I recently watched Persuasion 1995, starring Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds, for the first time a few days ago, and I was having a hankering for the 2007 version, directed by Adrian Shergold, and starring Sally Hawkins as Anne Elliot and Rupert Penry-Jones as Captain Frederick Wentworth.
Persuasion is my favorite Jane Austen work, and my esteem for the novel only grows each time I pick it up. The premise is simple: boy meets girl; boy and girl fall in love; girl is persuaded to reject boy; boy and girl part brokenhearted. Only Austen picks up the story 8 years later, when, after a lengthy separation, boy and girl cross paths by chance again. Of all Austen’s heroines, Anne’s situation appears the most hopeless; tormented with grief over her decision, she now, at 27 years old, has few prospects and no hope at all of ever seeing Captain Wentworth again—and when she does, it is only to be teased by his flirtation with Louisa and Henrietta and his declarations that above all he wants a woman of firm mind who is not easily persuaded. In the weeks that follow, the reader watches Anne, always in the background, it seems, easily forgotten by all but one, as her chances of happiness seems to ebb and wane, steadily like the tide, however, growing more and more hopeful. The 2007 adaptation was the first I saw of this story, and I immediately fell in love—and it was the first Austen adaptation that succeeded in producing a few tears from me. I watched it this time with a more critical eye, but was still very pleased with what I saw.
It is that emotional see-saw, that ebbing of the tides of hope, that I believe the 2007 film captures beautifully. Those moments when Captain Wentworth glances at Anne or eyes her over take the breath right out of you as much as they do for Anne. The Croft carriage scene is the moment I first felt wholeheartedly that Wentworth still cared deeply for Anne; when he inconspicuously leans into the carriage to encourage his sister to take Anne home, my heart melted. The sense that he is always in the background—thinking, calculating, deciphering, working—pervades through this film, just as Anne’s quiet presence in the shadows of scenes emphasize her attentive, desperately curious state.
The location shots of Bath and the Cobb at Lyme are gorgeous, though it one would almost have to try to visually screw those sort of scenes up. The 1995 version did a slightly better job of including more of Bath and Lyme, giving one the feeling that one is standing in these Georgian cities as they would have appeared to contemporary visitors, not merely how film producers like to portray them in costume dramas, in their pristine, almost painfully modern state, free of common folk and signs of average life. The extreme cleanliness of this film has a certain appeal to it, but I also found that I enjoyed the “ruggedness” of the 1995 adaptation.
Persuasion 2007 has its share of flaws, but by far they concern technicalities rather than deficits in acting. Oddly enough, as much as I love her role (as I mentioned in the birthday post, if I was given the opportunity to star in any costume drama role, past or present, I would chose Anne Elliot from Persuasion 2007), I feel that Sally Hawkins’s Anne may be the weakest character in the movie. It is Sir Walter with whom Jane Austen chose to open her final novel, and Anthony Head’s portrayal screams “vanity”; the scene he makes when greeting Lady Dalrymple at the Pump Rooms was perfect, as were his embarrassing reactions to the news of Admiral Croft and Anne’s visit to Mrs. Smith. Whereas Head’s performance is humorous, Amanda Hale’s as Mary Elliot is supremely annoying. I wondered what Louisa Musgrove could have meant when she said that Mary had a few good qualities—I could see none. Her nonsense was most trying. Julia Davis played Elizabeth Elliot, the quintessential favored eldest daughter, with ease, and her soreness at Mr. Elliot’s attentions to Anne smacks of the “Elliot Pride”—though why she should expect Mr. Elliot should care for her a lick with her unnatural hair is beyond me. Charles, Louisa, and Henrietta were all good, especially Charles, who embodies the outdoorsy, congenial Englishman. I love Rupert Penry-Jones as Captain Wentworth—there’s just something about him that says “I’m a sailor.” (I do wish they had a shot of him in his uniform!) Jane Austen’s Wentworth is a little more lighthearted, I think, but Penry-Jones does a good job of keeping with the more morose feel of the film, balancing agreeableness and charm with quiet contemplation and subdued conversation. I loved the tete-a-tetes between Harville and Wentworth that gave insight into Wentworth’s reasoning and heartache that the novel does not allow for—they might be my favorite scenes. Admiral and Mrs. Croft were a delight, and the Admiral’s amusement at the surfeit of looking glasses is perfect.
All that said, I felt Anne was the most unstable character. After watching the movie again, I may have to recant the statement I made in my review of Persuasion 1995 in which I said I preferred Sally Hawkins’s portrayal over Amanda Root’s. Let’s just say they each have their good qualities. 2007’s Anne has the meekness I prefer, save for the final scene in Bath where it appears she wants to devour Captain Wentworth. I’m not entirely certain of what I thought of it before, but that final kiss may just be the most painful in the Austen adaptation cannon. It must have been something more than minerals in that Bath water that give Anne such audacity, both in speech and action.
In general, the film’s greatest weakness is the the final Bath escapade—it’s a little too dramatic, even for a modern UK Austen adaptation. It is as if the producers realized that after wasting so much time with those awkward stare-into-the-camera shots from Anne, they now had two minutes to wrap up the Bath scenes and decided having her run about the streets like a loon was the only way to finish on time. And there was no way they could calmly and accurately divulge Mr. Elliot’s secrets with such a compressed schedule, so they had Nurse Rook perform a hallelujah miracle on the invalid Mrs. Smith so she could chase down the frantic Anne and warn her about the rake herself. Thankfully, someone with an iota of sense added in that charming final scene at Kellynch, wrapping up the previous crummy five minutes and salvaging the ending.
Also, they had the Elliot’s staying at No. 1 Royal Crescent, which isn’t even close to where Camden Place (now Camden Crescent) stands.
As with most adaptations, this one is too short. But for a 90 minute production, Persuasion 2007 does a very nice job with the story. It’s a film I will never tire of watching Oh, and the music is splendid! I so wish there was a soundtrack one could purchase from this film; it compliments the emotional atmosphere of the movie perfectly. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
In celebration of Little Dorrit’s 7 Emmy Wins (!!!), Masterpiece is streaming the entire series for online viewing until September 30. Check it out 
Good news! We have an official release date for The Young Victoria in America! November 13. 7 days before New Moon 
November is going to be a good month.
