Persuasion : Complete ITV Adaptation [2007] | ![Persuasion : Complete ITV Adaptation [2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ELeWEyi5L._SL75_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Adrian Shergold
Actors: Sally Hawkins, Rupert Penry-jones, Anthony Head, Alice Krige, Tobias Menzies
Studio: 2 Entertain Video
Category: DVD
List Price: £17.99
Buy New: £5.12
You Save: £12.87 (72%)
New (21) from £5.12
Avg. Customer Rating:  65 reviews
Sales Rank: 598
Format: Pal
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Parental Guidance
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 93
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5014138601560
ASIN: B000N6U0VU
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: April 2, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New and Fully Guaranteed - Over 90% of orders are dispatched same day or next day by First Class post. Please note Danish customers may incur custom charges.
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
The work of Jane Austen is being confidently mined by filmmakers at the moment, and Persuasion is the latest to be visited. And while there are some fair issues raised about just how faithful the film is to the source material, it's nonetheless a lavish and enjoyable take on Austen's story, with much to admire. Much of the reason as to why this version of Persuasion works well lies with its talented cast. Rupert Penry-Jones, for instance, tackles the role of Captain Wentworth with skill, and Sally Hawkins too gives a performance to be admired. Backed by a primarily good supporting cast, the romantic drama is both watchable and engaging. Inevitably, parallels are going to be drawn with the similarly strong 1995 television adaptation, and the truth is that some will favour one, some will favour the other. For our money, the earlier version just about nudges it, but the two takes on Persuasion both have enough ideas of their own to make them suitable companion pieces. Diligently directed and suitably lavish to look at, Persuasion then shows little sign of dampening the enthusiasm for bringing Austen to screens of all sizes. And on the basis of the charming 93 minutes on offer here, that's no bad thing at all. --Jon Foster
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 60 more reviews...
 Reduces an emotional masterpiece to a common romance. June 28, 2008
This adaptation is not suitable for anyone who appreciates the novel, but it does work as a freestanding romance film. That said, certain elements are faithful to the novel; by far the best of these is Captain Wentworth, who is exactly as the book describes, and is truly the star if the film. Similarly good are Sir Walter, Elizabeth, the Musgroves (all of them) and the Crofts. Mary is humorous, if a little over-done, although her accent was at best strange. Alice Krige is competent, if over energetic and youthful, as Lady Russell. HOWEVER, the protagonist and scrript truly let this film down. Sally Hawkins is not Anne Elliot; she is lacking both grace and dignity, and her portrayal is utterly unmoving. This was surely made all the worse by the screenplay, which seemed to have been written without any contextual research. Although this is apparant throughout, the ending is really the best example of this on three counts; firstly, the way Anne runs (or rather, sprints) through Bath looking for Wentworth, in a manner entirely unbefitting a lady of Anne's class, cultivation or personality. Secondly, their kiss outside of Camden Place is equally as undecorous. Did nobody do their homework? I appreciate that Miss Hawkins' may not be aware of nineteenth century etiquette, but Jane Austen's work is reliant upon this context. It is the rigity of social expectation which drives Austen's work, and which creates the claustrophobia with which all of her protagonists struggle. One cannot help but feel that this anachronistic portrayal of 19th century England guts the meaning of what is arguably Austen's most sensitive novel. The final straw was Wentworth buying Anne Kellynch Hall as a 'wedding present'. I'd really love to know whether he bought it off Sir Walter, who could barely reconcile himself to the idea of letting it, or Mr Elliot, whose ultimate goal is the attainment of the consequence Kellynch would give him. Utterly non-sensical. All-in-all, the film does have strengths, but it is a weak adapation which conveniently ignores the facts of regency society. It reduces Austen's emotional masterpiece to a common romance film.
 Fantastic adaptation June 20, 2008
This is an adaptation and we know so before we watch it. I thought it was lovely, is easy to watch, and you are left wondering how its going to end (even if you have read the book / watched the previous adaptation you are never sure how adaptations are going to end). I particularly like the intensity of the scene where Anne informs Wentworth that there is "...no such proposal..." and the camera moves between and Anne and Wentworth showing the viewer the slow subtle changes in their faces, realising what this might mean for both of them. Miss Elliot could have been more robust as Austen's characters usually are, HOWEVER once Wentworth returns on the scene Miss Elliot is confronted with the "mistake" she made in rejecting him years previously. She was in love with him then and is still is, only now she is possibly embarrassed about what she did and also has to watch Wentworth being friendly with others and distant towards her. The actors play the changing story out very well in this adaptation. Highly recommended!
very poor adaptation June 17, 2008
I agree with all the reviewers who do not appreciate it. Bad performances, especially that of the main character, who stammer too much for one supposed to be a reliable , resolute woman. Unwatchable the scene where she run up and down Bath!!! Appalling clothes!! Penry-Jones is the only reason for I did not switched off the telly: he is handsome and touching in his performance(though I prefer Ciaran Hinds), BUT he is a sailor and his completion appear to be too fair and delicate for one supposed to have fight war and sea!
 Long Live Amanda Root! June 8, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Ugh. I'm writing this review as I watch the film, to help me get through it. The performances are almost universally bad, with the exception of Rupert Penry-Jones, who is a brooding and understated Captain Wentworth, one of the few actors in this production to grasp the subtlety and nuance of Jane Austen's writing and characterisation. I wanted to like Sally Hawkins, but her Anne Elliot is melancholy and monotonous. She seems to be constantly flustered and miserable, gasping, sobbing, trembling and feeling faint. A far cry from Austen's capable heroine, astute, engaging and always in command of her senses; such a sharp contrast too with Amanda Root's vivacious and gregarious Anne Elliot, who was likable and warm, with feeling eyes and a sharp mind. Hawkin's Anne Elliot is quiet, subdued, depressed and depressing. They've made her plain to look at without the warmth of character that illuminated Amanda Root's face in the 1995 production.
