Persuasion

Not the story. This film.

"Persuasion" is my favorite book in the world, and this adaptation has very little in common with it. It's hard to decide where to begin when listing what's wrong with this film, but I will try and say that the absolute worst thing is changing the constancy conversation. In the book, this conversation is between Anne and Harville; it takes place in Bath (towards the end of the story); Wentworth hears it. But, for some bizarre reason, the writers of this film places the conversation in the middle of the story (in Lyme); it's between Anne and Benwick, and Wentworth never hears it.

If he never hears the conversation, then what is the impetus for him to write his letter? None, that's what. They butchered what is arguably the most beautiful love letter in English literature and I cannot figure out why. Instead, they have Anne run. And run. And then run some more. And they have Mrs. Smith run too. Yes, the same Mrs. Smith who's supposed to be an invalid. When I saw this film in a public setting, people laughed, and that's just wrong.

I desperately wanted to love this film, but I just couldn't. Yes, RPJ is eye-candy, but his good looks are just not enough to save this film from being the wretched mess that it is. Don't waste your time or your money on this one.

I was swept up by this brilliant adaptation from second one, when a young woman looked straight at me with melancholic eyes in an extreme close up. I was engaged, I was on her side and watched, utterly spellbound, as her story unravelled.

A clever script manages, with all the cuts and changes which are invariably part of all adaptations, to distill the spirit of Jane Austen's novel unerringly. Wonderful leads (Rupert Penry-Jones is a warm-hearted, dashing Wentworth and Sally Hawkins is a delightfully sweet tempered Anne Elliot) and an outstanding supporting cast breathe life and immediacy into the plot. Creative film making ideas give the production a fresh face and make for memorable, visually gorgeous film moments. The pacing is swift but never hurried. And last but not least, I loved the musical score!

Watching this sent me walking on cloud 9 for days. I have watched it several times since and am still discovering new marvels because there are many levels to explore in this gem. Don't miss it!

I understand some people didn't understand the choice to break the fourth wall in this adaptation. This was a bold choice as British period adaptations are renowned for their conservative subject matter and are commensurately conservative in the following of established conventions in their production. I can imagine some of my fellow British folk were outraged. I for one felt it worked to help the viewer align with Anne Elliot, Austen's most sympathetic heroine who is often browbeaten and left behind. The main merits of this version are twofold. First, in that Sally Hawkins is just absolutely perfect cast as Anne. She elicits so much sympathy and is so endearing. And second, that of the three adaptations available to us so far, this is the most engaging and modern in style and production value. It is quite short, though the novel is a short one too. But perhaps would have been closer to great if it padded things outa bit more.

Adrian Shergold's adaptation of Persuasion was the last in the ITV Jane Austen Season, and it ended on a high note. Very different style from the previous two, and is rather sombre in tone, as befits the story and characters in the novel. There is a voice over so as to enable the audience to get closer to the character of Anne Elliot played very well by Sally Hawkins. Rupert Penry-Jones is very good as Captain Wentworth, whose interaction with Anne is concise and to the point. They are not strangers, but they are estranged. Adrian Shergold employs a lot of hand held camera, and uses a lot of close ups in order for the audience to recognise the relationships between characters and their feelings. Quite often Sally Hawkins looks at the camera, and I felt this worked very well. My only slight annoyance with this adaptation was the director's unwillingness to have two people who are talking in the shot at the same time. Preferring to move from a close up of one to a close up of the other (shot reverse shot as it were) continuously. This works well occasionally, but when it is as often as it is in this adaption you become very aware of the camera and its movements, which detracts from the story and the conversation itself. This is my only slight problem with this adaptation. The supporting cast was brilliant, with Amanda Hale brilliantly playing Anne moronic younger sister. Alice Krige was great as Lady Russell, and Anthony Head as Sir Walter Elliot. This is to mention only a few. To say that ITV's Austen Season did not start well would be an understatement. However, with last weeks brilliant Northanger Abbey and this weeks Persuasion they have finished on a high. Each had its own tone and style, and forgetting Mansfield Park, they worked rather well. I would recommend this film to both fans of the book and newcomers to Austen's work. I have deliberately refrained from comparisons between this and the 1995 version, both are very good and this one has some very inventive camera work.

I was very impatient to see this adaptation because I had seen adaptations of Jane Austen's Persuasion from 1971 and 1995. I had read this novel and I can say that it belongs to my favourite. I love this adaptation. It made me cry. I very enjoyed Sally Hawkins's and also Rupert Penry Jones 's performance. They fabulous showed us their suffering, hope for their happiness and their love to each other. Yes,there were some differences between the book and the film but it doesn't matter. The camera was very unusual but from my point of view was very good used especially in the final scene when Anne was reading the letter from Captain Wentworth. I especially love the part, when Anne had wounded leg and Captain Wentworth helped her to the carriage. This is the best adaptation of Persuasion I 've ever seen.