Jane Austen Wrecked My Life Review
Jane Austen Wrecked My Life (Jane Austen a gâché ma vie) is a French language (and some English in there too) romantic comedy written and directed by Laura Piani.
It feels like this rom-com was made specifically for me: An aspiring writer who works at a bookshop* in Paris goes to a writer's retreat in the English countryside that’s hosted by descendants of Jane Austen. Well, I suppose it's just the dream of every bibliophile who has perhaps watched the 2005 Pride and Prejudice at least 100 times and bawled their eyes out reading Wentworth’s letter to Anne at the end of Persuasion.
Writer’s Block be like…
But perhaps what hit me the most about this film is how Agathe avoids things; she’s coasting through life and has massive impostor syndrome, which stamps out her creativity. Her best friend is the one who gets her onto the retreat. Still, she tries to resist going due to past trauma (involving a car accident- though girl could have taken the Eurostar?) but also because she’s worried that everyone else will be better than her and that she doesn’t really belong there and that she is only fooling herself that she is a writer.
Hmmm, a bit too relatable on the avoidance front.
Agathe and Oliver dance at an obligatory ball scene - one does not simply do Jane Austen without making the main character share an intimate dance with a love interest or two.
The film is rather charming and plays out like a Rohmer feature, perhaps a Hong Sang-soo movie, and unfortunately, one must mention Woody Allen too. There’s also a recurring musical motif which, to my Wong Kar-Wai obsessed brain, has a very In the Mood for Love vibe to it - I can’t seem to track down the piece, but the opening refrain sounds very similar to Yumeji's Theme by Shigeru Umebayashi.
Agathe and her friend Félix,
In conclusion, Jane Austen Wrecked My Life wears its Rom-Com tropes on its sleeves, which isn’t a bad thing as it satisfyingly delivers them, and one can’t not mention that there’s also a very Hugh Grant-esque love interest who echoes Mr Darcy through and through (though no Hand Flex™ in sight). Just wait for this to become every bookish girl's, gay’s or they’s fave comfort movie.
*The Iconic Shakespeare and Company bookshop in Paris. Interestingly, after a short amount of research, Piani actually used to work at Shakespeare and Company - this time in her life was a clear inspiration for the film.