Persuasion : Complete ITV Adaptation [2007] [DVD]

SPOILER ALERT: I'm from the U.S. and being an Austen fan, last week, I stumbled into the Jane Austen ITV season on YouTube. The next day (9/11/07) I ordered Persuasion online because I was falling in love with the fanvideos I was seeing. To prepare myself for the new adaptation, I watched Persuasion (1995) over the weekend like 4 times. I tend to do this to get every detail of the film and emotions of the characters. Well, my DVD of Persuasion and Northanger Abbey arrived 9/17th and that same evening, I watched it 4x!! I must say that "I LOVE THIS MOVIE MORE THAN THE 1995 VERSION AND PRIDE & PREJUDICE (BOTH VERSIONS)!! As someone previosly mentioned, I loved how Anne narrates her journal so that we can understand her feelings towards Cpt. Frederick Wentworth more, as well as her regrets (her narration is part of the novel). I feel for her when she cries alone and then tries to be strong when Frederick is near, talks, and shows affection towards another (or so it seems). Sally Hawkins did a superb job when emotions really needed to be shown! As for Frederick, I loved that the writers decided to consolidate and reserved some of the dialogues spoken by characters in the 1995 version FOR FREDERICK (some as spoken from the novel by Frederick that was not included in the 1995 version!). Excellent idea because we get to see and hear Frederick in more scenes. Austen fans can not complain about that because Rupert Penry Jones (RPJ) as Frederick was excellent! RPJ did a great job as Frederick as a man who held so much bitterness and constraint from the past that in the end, he realized how foolish he was at the present because he realized that he still could not deny himself from always loving Anne. . .**sigh** Also, both scenes with Frederick and Captain Harville was a breath of fresh air because we get to know Frederick more of a person than just a handsome bachelor. We get to know his own thoughts and feelings of a man who is indeed in agony over the possibility of losing Anne AGAIN - this time, to fault all his own(information noted at the end of the novel BUT not included in the 1995 version)! I can play those scenes over and over again. For the 1995 version, I thought that there were not enough scenes with Frederick to fully know him. We only got to know him through the "letter". Thus, my review on Frederick is longer. Yes, I agree that Anne running at the end was a bit "odd" for a woman during that period BUT she was on a mission to get her man - it has been 8 years after all :) The kiss that followed took forever so I didn't like it at all. However, I LOVED THE ENDING! I was happy that Frederick bought Kellynch as a wedding present for Anne because he knew how much Anne loved Kellynch! Besides, in the novel, Mr. Elliot was going to put it up for auction anyway! Anne overwhelmed with happines that she jumps Frederick for a hug and then the kiss, that was AWESOME!! Both laughing and giggling (and a slight slow dance) is how happiness should be portrayed for this adaptation! That's way better than Anne and Frederick smiling at each other on a boat without holding hands as directed from 1995's version! This is a NEW adaptation and I think that it would of been ridiculous to completely copy the 1995 version so I am FULLY SATISFIED! I commend the writers for going this route! Sally Hawkins was brilliant and RPJ was execellent. Plus, RPJ is simply gorgeous!! 90 minutes was not enough for me. I wanted more Anne Elliot & Cpt. Wentworth - in the same scenes that is :)

I had read the book many years ago and when I heard that there was to be a new Jane Austen series, I re-read it and the others and Persuasion took a very definite first place. As to this TV version, first time round I loved it and I have found, on repeat viewing only very recently, that it was even better than I remembered. I thoroughly enjoyed the settings, the music and particularly, the two lead performances which I think were thoroughly convincing. Of the supporting roles, I thought Anthony Head was magnificently arch and enjoyable shallow and horrible as Sir Walter, Sam Hazeldine bumbling, delightful and sweet (especially in his relations with Anne which are so kind and redolent, on his part, of what might have been) and I must be the only person who thought that Mary Musgrove was just exactly as she should have been! Peter White is a great favourite of mine so I loved his bluff yet gentle Admiral. The pacing was odd, I admit, presumably because of the time constraints and like everyone else, I would have liked all of the letter-not just because the written version is so beautiful but because I thought Rupert Penry-Jones' voice-over was absolutely perfect. There's a little subtle break in his voice half way through that gets me every time. The scene in the shop was also wonderful-he, in particular, showed so much by doing so little. There was a real feeling of strong feelings ruthlessly repressed because he was so afraid of being hurt again. I think Anne was beautifully played by Sally Hawkins and she looked just right. At the start she was obviously depressed but determined to live the best life she could. Then, at the end, she realised she had another chance to live the life she really wanted and gathered every ounce of strength of character she had to grab it with both hands. That was the symbolism of the running for me. As to RPJ looking too young and unweathered for a sea captain, in reality, that's probably true but the whole point about Austen's description of him is that he had lost none of what she called his (this may be in the wrong order!) "open, glowing, manly" look in the eight years he and Anne had been apart. And even her vain, looks-obsessed father who castigated all sailors because they supposedly looked rough, had to admit eventually that Captain Wentworth was an exception. RPJ had that in spades, as well as the depth of feeling for a role where so much is under the surface. I thought he was wonderful in it and that he and Sally Hawkins created something touching to the contemporary mind, yet absolutely in keeping with the original, of a relationship that nearly didn't make it. As to "the kiss", it wasn't the chocolate-box romanticism that many accuse modern visual productions of overlaying on Austen-it was hesitant, full of both fear and longing, human, messy and completely believable. The sunlit ending at Kellynch, I think, was symbolic of pent-up longing fulfilled in every way, which is really the point of the entire book, and I loved it. I've even loved writing this about it!