As for the others, Anthony Head is a severe and stiff Mr Elliot, delivering lines as though he's never been asked to do so before, and without the essence of caricature that lightens his character in the book. Amanda Hale's bumbling and exaggerated Mary Musgrove is embarrassing. She's plainly trying to steal every scene she's in by overplaying her character. Consequently her lines are delivered clumsily and unnaturally, and she sounds silly rather than amusing. Again, Sophie Thompson's portrayal in the 1995 version is superior. Alice Krige is a beautiful and poised Lady Russell, but fails to represent the authority and arch-snobbery that she ought, especially when whimpering a tearful almost-apology at the beginning of the film for advising Anne against marrying Captain Wentworth - such a breach of the original storyline, so out of line with her character in the book, and so darn unlikely. Lady Russell above all else has a strong sense of propriety that governs her every action. She doesn't exert her formidable powers of persuasion over an impressionable girl and then weep with her over it later.
The performances overall are amateurish and the dialogue is stilted. Anne Elliot should be bright, witty, sharp, intellectual, conversational, energetic, and ultimately supremely attractive to the confident and like-minded Captain Wentworth, and in fact loved by all characters of worth and sense in the book: Bennick, the Musgroves, the Crofts, etc. Her warm and steady character is meant to recommend her to everyone regardless of class. Hawkins' Anne Elliot drifts through the story whimpering and sighing, aloof from everyone and unengaged with her surroundings. She doesn't like anyone and no one likes her. She subsists on memories and misery.
Wentworth and Anne need to be equals in intellect and temperament in order for a love story to be plausible and interesting to watch. I just don't buy it. The principal actors need to be equals too, and Rupert-Penry Jones' sensitive portrayal of Captain Wentworth might have been brilliant had the casting directors done their work properly and ensured professional performances across the board. Is there a shortage of great British actors, or are they all signing up for period dramas at the BBC, where they do things right? I've only mentioned the worst of the performances - most of them, such as the Miss Musgroves and the Crofts, are just unremarkable and unlikeable. It's hard to invest any interest in them.
There were a number of moments of grating awkwardness that stand out from the rest. Firstly, the tearful scene I alluded too between Lady Russell and Anne Elliot. Secondly, the dancing at the Musgroves. Anne's piano playing was really poor (for which there is no excuse - she's an excellent pianist in the book), and the dancing itself looked trite and silly. I just didn't know where to look. Thirdly, when Captain Wentworth helps Anne into the Croft's carriage. Rather than gallantly handing her in, he actually lifts her up and seats her on the back of the buggy, at which she gasps and simpers. The camera at this point is clearly attached to the back of the buggy and focussed on Anne, so the whole scene bounces around clumsily. It was just an awful embarrassing moment, instead of a fluent, romantic one. Finally, the last 5 minutes of the film, into which about a third of the book is compressed, while Anne runs frantically around Bath like a chicken with her head cut off meeting various acquaintances who fill her in on some important plot points and tie up a few loose ends. Still running, she reads a letter, encounters the Crofts, who point her in the direction of Captain Wentworth, pursues him and finds him with Charles Musgrove, and breathlessly accepts Wentworth's proposal of marriage (contained in the letter). At this point she needs a shower and a strong drink, but she manages to stutter out a breathy "I would be delighted...that is to say I...I am determined...etc., etc., etc.", then engages in the most protracted, toothy and clumsy screen kiss I've ever seen in my life. I can't decide whether she thinks she's about to eat an apple, or if she's just low on blood sugar, but either way she hovers for what seems like an eternity showing her teeth and gulping and gasping and making weird chewing motions before the actual kiss, while poor Captain Wentworth stands with his head bent down just waiting, waiting, waiting. Don't even get me started on the "wedding present" and the ensuing waltz on the lawn of Kellynch Hall.
The producers and writers have messed with the book beyond all reason, of course. At times the trajectory of events is barely recognisable, and the dialogue has been butchered and is delivered without passion and feeling. The cinematography is insipid and too grittily realistic, the landscapes are dreary and mostly drenched in rain, the camera jumps and jogs all over the place. Too many close-ups of faces that aren't very interesting to look at, too much bolting dizzily through dull, dark houses and the drizzly streets of Bath.
I could have forgiven a lot if not for the dismal performance of Sally Hawkins. I blame costumes partly (always dressed in garish rust and purple), hair and makeup (uber-pale with black hair dragged into a painfully tight black bun, totally unflattering) and a poorly-written screenplay. But I can't forgive her for delivering all her lines in a hesitant whisper, for gasping and having palpitations all the time, and for never smiling or expressing a glimmer of vivacity.
I can only recommend the Ciaran Hinds/Amanda Root version of this film, which is infinitely better. Or just read the book. When the announcer said at the end of the film "You can pre-order your copy of Persuasion at your local store..." I snickered. Not likely.
Remake May 26, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Either I read the book or I see the film, I don't do both.
I can only said, that this remake from 2007, with Rupert Penry-Jones and Sally Hawkins, is good, when you haven't read the book and don't have anything to compare it with.
The hidden chemisty and passion, between the two leading charaters, seems so intens.
Because of the time they are living in, and broken hearts, they hide their feelings for eachother, which almost become catastrophic for them both.
A love story from the 18th century, which is worth seeing, despite the lack of accuracy to the book.
|
|
|
