Romance and Rejection

Starring:Reece Dinsdale, Victoria Smurfit, Clara Bellar, John Hannah, Frank Finlay, Susannah York, Rowena King, Maryam d'Abo, Doreen Mantle, Victoria Worsley, David Sterne, Kamilla Blanche, Fiona Mogridge, Anna Livia Ryan, Michelle Monks, Tamsin Greig, Yvette Bonner, Rebecca Reed, Nicola Wright, Peter Bacon
Director: Kevin W. Smith
Studio: Vanguard Cinema
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Different Production Values but Excellent Characterization
wait for it
Save yourself tedious hours
The magnificent "Persuasion"
no comparison!

Persuasion (BBC, 1971)
Starring: Anne Firbank , Bryan Marshall , Basil Dignam , Valerie Gearon , and Marian Spencer
Director: Howard Baker
Manufacturer: BBC Warner
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Mansfield Park (BBC, 1983)
Sense and Sensibility (BBC, 1981)
Emma (BBC, 1972)
Northanger Abbey (BBC, 1986)
Persuasion (1995)

ASIN: B000244F9G
Release Date: 2004-08-24

Amazon.com

Jane Austen's Persuasion receives a devoted treatment in this 1971 BBC production. A financial blow to the Elliot family brings the eldest daughter, Anne (Ann Firbank), back in contact with Captain Wentworth (Bryan Marshall), whose offer of marriage she was persuaded to decline seven years before. Will the conflicting forces of social rules, family interference, and personal temperament allow her to set things right? The capable cast of this clean, straightforward adaptation bring Austen's satirical characterizations to vivid life. Firbank earns our sympathies with quiet grace and exquisitely restrained yearning. While the stronger, headlong pace of the 1995 film version of Persuasion makes for a more concentrated emotional pay-off, this two-part miniseries, at four hours, captures more of the novel's details, making it just as satisfying. Austen's skillful plotting makes the romantic hopes and fortunes of the 19th-century English middle class as suspenseful as any mystery or thriller. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

Different Production Values but Excellent Characterization.......2007-06-27

I think that this version of Persuasion is very underrated. Reading the reviews for the '95 version you would think that no one had seen this one or any other before it. I can understand why this might be undervalued, the setting is very "stagey", it does not have the overall beauty and rich settings that newer versions can offer. The sound is very weak as well, the audio pick-up makes it difficult to hear all the lines. (British movies, especially older ones, are notorious for bad sound. I can't understand why new DVD releases do not automatically include subtitling, and I don't mean merely close-captioning, because they really need it.) Further, there is the effect of the fabrics and styles which are so obviously from the 70's and can detract somewhat from the experience. Anne is wearing a plaid dress at one point! Finally, as has been pointed out the actress playing Anne is obviously quite a bit older then her 20 something role requires. However, all that being said, this is still one of my favorite productions so far. The reason? Despite all of these drawbacks I still feel that it captures the spirit of the novel better than any other I have watched. I love this Anne. She has a dignity and maturity combined with a sweetness of spirit that almost seems too good to be true at times, but is balanced by a subtle but wry sense of humor that prevents her from becoming inhuman and cloying. No other Anne that I have seen captures this to my satisfaction. In fact I found Amanda Root a very sad Anne indeed. She played her as a timid little mouse of a person beaten down by circumstance and victimized by her family. I couldn't respect her.

To my mind one of the things that raises Persuasion above a mere Cinderella story is Ann's personality. Although her family does not value her she is someone who has such a capacity to love and such a desire to be loved in return that she rises above their pettiness and negligence and refuses to become bitter and hateful or pitiful and depressed in response to their lack of concern. Instead she tries to set an example and behave with the caring and consideration that she would like to receive. Her firmness of purpose and ability to value herself is clear in her every action and although she has her disappointments and doubts, she is certainly not a victim. Her ability to forgive and do what she feels is right despite so many obstacles is a clear contrast to Captain Wentworth's pride driven anger which prevents him from understanding the reasons for her earlier rejection of his proposal.

I wish that more people could appreciate this Anne. I think she is closer to Jane Austen's original character in many respects and that even the actress's age only helps emphasize the maturity of her character. The cover doesn't do her justice for although she is not especially beautiful she is a very handsome woman with a nice smile and I think that too is more like the original Anne who is never described (except by an obviously biased Captain Wentworth) as being especially pretty.

