A novel take on Austen era

Big-name modern authors ponder the lasting influence of Jane Austen in epic docudrama marking her 250th anniverary.

- RUSSELL BROWN

There's a broadly accepted narrative about Jane Austen: that not only was the great British novelist talented, ambitious and independent-minded in an age when women were expected to be none of those things, she was also effectively an apostle of modernity, which is why we never tire of her observations.

That's the character drawn in Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius.

There might not be a formula for genius, but there is very much one for Rise of a Genius. Like 72 Films' previous three-part documentaries under the same banner for the BBC about Mozart and Shakespeare, Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius is a combination of impassioned talking heads and dramatic reconstructions, with Juliet Stevenson narrating. Again, the dramatic scenes are shot in Budapest with Hungarian actors (there's a reason the characters don't speak).

Just as the Shakespeare series celebrated the 400th anniversary of the Bard's birth, this one marks Austen's 250th. And it's a busy year: Netflix has just announced a huge cast (including Olivia Colman and Rufus Sewell) for its new production of Pride and Prejudice. Filming is under way for