Part Two features an Austeny Ball!
You know it’s Jane Austen when some female character says, “Oh, you must have a ball! I won’t hear otherwise.” Cut to: carriages pulling up and ladies being escorted out. And then, dancing. But not Freestyle. Very polite and structured line dancing. Men on one side. Women on the other. And at some point, the two lines will form a Bridge of Arms and the main couple will skip through it. And I eat it up.
So Part Two‘s Ball was basically due to Frank Churchill saying, “Yeah, this place is great but not enough dancing.” And Emma says, “Yeah.” Paraphrasing, of course. But then Frank leaves because his aunt is ill. He tells Emma goodbye and leaves her wondering if he loves her. And more importantly, she wonders if she loves him. No! (Sorry that was my Knightley love coming out.) Frank does come back and they plan the ball. But Mrs. Elton behaves like it’s for her. Yeah, you read that right: Mrs. Elton. Didn’t take vicar long to get over Emma.
Mrs. Elton is played by a particular favorite bitch of mine: Christina Cole. I’m sure she’s actually really nice but she plays a great bitch. Last saw her in Lost in Austen which told the story of a modern woman who steps into Pride and Prejudice through
a door in her loo. Cole played Bingley’s sister. You know, the bitch? And Cole was also in a movie that I have no business of having seen more than once but, alas, I have: What a Girl Wants. Amanda Bynes goes to London to see her father, Colin Firth. Cole is his soon-to-be step daughter. A bitch. And according to IMDB, she’s in a slasher flick with Stan Shunpike from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Mickey from Doctor Who. From the trailer it looks like she becomes a cannibal. And I will bet ten dollars that she’s called a bitch at some point in the movie.
Back to the ball. Knightley asks Harriet to dance when no one would. Then he and Emma dance. Internally, I was clapping and saying, “They loooooooooooove each other.” Later on, they show Knightley looking wistful so the director throws in a quick scene of Emma to show that he’s moony over her. Duh. He looooooooooooves her.
Oh, and only two Michael Gambon sightings. The man must have finally demanded rest.
What did I learn from Emma, Part Two? If you are romantically rejected, immediately marry someone from another town. Find a niche and stick with it. And force people to host balls.
