I Watched Northanger Abbey (1986), and it was A TRIP.

Alright, so you may remember that I gave myself the "homework" of watching an 80s adaptation of Austen over the weekend, and studious little girl that I am, I completed that homework on late Sunday night, just under the wire (of course). The movie I went with was the 1986 version ('87 on the BBC) of Northanger Abbey, which I find to by Austen's most delightful novel, second only to P&P. And lemme tell you, it was a trip. The score. The intense looks. The hair.
I ended up livetweeting the experience, because I couldn't not, and now I thought I'd share my thoughts with you. Click through to experience it along with me, but be prepared: it was a wild ride. . .
Below you'll find some of the highlights the live-tweetstorm (some of them screengrabs, so you're not waiting for a million tweet embeds to load). But if you'd rather read the full thread and interact with the tweets themselves, you can find the whole thing here.

I mean, seriously. They had to have spent an ASTRONOMICAL sum on feathers in this movie.
Feathers at balls, of course, but feathers in bed; I mean, not in the bed, but wearing feathers while in bed. Feathers in the baths?! Feathers everywhere, and the biggest offenders were most definitely Mrs. Allen and Isabella.

And speaking of Mrs. Allen and Isabella. . .

"Isabella is so sensitive to the heat."
"Is she my dear? I noticed she wears as little as possible."

Mrs. Allen is a shady bitch. 😅#AusteninAugust

— Misty (@TheBookRat) August 5, 2019

One thing Isabella did wear in abundance was HAIR.

They're really nailing the sausage curls in this. What do we call this hairstyle? Jellyfishing?#AusteninAugust pic.twitter.com/Jz2vEB6O4e

— Misty (@TheBookRat) August 5, 2019

Oh man, the hair in this film. . .

I feel like Catherine's hairstyle is the Regency version of a mullet, which, *of course* that's what they went with in this 1986 version.
Actually might have been a bit ahead of the times, there... #AusteninAugust pic.twitter.com/USA8rCOCjq

— Misty (@TheBookRat) August 5, 2019

And it wasn't just limited to the girls (looking at you, Thorpe.)

I was just struck by something, and it may be totally incorrect, but: I think you can locate the villain in an Austen movie by the size of their muttonchops.
I'm just looking at Thorpe and thinking... I've seen this level of 'chop before... 🧐#AusteninAugust

— Misty (@TheBookRat) August 5, 2019

Side note, before we move on from hair: I kept thinking Isabella reminded me of someone, and then I realized: she's a young Jocelyn Schitt. Wow.

#AusteninAugust pic.twitter.com/1n8DYgHQWs

— Misty (@TheBookRat) August 5, 2019

The only thing more intense than the hairdrobe was the. . . longing? looks the characters continuously gave each other.

I'm pretty sure the sole casting requirement for this movie was to have each actor do their most intense stare, and the intensiest of them all were hired.#AusteninAugust

— Misty (@TheBookRat) August 5, 2019

Uh... and the makeup.

I honestly regret getting a screenshot of this. It pops up every time I click on the #AustenInAugust hashtag, and my god!

It was a mostly faithful, and certainly interesting, take on Northanger Abbey. . .

My conclusions from this evening? Definitely:

Alright, I'm telling you right now, this movie is meant to be watched with a group of friends while drinking. Seriously. It would be the literal best drinking game movie, but also, RIP your liver.#AusteninAugust

— Misty (@TheBookRat) August 5, 2019

I will be watching this again. Preferably with other Janeites and a bottle of wine.

Click here to return to the master list of Austen in August posts!