Austenland
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Austenland |
| Original title | Austenland |
| Country of production | UK , USA |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2013 |
| length | 97 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 0 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jerusha Hess |
| script | Jerusha Hess, Shannon Hale , novel based on: Shannon Hale |
| production |
Stephenie Meyer , Gina Mingacci |
| music | Ilan Eshkeri |
| camera | Larry Smith |
| cut | Nick Fenton |
| occupation | |
| |
Austenland is a 2013 romantic comedy directed by Jerusha Hess with Keri Russell in the lead role. The film is based on the 2007 book by Shannon Hale and is about a woman in her mid-thirties who is obsessed with Jane Austen . She travels to England in Austenland, where the Jane Austen era came to life.
action
Jane Hayes is in her mid-thirties and, after a few failures, still single. One reason for this, according to her best friend, could be her obsession with Jane Austen and the romance in her books. So she scrapes up all her savings and flies to England in Austenland to find her real Mr. Darcy.
In Austenland, numerous actors are employed to play servants and, for the exclusively female guests, romantic heroes. The guests also give themselves new names. Jane quickly makes the acquaintance of the open-hearted "Miss Charming", a wealthy heiress who is primarily interested in getting to know men in Austenland and getting close to them. A romance with a male actor is included in the "Austanland Package", but any kind of contact is prohibited, which Mrs. Charming deliberately ignores.
As soon as you enter the salon, the characters are introduced "in accordance with Austenland": the distinguished owner of Austenland Mrs. Wattlesbrook, who introduces the women to society and condescendingly introduces Jane as a poor, unmarried orphan ; the rather indiscriminate Colonel Andrews, who swarmed all the ladies with exuberant compliments; the beautiful, blonde, conversational and also rich Lady Amelia and finally the nephew of the house, Mr. Nobley, apparently swarmed by her, but aloof and arrogant-looking - all these characters actually look a bit like borrowed from an Austen novel. Only Mrs. Charming in her frivolous, but very honest manner doesn't quite fit into the picture and thus underlines the surreality of the situation. While Miss Charming is having fun with Colonel Andrews and enjoying the pretend attentions of the other men as well, Jane immediately attracts the attention of Mr. Nobley, whom she is not very inclined to, however, as he looks arrogant and does not have a high opinion of either Seems to have women. The jealous blonde beauty Amelia then remarked loudly and aptly that the man-woman relationship in the room was uneven and that Jane was actually superfluous.
During a riding excursion and target practice, Jane receives a lot of attention and support from the stable boy Martin. When her horse is paralyzed, he promises to get her a new one and leaves her in the forest. However, a thunderstorm is approaching there. Drenched and cold, Jane is tracked down by the image of Mr Darcy, Mr Nobley, who brings her back to the house on his horse and blames the stable boy for leaving her alone.
Because Jane only booked the copper package, she is treated with disdain by some members of the house and excluded from some activities. That is why she soon begins to withdraw and seek distraction more and more frequently. She finds this in the stable boy Martin, who clearly flirts with her and to whom she also feels drawn, since he seems to be the only real thing on the property. Together they break some of the rules of Austenland (no newfangled gadgets and expressions, no touch, manners and decency appropriate to the Regency ). Mr. Nobley watches Jane a couple of times as she tries to sneak up on Martin and stops her, to which she reacts irritably. When, however, one night in an attempt to get to Martin, old Mr. Wattlesbrook, the mistress of the house, tried to attack her, it was also Mr. Nobley who immediately came to her aid.
Soon another actor appears who portrays the rich captain Georg East and tries very hard for Jane. Martin, who observes this, therefore makes a scene later and the relationship between the two of them, which is just budding, seems to break.
Initially devastated, Jane decides after a short time that she has not squandered her entire fortune in vain and that she wants to enjoy her stay in Austenland just as it was intended: She wants to throw herself into the game and the one being played Enjoy attention, play your own novel. Mrs. Charming helps Jane feel better by getting her more beautiful clothes than the copper package would allow her.
