Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
The debut feature film from French writer-director Laura Piani, “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” (“Jane Austen a gâché ma vie”) follows a clumsy Parisian bookseller named Agathe who dreams of being a successful writer (Camille Rutherford, a critical darling of “Anatomy of a Fall”).
Something of a Jane Austen superfan, Agathe sees herself in Anne Elliot, the main character of Austen’s “Persuasion,” in that she’s missed her chance at love in life.
Her best friend, lovable, blunt and messy Felix (Pablo Pauly) gets her into the Jane Austen Writers’ Residency in England, and, as she’s leaving, they share a spontaneous reciprocal kiss, contributing to a spiral of self-questioning and a nasty case of writer’s block once Agathe reaches the residency.
Arriving in England, Agathe meets Oliver (Charlie Anson, who shares a demeanor to Hugh Grant in this film, an Austen veteran himself from 1995’s “Sense and Sensibility”), who lives at the residency as a great nephew of Jane Austen, and he sparks something new in her. She finds him “unbearable and arrogant” but—undeniably and at first subconsciously—charming. Suddenly, Agathe finds herself in a love triangle between two very different men who signify very different parts of her life—home, comfort and safety and the realization of dreams and creativity.
“Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” operates in what feels like a perfect middle ground between the prescient and timeless novels of Jane Austen and what I would argue to be their modern counterparts, the romances of filmmakers like Nora Ephron and Nancy Meyers. As much as it creates challenging character dilemmas for its lead, as Austen would, Piani also uses modern filmmaking language to step into Agathe’s daydreams, treading familiar ground that feels like the daydreams that we all culturally share in romantic classics like Austen’s. The metacommentary that celebrates writing and art is the cherry on top.
Whereas Agathe views writing as a dream and a fantasy and a ticket to success, her father maintains that writing is a way out of chaos—so not to go crazy. And this shift in her understanding of the process of writing is a rich shift in the attitude of the film and the attitude of Agathe towards her environment. Her view of her surroundings shifts from wishing to create to escape loneliness to wishing to create in the heart of her chaotic life, as rescue and as hope.
“Literature is like an ambulance, speeding through the night to save someone,” says Agathe.
My mother is going to love this movie. And I can’t wait to share it with her.
“Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” opens this month at Midtown Cinema.
Midtown Cinema is located at 250 Reily St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.midtowncinema.com.
May Events At Midtown Cinema
Potential First Run Films
“A Big Bold Beautiful Journey”
“Friendship”
“Hurry Up Tomorrow”
“Hot Milk”
“The Phoenician Scheme”
Late Night Frights
“The Babadook” (2014)
Friday, May 2 at 9:30 p.m.
“Hereditary” (2018)
Friday, May 23 at 9:30 p.m.
May the 4th Be with You Weekend
“Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope” (1977)
Friday, May 2 at 9:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 4 at 7:15 p.m.
Saturday Morning Cartoons
“The Secret of Kells” (2009)
Saturday, May 3 at 11 a.m.
“The Secret of NIMH” (1982)
Saturday, May 17 at 11 a.m.
“The Triplets of Belleville” (2003)
Saturday, May 31 at 11 a.m.
NAMI Keystone Pennsylvania
“Inside Out” (2015)
Sunday, May 4 at 11 a.m. (free)
“Inside Out 2” (2024)
Saturday, May 10 at 11 a.m. (free)
National Theatre Live
“Fleabag”
Sunday, May 4 at 5 p.m.
“Hamlet”
Sunday, May 11 at 5 p.m.
“Vanya”
Sunday, May 18 at 5 p.m.
AAPI Heritage Month Movies
“Crazy Rich Asians” (2018)
Sunday, May 4 at 7:30 p.m.
“The Farewell” (2019)
Tuesday, May 13 at 7:30 p.m.
“Minari” (2020)
Sunday, May 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Mother’s Day Series
“Serial Mom” (1994)
Sunday, May 4 at 7 p.m.
“Psycho” (1960)
Friday, May 9 at 9:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 11 at 7 p.m.
Open Mic Night
Tuesday, May 6
Tuesday, May 20
Down in Front! Comedy Riffing
“The Wild Wild World of Batwoman” (1966)
Friday, May 9 at 9:30 p.m.
Trivia Night
Tuesday, May 13
Tuesday, May 27
3rd in the Burg Movie Night
“The Secret of NIMH” (1982)
Friday, May 16 at 9:30 p.m.
Sunday Docs Series
“Summer of Soul” (2021)
Sunday, May 18 at 12 p.m.
Cult Favorites
“The Triplets of Belleville” (2003)
Tuesday, May 27 at 7 p.m.
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