On a rainy evening in Santa Barbara, Jane Austen Wrecked My Life opened the 40th Santa Barbara Film Festival. A line of umbrellas stretched along the Arlington Theatre, protecting an audience eager to watch the French rom-com directed by Laura Piani.
The film carries this aerial mood into its setting — a rainy day in Paris — where we meet Agathe, the protagonist, played by Camille Rutherford (Anatomy of a Fall, Blue Is the Warmest Color). With her tousled hair and marinière, she is stacking books at Shakespeare and Co. — the legendary bookstore where Ulysses by James Joyce was first published — while finding excuses for not finishing any of her own literary tales.
Agathe is a romantic who seeks refuge in fiction. She idealizes romantic relations in ways that feel increasingly incompatible with modern dating apps. She is awkward and feels like she belongs to another era, reflected in her loose bun and flowy blouses. Her romantic life boils down to the man at the bottom of her glass of sake — until she goes to Bath, embarks on a writing residency in England, and wrestles with impostor syndrome while trying to finish her book. The film brims with laughter and warmth, with literary nods such as the need to find a room of one’s own in which to write.
The film follows the classic ‘90s romcom formula but adds a twist with its bilingual charm, showcasing the contrasting flirting styles of the French and British. Félix, the Frenchman played by Pablo Pauly, offers more explicit cheeky jokes, while the Englishman Oliver, played by Charlie Anson, plays it with a drier sense of humor. The audience can follow Agathe, waiting to see if Oliver joins a line stretching from Mr. Darcy, the aloof romantic hero in Pride and Prejudice, to the equally cool and distant Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones. But what sets this rom-com apart is the way in which Piani puts the magic of Jane Austen to work. Audiences can enjoy both verbal wit and situational comedy, and see how manners and morals are intertwined in the everyday, on both sides of the English Channel.
Jane Austen Wrecked My Life is an ode to romance, an ode to literature, and a humorous ode to the essence of Austen’s popular appeal. From its décor of candlelit balls and crystal perfume bottles, to writing on a computer and wearing duffle coats, it blends the past and the present. If you are not left wanting to dive into Austen’s works, or to wear vintage shirts and tie your hair in a bun, then at least you will have been offered the humor that escapism into the everyday — when done Austen-style — can offer.
Jane Austen Wrecked My Life will screen again on Sunday, February 9, at 9 a.m. at the Riviera Theatre, as part of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. For the complete schedule and updates, see sbiff.org.
