"Jane Austen Wrecked My Life" is a rom-com for book lovers plagued by reality's disappointments

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2 days ago

With "Jane Austen Wrecked My Life," writer-director Laura Piani delivers a rom-com tailor-made for Austen devotees that centers on a modern-day echo of "Persuasion"'s Anne Elliot, a woman named Agathe (Camille Rutherford), who is loveless and yet resists the charms of her Shakespeare & Company coworker, Félix (Pablo Pauly) — except when she doesn't.
Agathe harbors the romantic notion that she is living in the wrong century and struggles to finish a book inspired by a fantasy. In the grip of a serious case of writer's block, her life takes a fortuitous turn when she is accepted at a Jane Austen retreat after Félix secretly submits an application on her behalf.
This twist of fate leads to a chance encounter with Oliver (Charlie Anson), Austen's great-great-great-grandnephew, and it's hate at first sight. (How Austen!) Agathe's vomiting on Oliver's shoes is not an auspicious start, nor is calling him 'unbearable, arrogant, and totally stuck up' within earshot. Never mind the moment she accidentally exposes herself to him. Of course, they are perfect for each other, but as situations prompt a détente, Félix arrives to accompany Agathe to the retreat's Ball, widening the path for romantic folly.
'Jane Austen Wrecked My Life' features many literary references and running gags to charm viewers. Piani spoke with Salon about making the film and her love of Austen.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
'Jane Austen Wrecked My Life' is about getting inspiration. What inspired you to write and direct this very literary story as a film, rather than pen it as a novel?
I was a screenwriter for 12 years, so my language is screenwriting, and I have such a huge admiration for writers. Maybe one day I'll write a novel, but I really wanted to do a rom-com. As a viewer, I was missing the arthouse rom-coms from the '90s in England; it seemed like they disappeared. So, it was a desire to write something that I wanted to see as a viewer. It comes from my experience working as a bookseller at Shakespeare and Co., where I have been working for a long time — this place as a theater stage like in 'The Shop Around the Corner,' a place where you have so many people who like to read and who dream of writing. How do you make it with high ideals about literature and love?
Agathe kind of stands in her own way, like many an Austen heroine. She is blocked personally (sexually), professionally (writing) and psychologically (she hates being in a car). I like that she is both stubborn (she won't do what she doesn't want to) and determined (she will do what she wants). She wants things on her terms. But she suffers from impostor syndrome and feels like life could pass her by. How did you conceive of her character?
When I started to think about the character, I wanted to write a story about grief — a woman who is blocked and going to face her desire. That would be her journey. And I didn't want to make a rom-com about a woman being saved by a man or by love. I wanted to make a 2025 rom-com where a woman could have a dream other than finding love. So, she would not have impossible romantic expectations. I like it when characters have dreams — not just goals, but something bigger. If she is not able to write anything because she writes one chapter and feels like such an impostor that she stops, or she is not capable of falling in love or engaging with anyone because she fantasizes too much, and reality is always too disappointing, who can she blame? Then I thought about Jane Austen as a comedic way to open the path for so many impossible romantic expectations. She could be feeling that what she writes is not important enough or too light. I heard that rom-coms are a girly, cheesy genre. But it is a very political genre. When you talk about love and romance, you talk about how people live. It can be very deep and entertaining, and that's what Jane Austen did.
To answer your question, how did I work on this character? I tried to blend a very modern, contemporary character's journey with elements of Jane Austen's work. 'Persuasion' inspired me the most, and Agathe quotes from the book, saying she feels it is 'too late.' I love that 'Persuasion' was written 300 years ago by a woman who had to address the fact that many women are made to feel that it is 'too late' for them. This is so modern! I built the character inspired by Jane Austen's 'Persuasion,' on Jane Austen's life, and on my own experience as a reader, a writer and a bookseller —and my own grief, because I was grieving at the time I wrote this.Then I met the actress who I chose because of her melancholy and weirdness. I love Camille Rutherford because she is not only extremely beautiful, but she doesn't care about being beautiful. She is all about physical comedy and can do all kinds of absurd slapstick. She is not precious, but she is timeless and can play in a Jane Austen book. Together, we created this character who was in my mind and became her interpretation. The more contradictions the character has, the more relatable she is.
