Apr
02
2007
Dir: Adrian Shergold
Writ: Simon Burke, based on the novel by Jane Austen
- Sally Hawkins - Anne Elliot
- Rupert Penry-Jones - Captain Wentworth
- Anthony Head - Sir Walter Elliot
- Tobias Menzies - William Elliot
- Finlay Robertson - James Benwick
- Julia Davis - Elizabeth Elliot
- Joseph Mawle - Captain Harville
- Sam Hazeldine - Charles Musgrove
- Rosamund Stephen - Henrietta Musgrove
- Jennifer Higham - Louisa Musgrove
Despite the fact that I took a course on Jane Austen at college[1] I’ve never actually read Persuasion so when I was reminded over at Monomania Diaries that this was showing I made sure to stick a reminder up. After all, I hadn’t seen any of the other Jane Austen adaptions that made up ITV’s Jane Austen season.
Anne Elliot, the main protagonist, has given up hope of happiness and marriage. When she was younger she had fallen in love with Frederick Wentworth, but her family, believing that a naval officer was unsuitable, had advised against a marriage and she had allowed herself to be persuaded. Now, at 27, it doesn’t look as if she will ever find a husband. Not only that, but her family’s finances aren’t the best and they are forced to rent out the family home in an attempt to make some money. However, Wentworth re-enters her life as his sister is the one to lease the Elliott’s house.
I found myself enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would. Maybe it is just on comparison to the recent remake of Pride and Prejudice, or perhaps a reaction to Becoming Jane. Or maybe it was just a superior cast. Hawkins was perfect as the slightly withdrawn, but intelligent Anne. And Rupert Penry-Jones was perfect in the leading man role[2] And then there is the supporting cast. Anthony Head and Tobias Menzies, for example are both perfectly cast. Head as the vain Sir William Elliott, and Menzies as the seemingly charming but untrustworthy cousin Elliott.
Throughout the programme Anne often looks directly to camera, a device which I felt was ever-so-slightly overused, but worked very well in getting the audience to empathise with Anne.
IMDb | Wikipedia | AustenBlog discussion | Scree Stories
Linknotes:
- second year at college didn’t actually entail a lot of study ↩
- far better than fellow Spook Matthew Macfadyen in P&P ↩
Tags:
8 Stars,
Adrian Shergold,
Anthony Stewart Head,
based on book,
Britain - Regency,
Finlay Robertson,
Jane Austen,
Jennifer Higham,
Joseph Mawle,
Julia Davis,
perfectly cast,
Persuasion,
romance,
Rosamund Stephen,
Rupert Penry-Jones,
Sally Hawkins,
Sam Hazeldine,
Simon Burke,
telly,
Tobias Menzies,
very well done
Related posts
Mar
28
2007
Dir: Julian Jarrold
Writ: Kevin Hood & Sarah Williams
- Anne Hathaway - Jane Austen
- James McAvoy - Tom Lefroy
- Julie Walters - Mrs. Austen
- James Cromwell - Rev Austen
- Maggie Smith - Lady Gresham
- Joe Anderson - Henry Austen
- Laurence Fox - Mr. Wisley
- Ian Richardson - Judge Langlois
There really isn’t all that much to this film, which is loosely based on the life of Jane Austen, it is watchable but not memorable. The film amps up the real-life flirtation between Austen and Tom Lefroy to turn it into a full blown romance, with elopement and other such excitements thrown in. There may be some who are annoyed by the historical inaccuracies, I didn’t really care. However, knowing it was based on Jane Austen’s life means that there really was no point in the whole “will they won’t they” drama. You can’t keep an audience guessing when they know the ending.
Apart from that I found the first half of this film quite slow. Hathaway didn’t have the personality or screen presence to engage, and McAvoy was far too believable as the rogue to ever repent. And then there is the fact that Lefroy is Irish, and so obviously one of the “evil English invaders” oppressing Ireland, so he was never going to be in my good books 
Watching a romance between two characters that you don’t really like, and when you know the ending, isn’t really all that great. I did enjoy Fox’s Mr Wisley though, Jane should’ve chosen him from the beginning. Would have made far more sense.
I also had a bit of a problem with the whole love story. Once Lefroy tells Jane that Show Spoilers ▼
he is entirely dependent on his uncle for cash then there is no way he can marry her. After all we already knew he had a large family back home, and that they would be dependent on him. Money, as Mrs. Austen tell us, is “absolutely indispensable!”
The second half was an improvement, but it didn’t blend properly with the beginning. The whole film felt unbalanced, as though they weren’t sure whether this was to be a light-hearted romance or a sad tale of unrequited love. But on the plus side the costumes were pretty, and every thing looked nice.
IMDb | Wikipedia on Lefroy | Austen-tatious | Monomania Diaries
Tags:
6 Stars,
Anne Hathaway,
Becoming Jane,
Britain - Regency,
fictional bio,
historical inaccuracies,
Ian Richardson,
James Cromwell,
James McAvoy,
Jane Austen,
Joe Anderson,
Julian Jarrold,
Julie Walters,
Kevin Hood,
Laurence Fox,
Maggie Smith,
romance,
Sarah Williams,
unbalanced
Related posts
Sep
26
2005
- Keira Knightley - Elizabeth Bennet
- Matthew McFadyen - Mr. Darcy
- Donald Sutherland - Mr. Bennet
Sometimes directors really make you think, make you stop and consider their work, make you want to never ever see anything in the cinema ever again because they have killed any desire you might have felt for moving pictures. Wright has almost managed to do this.
Continue Reading »
Tags:
1 Star,
based on book,
Bored Now!,
Donald Sutherland,
Jane Austen,
Keira Knightley,
Matthew McFadyen,
Pride and Prejudice,
rom-com,
terrible film
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