Persuasion (2007) (TV)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Adrian Shergold

Writers:

Jane Austen (novel)
Simon Burke (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 January 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A new adaptation of Jane Austen's classic

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

British Navy | Dancing | Carriage | Class Differences | Love Triangle

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Sally Hawkins	...	Anne Elliot
Alice Krige	...	Lady Russell
Rupert Penry-Jones	...	Captain Wentworth
Anthony Head	...	Sir Walter Elliot
Julia Davis	...	Elizabeth Elliot
Michael Fenton Stevens	...	Mr. Shepherd (as Michael Fenton-Stevens)
Mary Stockley	...	Mrs. Clay
Peter Wight	...	Admiral Croft
Marion Bailey	...	Mrs. Croft
Amanda Hale	...	Mary Elliot
Jennifer Higham	...	Louisa Musgrove
Rosamund Stephen	...	Henrietta Musgrove
Stella Gonet	...	Mrs. Musgrove
Sam Hazeldine	...	Charles Musgrove
Louis Shergold	...	Little Charles

Also Known As:

Persuasion: A Jane Austen Classic (Australia)

Runtime:

120 min (including commercials) | 93 min (excluding commercials)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:G | Finland:K-3 | New Zealand:G

Filming Locations:

Assembly Rooms, Bath, Somerset, England, UK

Company:

Clerkenwell Films

Trivia:

The black silk dress with red, orange, and blue vertical lines woven into the fabric worn by an extra in the Pump Room when Anne talks with Mr. Elliot is the same costume Barbara Leigh-Hunt (Lady Catherine de Bourgh) wears at Rosings in "Pride and Prejudice" (1995), and Rosemary Enright wears to dinner in "The Regency House Party" (2004).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Anne is running through the streets of Bath, right before she bumps into Charles and Captain Wentworth, a hydro pole and a radio tower can be seen in the background.

Quotes:

Sir Walter Elliot: Come, come Anne. We must not be late. You cannot have forgotten that we have an invitation from Lady Dalrymple.
Anne Elliot: I regret I am already engaged to spend the evening with an old school-friend.
Elizabeth Elliot: Not that sickly old widow in Westgate building?
Anne Elliot: Mrs Smith. Yes.
Sir Walter Elliot: Smith? Westgate building?
Mrs. Clay: Excuse me.
Sir Walter Elliot: And who pray is Mrs Smith? One of the 5,000 thousand Smiths everywhere to be met with. Upon my word, Miss Anne, you have the most extraordinary taste. To place such a person ahead of your own family connections among the nobility of England and Ireland. Mrs Smith.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Version of Persuasion (1995)

Soundtrack:

German Dance in D Major

Sombre in tone

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.