The gentlemen of Austenland actually react happily to the transformed, suddenly more open-looking Jane, but their joy is short-lived: The owner of Austenland found Jane's cell phone in her clothes - an offense that is punished in Austenland with immediate departure, provided that you only booked the copper package. The blonde beauty Amelia, however, takes a completely surprising stand up for Jane and claims that Jane hid the cell phone only for her. Jane is allowed to stay and soon learns that the blonde's help was not selfless and without price: Amelia fears for the attention of the captain, because of whom she came to Austenland in the first place. She orders Jane to help her get time alone with the captain if she is not to reveal "her secrets" to the lady of the house. Jane soon has the opportunity to do her this favor by looking for couples for a play written by the landlady. Jane has to play with Mr. Nobley. The two lead similar teasing, questioning dialogues as they are known from the novel and make a pretty couple. Mr. Nobley discovers Jane's sketchbook and asks her why she drew it more often than the others. She replies: Because she tried to fathom him, but she didn't succeed.
But when she meets Martin alone for a moment, he suddenly pulls her close and kisses her as if nothing had happened. Jane looks confused, but continues her flirtation with Mr. Nobley anyway. In the play, which seems ridiculous through and through, Mr. Nobley radebrecht his lines far too quietly, only he speaks the last words loud and clear and with a deep look in Jane's eyes: he loves her. Laughing, the two run away after the play and finally land in Jane's room, but then keep the etiquette and Mr. Nobley leaves her again, but not without being promised the first two dances at the ball.
Couples can be found at the ball, and the expected false vows of love and marriage vows are prayed down everywhere. When, after the first dances, Mr. Nobley also confesses his love to Jane, Jane flees because she has realized that this supposedly intended spectacle does not make her happy. She no longer longs to experience novels, she wants to live in reality, experience something real. She is looking for Martin. She wants to spend the rest of her free time with him and he seems very pleased about that.
In the final conversation with the manager of Austenland, however, Jane learns completely unprepared that it was not Mr. Nobley who was destined for her, as she had believed, but - in keeping with the copper package - the stable boy Martin. She realizes that all the wonderful experiences with Martin were just a program. Incredibly hurt, Jane threatens the Lady of Austenland to sue her for her intrusive husband and drives to the airport disappointed. There she is intercepted by Martin, who was forwarded to her to "smooth things over". In the middle of the ensuing argument with Martin, Mr. Nobley also appears. Both men claim to really love Jane, but Jane can only laugh at all this acting. She flies home disappointed and disenchanted.
After Jane cleared out her romanticized apartment, adapted to Jane Austen's novels, and invited her best friend, Mr. Nobley suddenly appears in her apartment instead - allegedly to bring her back the forgotten sketchbook. He explains to her that he is not an actor, but really the nephew of the lady of the house, his real name is Henry Nobley and a history professor. He was only there out of curiosity and to go on vacation, without the intention or the thought of falling in love - which unfortunately happened. Jane tries to avoid him at first, claiming that she no longer believes in love, that it is nothing real. The professor doesn't let her get away with it so easily and makes it clear to her that he and she are definitely something very real ...
In the credits you learn that Miss Charming bought Austenland and turned it into a very typical, commercialized amusement park that no longer has anything to do with Austenland's original idea. You can see all the well-known characters, including Jane and Henry, doing their favorite activities or little crazy things in them.
Reviews
kino-zeit.de says about Austenland: "Austenland is casual entertainment, a RomCom that is only original due to the idea of the setting and that will primarily appeal to women and fans of Jane Austen. But that's basically one and the same thing."
Groarr-Filmmagazin says about Austenland: "Precisely because the film does not pretend to find Mr. Perfect for the protagonist, but rather to become aware of one's own life situation, to finally lift the pink veil of the never-to-be-achieved ideal state, to remove some of the legacies to get rid of it and move forward with a fresh mind, the formulaic composition of the genre conventions cannot be circumvented, but at least it can be defined a little broader, something that corresponding genre representatives in recent years did not even try to do. "
Web links
- Austen country in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Austenland at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Austenland at Metacritic (English)