Apparently My Brilliant Career, the 1901 semi-autobiographical novel by Australian (Stella) Miles Franklin is having a moment. A year or two ago there was a staged musical adaptation, and despite it already have been adapted into the PERFECT (if dated) film adaptation in 1979, Netflix is remaking it as a six-part miniseries, which premieres August 13. After my initial gut reaction, which involved a lot of swearing and punching things, okay, yes, doing a new adaptation of what is a wonderful novel brings it to a new audience, which, yes, is a good thing. But did we have to add in corset yanking, some weird costume choices, and modern dancing, among whatever else awaits us?
My Brilliant Career‘s story focuses on Sybylla, a headstrong, intelligent young woman growing up in rural Australia during one of their worst droughts. Her family is struggling, which isn’t helped by Sybylla’s determination to be a writer; Sybylla, of course, feels misunderstood and like her nascent genius is being wasted. Her mother becomes so frustrated that she sends Sybylla to stay with her well-to-do grandmother, where she meets wealthy neighbor Harold and things get complicated. As I wrote in my Top 5 Historical Costume Movies for Book Lovers, Sybylla “faces the ultimate choice: love or an independent life of the mind? … Have tissues ready, not because it’s tragic, but because it will resonate so deeply.” Despite my bad attempt at summarizing it, it’s a WONDERFUL novel that’s a great example of Actual Historical Feminism and not the stupid “Lady Doing Man Things” trope.
In 1979, director Gillian Armstrong (Little Women) made a feature-film adaptation starring Judy Davis and Sam Neill (RIP), with costumes credited to Anna Senior (but if you read my in-depth review, you’ll find out why they were actually designed by Luciana Arrighi but she didn’t get the credit). My review details just why I love this story so much. Okay, so I tried to make Trystan watch it and she was bored — you need to be in the mood for a naturalistic story that will creep up on you slowly. But a big part of my love for the film (in addition to the excellent performances by Davis and Neill) ARE the costumes, which just read as real and true to the era in a way that reinforces the emotional resonance of the story.
So, okay, we get another remake, in which obviously the filmmakers have decided that contemporary audiences can’t handle a story that’s just Of Its Period:
Things I don’t object to:
- 75% of designer Mariot Kerr‘s (Anzac Girls, Deadline Gallipoli) costumes:
- Casting Anna Chancellor as Granny:
- Christopher Chung (Blitz) as Henry:
Things I do object to:
- A stupid corset yanking scene complete with YANK foley effect (as my friend Julia said, “When they have the corset tight lacing scene, you know she’s not like the other girls”):
- This faux-Balenciaga nightmare:
- “Ooo how cool are we having them dance like modern people!” (Possibly a rant for next Snark Week?)
- Whatever the fuck this rando is wearing in blue and orange:
- And I’m sorry but is Granny wearing TIE-DYE??
I’ll definitely be hate-watching (but hey, I’m open to being won over??) and reporting back.
Do you have Feelings about this new adaptation of My Brilliant Career?
