Yes I see this production is low budget and all, with an amateurish feel about it, and yet still I found it quite excellent - admirable indeed. Doran Godwin gives an expressionist portrayal of Emma which suits the character, and John Carson is a likable Mr. Knightley. All in all the casting is mere perfection; Thimoty Peters is a funny, yet realistic Mr. Elton; Debbie Bowen as Harriet Smith might be to much of a good thing, but then again Constance Chapman is most excellent as Miss Bates. Whats great about this "cheap" production is you feel the uneasiness of family gatherings, the ugliness of character and how irritating and limited this polite language can be. In more updated Jane Austen films, things might seem a bit artificial, as if the characters live in glossy prints. Certainly Austens times were just as "real" and shitty as ours, and this comes to front in this brilliant, yet quite forgotten, miniseries of Emma. The best dramatization of this marvelous novel so far.