Agathe has a Jane Austen for every circumstance. Who is your Austen character?
What is beautiful about Jane Austen is that you can encounter books and characters all your life and change. I feel closest to Anne Elliot myself, because of the weird mix of humor and her melancholy, which is what I tried to do with the tone of the film. But I am also Elizabeth Bennet from 'Pride and Prejudice,' sometimes.
You also feature many other literary references, such as Agathe shelving Julio Cortázar's 'Hopscotch,' consulting the 'I Ching,' namedropping Octavio Paz, and more. What prompted the specific literary references, and what authors inspire you?
There is one book that changed my life — it didn't wreck my life — 'The Golden Notebook' by Doris Lessing. I read it at the right age. What is so exciting and beautiful and mysterious are the encounters we have with books. You have books next to your bed or in your living room for so many years, and somehow you choose a book, and it answers so many questions or creates new ones. I am so amazed by these moments and these encounters with books. I remember being a child and being very disappointed with the idea of having only one life to live. Then I learned how to read, and I discovered you could have as many lives as you wanted because you have books. One of the most compelling, exciting experiences I had as a child was reading "The Diary of Selma Lagerlöf." She was a Swedish writer who received the Nobel Prize. She had a disability, and she was sent to the city for [therapy] and became a writer because she had a long train journey. I remember the emotion of being a child and discovering another child's diary about what it means to write. It was mind-blowing. The book I dream to adapt because of the language and story is 'Light Years' by James Salter. Everyone who loves reading has to deal with the huge frustration of not being able to read enough. It's a sickness.
Can you talk about developing the comedy in the film? There is wordplay, there are sight gags (spitting llamas), there are pratfalls (in a forest), and embarrassment humor (the multiple nude scenes). Every scene features a kind of punchline — some witty, some somber.
I think it is my own taste as a viewer. I became a cinephile because I discovered Billy Wilder and Ernst Lubitsch, and I never got over it. They are the masters. I love physical comedy and slapstick as much as a weird line a character would think and say out loud. I try to mix what I like about life. Comedy is about shame and what we are all trying to hide — all the things that make us poor human creatures — this is the treasure of comedy, being able to laugh about that, but it can be very sad. I love when you feel the core of comedy is a deep sadness, and it is such a catharsis to laugh about it. I looked at actors who were able to physically accommodate that. Camille was funnier and weirder and clumsier — and happier.
The Ball sequence is particularly interesting because we get the entire romance without dialogue. Can you discuss the love triangle in general and that scene in particular?
The love triangle is timeless. It's been done so often, but it is wonderful to explore. I love this dilemma. I wanted the ball scene to be a tribute to all the books and films we love and that we have in mind when we think about Jane Austen. I also wanted it to be the emotional peak of this love triangle. I like that it is more about the bodies and the way they look at each other, which is so cinematic. Silence brings you back to the beginning of cinema. It was a very low-budget film, so we had constraints on what we could afford, but I wanted it to be magical and fulfilling for the audience, so I wanted the camera to dance with the characters. It's the only time the camera is moving. We didn't have money for big lights. We watched 'Amadeus' and thought, "We will put candles everywhere!" We had no money to buy period costumes. A week before shooting the scene, I realized I would not be able to teach them how to dance, so I called an emergency dance teacher who taught them the choreography in four hours!
Do you think, as Oliver does, that Jane Austen is overrated and limited in scope?
People who say that didn't read her. It's a posture.
I confess I did not like 'Emma' when I had to read it in college.
I hate Emma!
But 'Clueless' is the best adaptation ever!
It's soo good. Emma is the only character who is unbearable to me. But Austen does make a point through that character. I'm not sure she likes her so much either.
What Austen easter eggs did you hide in 'Jane Austen Wrecked My Life' that Austen fans should look for?
Two things. When she is inspired after the fantasy in the Chinese restaurant, and she is writing in her room, the desk is full of Jane Austen's books, and the shadow of Austen's face is on the books. And, at the very end, when Agathe imagines the hand of her father touching her shoulder, on her desk is the big book of correspondence between Jane Austen and [her sister] Cassandra.
'Jane Austen Wrecked My Life' is now playing in theaters nationwide.