Very good quality, good price

J'avais beaucoup aimé Persuasion en le lisant et j'ai été très agréablement surprise de la qualité de cette adaptation. Même si des libertés ont été prises avec les scènes décrites par Jane Austen (notamment le dénouement), l'interprétation est parfaite, les décors magnifiques. Rupert Penry-Jones, loin du rôle d'espion de Spooks/MI5 qui me l'a fait découvrir, est réellement BEAU, portant superbement les costumes d'époque mais au delà du plaisir des yeux, il joue excessivement bien, plein de nuances et d'émotions. Sally Hawkings est elle aussi parfaite dans son jeu, très attachante, elle fait merveilleusement passer ses sentiments. Un seul bémol, elle n'est pas vraiment mise en valeur (coiffure, costumes) et n'a pas à la fin la beauté et l'éclat retrouvés de la Anne Elliot du livre. Le reste de la distribution est à l'unisson, que d'acteurs excellents. Un DVD que je recommande vivement, avec le plaisir de la langue anglaise !

Il film è bellissimo... Uno dei migliori tratti dai romanzi di Jane Austen e molto fedele alla trama originale. La storia è delicata, sensibile e romantica, ma mai pesante,per cui resta un ottimo film adatto per tutti, sia grandi che piccoli. L'ho visto la prima volta in TV, ma volevo vederlo anche in inglese e cioè nella sua lingua originale. E devo dire che è ancora meglio. Perfetto. Sally Hawkins e Rupert Penry-Jones sono bravissimi. Nulla da dire anche riguardo alla spedizione e alla consegna.

excellent

Nach der perfekten BBC-Verfilmung von Pride&Prejudice, ist Persuasion ein weiterer Meilenstein der Jane Austen Verfilmungen. Ein ruhiger, mitunter tragisch anmutender Film, voller Gefühl und überzeugender Darsteller, abgerundet durch tiefgehende musikalische Begleitung. Die Geschichte von Persuasion dürfte weitgehend bekannt sein. Die aus gutem, allerdings durch die Verschwendungssucht ihres Vaters und ihrer Schwester verarmten Hause stammende Anne Elliot wurde vor Jahren durch Zureden von Lady Russell überzeugt, den Heiratsantrag von Frederick Wentworth abzulehnen, da dieser aus Verhältnissen stammte, die Annes Stellung in der Gesellschaft nicht angemessen waren. Nun allerdings, auf See zu Reichtum gelangt, kehrt dieser zurück und Anne, mit 28 Jahren mittlerweile als alte Jungfer angesehen, sieht sich mit ihrer Fehlentscheidung und ihrer noch immer starken Liebe zu ihm konfrontiert. Überzeugt, dass er sie ihrer Charakterschwäche wegen verachtet, steht sie nunmehr vor der Entscheidung entweder die Gefahr auf sich zu nehmen, ihm ihre Gefühle zu offenbaren oder ihre Liebe für immer zu begraben. Großartige Charakterdarsteller treffen hier auf eine zeitlos schöne Geschichte aus der Feder von Jane Austen. Dem Film ist anzusehen, dass er mit viel Liebe und Auge fürs Detail gedreht wurde. Kostüme und Schauplätze wurden mit historischer Genauigkeit gewählt und hergerichtet und die Musik ist dezent und emotionsgeladen. Als einen großen Pluspunkt empfinde ich die Darstellungskunst von Sally Hawkins, die in Momenten, die der Figur der Anne allein gehören und in denen sie in ihr Tagebuch schreibt, eine besondere Verbindung zum Publikum herstellt, indem sie den Blick in die Kamera und damit direkt an den Zuschauer richtet. Dieser Blick vermag es, außer dem direkt Gesagten, auch die Gefühle der Figur zu vermitteln, auf einer rein emotionalen, wortlosen Ebene. Ein hochromantischer und außergewöhnlicher Film, der noch lange nach dem Ansehen im Gedächtnis bleibt.