Persuasion

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Buy This Item Persuasion by BBC Warner  Available from Amazon  $16.99  on 8-26-2008     Jane Austen fans will delight in the sumptuous production design and first-rate acting in the 2007 <I>Masterpiece Theatre</I> version of <I>Persuasion</I>. Sally Hawkins is controlled and moving as Anne Elliot, the quietly heartbroken but sensible heroine who was "persuaded" (read: forced) to turn away her true love but still carries an unseen torch for him. Hawkins's performance is genteel yet steely, and the quiet strength of the entire production. Hawkins looks alternately quietly lovely and sadly pinched--as one might expect the long frustrated Anne to look.<p> Other highlights include a post-<I>Buffy</I> Anthony Head, as Anne's clueless, blustery father, Sir Walter. Head gets to turn on his deft comic talent here in ways most American audiences have not yet seen him; he's clearly enjoying himself immensely, blustering about "my shrubberies" and other trivial affairs. The cinematography is lush (several breathtaking tracking shots are used, especially early on), as are the period costumes. The production was filmed exclusively on location, and the reality of the sets enforces the story. <p> Some fans may prefer the 1995 Amanda Root version, for the casting of Ciaran Hinds as Capt. Wentworth, but this later effort is a worthy entry in the Austen film oeuvre--and Rupert Penry-Jones is a dreamboat in his own right. As the wistful Anne says, on behalf of all women, "We do not forget you, so soon as you forget us." --<I>A.T. Hurley</I> Reader Reviews I know many complain about this movie and I can understand where the complaints come from. The movie is shorter and has a more modern twist to it (especially where she runs back and forth in the last scene...that was kind of funny). But throughout the entire movie (due to directing, acting, music, everything) I felt the emptiness, the desperateness of Anne. And when Wentworth realized he may have to marry Louisa, I really felt from the actor the sense of fear, to be entraped, and how in one moment he had lost everything...if only he had not been so careless and sieze the day with Anne. So even though this particular one did not follow the book word for word, I felt it really portrayed the emotions and frustrations of the characters and the director and all the actors conveyed the entire story very well. I think you have to separate the book from the movie-making and just enjoy the story and how the movie brings you into that world. The six hour BBC version of Pride and Prejudice and the 2005 Pride and Prejudice (with Kiera Knightley) I both enjoy. They each have their own style and give a different experience to the viewer. I think this 2007 Persuasion is similar in this sense. I hope you guys enjoy it.

Persuasion Available from Amazon Price: $16.99 Updated on 8-26-2008.

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