Becoming Jane

"Her own life is her greatest inspiration."

2007 2h 0m EN

👍

7.3

SOLID

★7.3TMDB · 1,289

RomanceDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Though young Jane Austen's financially strapped parents expect her to marry the nephew of wealthy Lady Gresham, Jane herself knows that such a union will destroy her creativity and sense of self-worth. Instead, she becomes involved with Tom Lefroy, a charming but penniless apprentice lawyer who gives her the knowledge of the heart she needs for her future career as a novelist.

“Her own life is her greatest inspiration.”

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Cast

Anne Hathaway
Jane Austen
James McAvoy
Tom Lefroy
Julie Walters
Mrs. Austen
James Cromwell
Mr. Austen
Maggie Smith
Lady Gresham
Joe Anderson
Henry Austen
Lucy Cohu
Eliza de Feuillide
Laurence Fox
Mr. Wisley

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Julian Jarrold
Writers: Kevin Hood, Sarah Williams
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom, Ireland

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 19 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, Ireland.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Directed by Julian Jarrold, shot by Eigil Bryld. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Adrian Johnston. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Emma E. Hickox shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy and Julie Walters carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Her own life is her greatest inspiration.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0416508 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Julian Jarrold directs. Eigil Bryld behind the camera. Adrian Johnston scores. Emma E. Hickox cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom, Ireland. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 19 years ago.
2International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, Ireland.
3Directed by Julian Jarrold, shot by Eigil Bryld. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Adrian Johnston. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Emma E. Hickox shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy and Julie Walters carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Her own life is her greatest inspiration.".
8IMDB entry: tt0416508 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 19 themes, including "future", "new love", "judge", "england".
10Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Eigil Bryld
Original score: Adrian Johnston
Editing: Emma E. Hickox
Production design: Eve Stewart
Costume design: Eimer Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh
Makeup / hair: Veronica McAleer
Stunt coordinator: Donal O'Farrell
Runtime: 120 min · 2h 0m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $16,500,000
Box office: $39,380,831
Return: 239% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Becoming Jane (2007)

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Julian Jarrold

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Filipe Manuel Neto2023-08-05
★ 4/10
Romanticizing Jane. Jane Austen was a nonconformist. She was the seventh child of an Anglican priest and belonged to what we might now call the middle class. She had many books at home, and both parents taught her to read and write, supported her, recognized in her the same talent we all know her now. Moreover, she was unlucky in love: it does not seem that her parents sought to marry her, it is quite plausible that she did not want to marry for economic reasons and the love affairs that we know of her were short and fruitless. With the publication, very shy, of her first editions, the writer's financial situation improved, and public recognition begin to appear. Sadly, the author died quite young, without collect the fruits of her talent. I am not an expert on Jane Austen, but this is, very briefly, the author's biography, almost sketched in a stream. The film focuses on her youth and builds romantic fiction around her. Personally, I'm dubious about much of what happens in this movie. I think much of it is romantic invention, almost turning Austen into one of her own characters, torn between the attention of two very different suitors. The film is not bad, but it is far from flawless and will never be one of the reference “biopics”, at least in my understanding. Julian Jarrold's direction was effective, but he gives us a work that bets more on the construction of the characters and the story than on the relationship between the film and the real life of the biographed person. The cinematography is good and there are some good effects. The soundtrack is mediocre. The period recreation was reasonably done, resorting to decent costumes and good locations and sets. In between, however, there are some grotesque errors and anachronisms: in the ball scene, Jane appears with a dress twenty years ahead of the time, in another scene we see wedding rings, something that did not exist at that time, and in another one we see Jane being recognized as the writer of a novel when, in fact, she published anonymously several of her books and got very little recognition in her lifetime. Even her epitaph, on her tomb in Winchester Cathedral, ignored her literary output until it was replaced by new text in the late 19th century. In the midst of all this, the extraordinary dramatic interpretation of the actors stands out, and especially Anne Hathaway, who gave the character a touch of kindness mixed with a marked rebelliousness and nonconformity. She didn't want to be like other women. James McAvoy also does a very interesting job in this film and deserves our full attention. The film also has good performances by James Cromwell, Julie Walters, Maggie Smith and Ian Richardson.

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