julian also
directed the Emmy-nominated
miniseries "Great Expectations"
starring Ioan Gruffudd and Charlotte
Rampling and "All The King's Men"
starring David Jason and Maggie
Smith.
Filmmakers are Revolutionaries,
Not Just Entertainers
TRIVIA AND NEWS
Jane Austen
(1775–1817)
was an English novelist
whose works include Sense
and Sensibility, Pride and
Prejudice, Mansfield Park,
Emma, Northanger Abbey,
and Persuasion.
Movie Making is the Convergence
of Many Talents and Art Forms
Her social commentary and
masterful use of both free
indirect speech and irony
eventually made Austen one
of the most influential and
honored novelists in English
literature. Her novels were all
written and set around the
Regency Era. She never
married and died at age 41.
THE STORY
The film spins the few known facts
surrounding Austen's real-life flirtation
with the Irish lawyer, Tom Lefroy, into a
tale about the kind of personal passion
and social complications that could have
inspired Jane to become the ingenious
and utterly timeless observer of human
relationships and romance that she soon
did. Indeed, the story playfully references
the characters and themes that wend
their way through her six novels.
Stories are
Transforming
THE STORY
All Kids are Born Artistic
What is Natural is Essential
The year is 1795 and young Jane Austen is a feisty 20 year-old and
emerging writer who already sees a world beyond class and
commerce, beyond pride and prejudice, and dreams of doing what
was then nearly unthinkable -- marrying for love, without any regard
for financial well-being at all; in other words, their romance was
based not on sense, but on sensibility or feeling, as the word meant
in her day and in her book title, Sense and Sensibility.
Stories Embody the
Essence of Being Human
THE STORY
Naturally, her parents
(JULIE WALTERS and
JAMES CROMWELL) are
searching for a wealthy, well
appointed husband to
assure their daughter's
future social standing. They
are eyeing Mr. Wisley
(LAURENCE FOX), nephew
to the very formidable, not
to mention very rich, local
aristocrat Lady Gresham
(MAGGIE SMITH), as a
prospective match.
THE STORY
Cinematic Story Telling is a
Profoundly Humanizing endeavor.
But when Jane meets the
roguish and decidedly nonaristocratic Tom Lefroy (JAMES
MCAVOY), sparks soon fly
along with the sharp repartee.
His intellect and arrogance raise
her ire -- then knock her head
over heels. Now, the couple,
whose flirtation flies in the face
of the common sense of the
age, are faced with a terrible
dilemma.
THE STORY
If they attempt to marry, they will risk
everything that matters -- family, friends and
fortune. But navigating the stormy waters
between romance and duty, heart and head,
sensibility and sense, goodness and
greatness is all a part of BECOMING JANE.
Film making is a
Community Event.
CRITICAL OPINION
Free Artistic Expression is
a Mark of a Free Society
Hathaway is too good an actress not to deliver more than just a
grand star turn and she's able to carry the story of Austen's.
--Gene Seymour, Newsday
Clearly embraces the spirit of the beloved novelist.
--Claudia Puig, USA Today
A smart and well-acted drama that is a refreshing change of pace
from this summer's overblown blockbusters.
--Jeff Vice, Deseret News
FILM REVIEW by david bruce
There is good reason why Jane
Austen is so popular. She was more
than her cultural limitations, her
ambition and perseverance makes
her story timeless. This movie
captures that. Most supporters of the
movie praise the original screenplay,
which was derived from biographies
and letters of Jane Austen, the
costumes, the music, and the solid
performance by a leading cast.
But there is more going on here –the
film inspires and motivates, just as
the Jane Austen legacy does. Need
encouragement? Treat yourself to this
beautifully produced film. Be inspired.
Art is the Language
of Liberation
FINDING LIBERATION
THROUGH DANCE
To dance is to be out of
yourself. Larger, more
beautiful, more powerful.
This is power, it is glory
on earth and it is yours
for the taking.
Society is only as free as its arts.
Art is the voice of human freedom.
Jane Austen loved to
dance. Her letters to her
sister Cassandra
expressed how Jane loved
dancing. For instance, on
24 Dec. 1798 she wrote:
“...here were twenty
dances, and I danced them
all, and without any
fatigue. I was glad to find
myself capable of dancing
so much, and with so
much satisfaction as I
did…"
USING EXPERIENCE
TO OVERCOME BIAS
Art is a
Liberating Force
“If you wish to
practice the art of
fiction, to be the equal
of a masculine author,
experience is vital.
Your horizons must
be…widened.”
– Tom Lefroy (quote
from Becoming Jane)
“Experience: that
most brutal of
teachers. But you
learn, my God do you
learn.”
--C.S. Lewis
REWARD THROUGH
PERSEVERANCE
“A novel must show
how the world truly
is… My characters
shall have, after a
little trouble, all that
they desire.”
– Jane Austen
(quote from
Becoming Jane)
To Restrict Creativity is to Restrict
the very Nature of the Creator
Jane Austen’s
perseverance
(from movie script):
Lady Gresham: What
is she doing?
Mr. Wisley: Writing.
Lady Gresham: Can’t
anything be done
about it?
“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must
have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves.
We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that
this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.”
--Marie Curie
visual review by
visualhollywood.com
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