For his first film Autumn de Wilde chooses to adapt a novel by the famous writer Jane Austen, an author whom the seventh art likes given the number of adaptations of her works brought to the big screen. And an art that makes him feel good, the films being generally of good quality. We think in particular of the famous “Pride and prejudice” of Joe Wright but especially in “Reasons and feelings” of Ang Lee and his rain of rewards. There are even diversions of his work in the cinema with the cult teen-movie “Clueless” or in contemporary Bollywood mode with “Coup de foudre à Bollywood”. “Emma. Is the second adaptation of the eponymous novel after “Emma the middleman” with Gwyneth Paltrow and Toni Collette, still little known at the time since it was almost twenty-five years ago. And these two versions are equal, nice but not unforgettable in comparison to other adaptations. “Emma. “The 2020 version is just visually more contemporary and a bit more vacant than its predecessor in the 90s. We must admit from the start that it is difficult to get into the film because the start of the story is rather laborious. Indeed, “Emma. Begins quickly without any real prelude and drowns us under a deluge of characters and names that it is very difficult for us to assimilate. We get lost and it lasts almost a third of the feature film, which is still harmful since our mind is a little confused a good part of the film. It is therefore relatively difficult to fully appreciate it in the sense that the romantic delays experienced on the screen seem opaque. And by the same to revel in verbal jousting and beautiful texts of the writer since our mind is more concerned with understanding who does what and why. There are also a few dispensable characters such as the heroine’s sister and her husband who just pass by and add to the burden of protagonists to be identified. Loyalty to the book is therefore here a ball more than a challenge, because it is easier to take the time to understand and assimilate the ins and outs as well as names to read than watching a film where the we cannot go back. But “Emma” is one of those works that improve not over time but over time. Once past this painful little hour we take pleasure in following this delicious Victorian marivaudage where the low blows are light but the many twists and turns. Verbal jousts are frequent and pleasant and the actors have fun, in postures and situations that are deliberately ridiculous for us (so funny). Anya Taylor-Joy comes out of her bizarre and / or tortured roles and convinces as an ingenious matchmaker. The rest of the cast is of the same ilk with a Bill Nighy as a hypochondriac father and Josh O’Connor, revealed in repressed gay in the country drama “Only the earth”, both very funny in supporting roles. We therefore appreciate without problem “Emma. “Late, especially since the reconstruction of a small town in England in the 19th century, from the sets to the costumes and the accessories, is perfect. Just like the staging of the neo-filmmaker who alternates beautiful wide shots and skilful fields-contrechamps with mastery. Too bad we could not appreciate this film in costumes from the start for lack of narrative clarity. More cinema reviews on my Facebook page Ciné Ma Passion.