Aside from Anne the other casting is all excellent. Her father and elder sister are the epitome of vanity and false pride. Her younger sister, the attention seeking Mary, is played superbly. Everyone else, from the solicitous but class-conscious Mrs. Russell, the bluff Charles Musgrove, the droll and somewhat eccentric Crofts, the obsequious Mrs. Clay and her lawyer father to the hospitable Hargraves, the dour Captain Benwick and the oily Cousin Elliot are very well cast. Louisa is very well done. Her lack of maturity contrasts Anne nicely showing both the self-centered forcefulness and the fearless sweetness of someone who has not yet experienced the disappointments of life and love. It is possible to envy her youthful vitality and pity her lack of awareness without disliking her personally which I think is a very difficult effect to achieve. In that regard I find that it rings very true to life.
Captain Wentworth also has a boyish charm combined with a hint of that forceful and passionate personality which makes him a good leader on board ship and which made him so temperamental when faced with Anne's refusal. Both his hurt and anger and his later warmth and respect for Anne are played with equal spirit and verisimilitude. Even when he is angry you can see his kindness and strength of character. I don't think that Ciaran Hinds can match that given that he plays aloof and angry characters best. I found him too severe in the beginning and not quite believable when he later relents. It's just not his role. He did a better job as the bitter and more forceful Mr. Rochester in the A&E version of Jane Eyre.

Lastly, the scenery may seem a bit washed out, but that is due to both the location and climate in Britain and the style of filming at the time. Perhaps I am biased in this but I found the length of the film, rather than being off putting, instead allowed me more time to immerse myself in the world and to savor the nuances of the interactions that occur in each scene. I also found the scenery added to this effect and enjoyed the views of Lyme and the walks in the countryside very much for their realism rather than for the larger than life beauty found in more modern films. To my view many of the very things which might be considered negative in this film in contrast with newer ones were what attracted me to it. It doesn't have the polished quality of more recent offerings, but it does have a realism (despite the sound and 70's influence) that makes the experience more immediate. This is a favorite to watch when feeling ill or on a rainy day when something comfortable and non-demanding is required. It isn't especially steamy and passionate, but it is very intimate and warm-hearted.

wait for it.......2007-05-14

I am a long time fan of Jane Austen and love the movies done based on her books. This is just one of them I had been trying to find. A friend at my local blockbuster told me they did not order movies for us any more and told me to try amazon.com. I did and now I enjoy this movie anytime I want to.

Save yourself tedious hours.......2007-04-01

Picked this up at the library. I can't say one good thing about it. The costumes were not authentic fabrics for the period, the editing was sloppy, the cinematography downright stunk, it dragged horrendously with a "walking" scene that was ludicrous, the acting was like a "first read" at community theatre (maybe worse), the Admiral flubbed most of his lines, the lead, Anne, looked much older than she was supposed to be....and what was with that hair? They were all just reading their lines...no emotion whatsoever........

Save your precious time and don't watch.

The magnificent "Persuasion".......2007-02-22

This version of Persuasion has small gems of introspective thought and analysis throughout. Anne's character develops physically and mentally into a woman who now believes that she can correct the terrible mistake of taking bad advice in her youth. All of the virtues that Austen attributes to Anne Elliot are fully realized as Anne goes from an "insignificant person" to a woman who learns that she is competent, caring, poetic, and understanding. She is determined to not make the same mistake again, and this production delves into the maturation of Anne from a doormat to a woman of great depth and wisdom. The version with Amanda Root is an excellent production also, but the length of that movie does not allow for the time to show these incidences of insight and poetic imagination that Anne brings out in this older Persuasion version. I would highly recommend this slower yet deeper version of Persuasion, and I recommend the newer version for its sheer beauty of production, acting, and cinematography.

no comparison!.......2007-02-11

The actress playing Anne was 38 at the time! Apart from that, there is no comparison with the exquisite portrayal by Amanda Root in the 1995 movie.

Average customer rating:

some honest dialogue

Romance and Rejection
Starring: Reece Dinsdale , Victoria Smurfit , Clara Bellar , John Hannah , and Frank Finlay
Director: Kevin W. Smith
Manufacturer: Vanguard Cinema
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( R ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Faith
New Waterford Girl
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McCallum: The Complete Series

ASIN: B00006IUKX
Release Date: 2002-11-26

Customer Reviews:

some honest dialogue.......2002-12-07

... It exceeded expectations with some nice dialogue between John Hannah's character and the lead male (can't remember his name); nice performances by both. Many things they said, I've actually said to friends, all about wanting to be in a relationship and afraid to be. If any women want to know how ..men can be (if you didn't know already) check the film out. Shows that perhaps we're not that bad and, like you, we're trying; and, yes, we obsess too. Only part of the film I wasn't wild about is the ending, a little too nicely tied up. All in all, a passing grade.

Average customer rating:

The Eagle
Starring: Rudolph Valentino; Vilma Banky; Louise Dresser
Director: Clarence Brown
Manufacturer: Reel Enterprises
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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amazon.com

This romantic story of Czarist Russia was adapted from a story by Alexander Pushkin. A young cossack officer becomes the object of the amorous Czarina's affections. He is banished when he rejects her, and becomes the dashing Robin Hood-like bandit: The Eagle. Charmingly acted. Louise Dresser is a stand out as Czarina. One of Valentino's best films.

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