Emma (1996 theatrical film) Jane Austen's most endearing character, the disastrously self-assured matchmaker Emma Woodhouse. A fine cast, speedy pacing and playful direction make this a solid contender for the Austen sweepstakes." Emma (1996 theatrical film) Emma is a 1996 period film based on the 1815 novel of the same name by Jane Austen. Written and directed by Douglas McGrath, the film stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Alan Cumming, Toni Collette, Ewan McGregor, and Jeremy Northam. The film describes a year in the life of Emma Woodhouse, a congenial but naïve young woman who thinks of herself as a romantic matchmaker in her small community in
Jane Austen Centre public display there. The only verifiable image of her is a small watercolour painted by her sister Cassandra. This, however, has been acknowledged by experts as a ‘poor attempt’ and was described by her niece as ‘hideously unlike’ her aunt Jane. At the same time though, there exists many contemporary descriptions of her by friends and it was in this fact that the origin of the sculpture lies. In 2002, David Baldock, Director of the Jane Austen Centre, commissioned forensic artist Melissa Dring to create a new portrait of Austen, after reading about her work creating a likeness of Vivaldi