Masterpiece Theater Presents - Persuasion

Last night kicked off PBS's showing of the adaptions of all six Jane Austen novels. They will be airing through April, Sunday nights at nine. The only version I have seen before is the Pride and Prejudice one. The rest all appear to be new or lesser known. More information can be found on the PBS website.

Mrs. Fenton, Katrina, and I gathered in my living room with our cups of tea to spend our evening judging this newest version of Persuasion. Having fallen in love with the BBC version starring Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds, every other adaption will be compared to it. (You can expect the same for Emma, Mansfield Park, Sense and Sensibility.) This Anne Elliot was decidedly lacking the sense and restraint I found appealing in the both the other movie and the original novel. She was not as mature a character as I expected of her. There was too much gasping and faltering and stammering that I don't believe careful Anne Elliot would have been likely to display. She lost her composure every other scene. Also, she was at one point decidedly more under-dressed than would probably have been appropriate for the time period. Nothing was exposed, but it didn't seem entirely believable and was unnecessary.

Captain Wentworth's character was a little underdeveloped. Of course, this adaption was shorter than the other and so less time was available. Unfortunately his lack of dialogue and expression lead to his character being weaker. It was hard to form an opinion of him since you didn't really seem to know that much about him.

The camera angles and constant closeups of the first part of the movie just about drove me batty. Thankfully that didn't last too long. There was a bunch of narration derived from a journal that Anne kept. It seemed to be a way of making up for what was lacking in the acting and dialogue. (Yes, I'm being a bit harsh, but once I'm devoted to a certain version of a film it's extremely difficult to sway my opinion.) Each of the scenes was a bit short and reordered. Perhaps one or two may have been better off with a little more information but I didn't think it affected it too much. On the whole it was entertaining and enjoyable to see another interpretation of Austen. Of course, my true test is whether or not I need my own copy so that I can spend hours watching it over and over. I'm afraid for this particular version the answer is no, but don't be afraid to watch it and form your own opinion! I'd love to hear it!