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Persuasion

Persuasion

List Price: $27.95
Your Price: $20.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent - Must see!!!
Review: My two favorite Austen novels are Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion. A&E's version of the former and this version of the latter are the best movie adaptions of any books I have ever read. Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds are incredible. I have lost count of how many times I have watched this movie.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: a slight disappointment
Review: I have to say that though I am a huge Jane Austen fan, I did not think that this movie did a good job with Jane's trademark subtlety. Some of the most important scenes like the one where thee group is at the theater near the end of the story was grossly over dramatized. If you want adaptations that truely reflect Jane Austen's spirit then watch Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson and Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Amanda Root's performance is superb and the attention to deatail given to the cinematography is exquisite, while remainning faithful to Jane Austen's original masterpiece. I vow, this film would make any romantic heart sigh with contentment.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: don't let the cover fool you
Review: Don't let the erotic-looking cover fool you on this movie. It was tastefully done and very true to Jane Austen's novel. I enjoyed the obvious lack of "super-beautiful" people playing the parts of Anne Elliot, Captain Wentworth, and the rest. These were truly humans, not supermodels. Well done.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Beautifully done!
Review: The words are beautiful, the characters all memorable! Seems slow at first, but after seeing it 10 times already, it gets better every time.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: best adaptation of a Jane Austen novel yet.
Review: The characterization development is probably the best that I have seen in such a long time. Rarely are period novels so well portrayed but the dialogue, costume and screen play was so acutely developed I have watched the movie more than a few times. Amanda Root plays Ann Elliott to perfection, and alongside the scenery at Bath and Lyme Regis any Austen fan will be very pleased with the results. The Captain Wentworth/Ann scene at the concert in Bath is a 'must see' for any romantic.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best films of 1995, Honest!
Review: Though it did not have the budget of Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensiblity the BBC uses the movies two best assets, the script, adapted from Jane Austen's work by the same name, and Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds. The script is brought to life through Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds not as much through words, but the sutle glances, longing, and touches. Be paitent with this movie, watch till the end. Then like me you will watch it again and again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Jane Austen done well
Review: Persuasion is a much quieter movie than either Pride & Prejudice or Sense & Sensibility. It begins slowly and requires careful attention initially to understand what is happening. It opens with the falling financial situation of the Elliots of Kellynch Hall and displays the great vanity of the Baronet and his eldest daughter. But it is the quiet middle daughter, Anne Elliot, that we are here to watch. Through early dialog we learn that she is scorned by her elder sister and forgotten by her father. Only their neighbor Lady Russell sees her value. But 10 years earlier it was Lady Russell who counseled her to give up an attachment to young sailor "who had only himself to recommend him". Now the young sailor is Captain Wentworth, wealthy from the Napoleonic war, and his sister and brother-in-law, an Admiral Croft, are to rent Kellynch Hall.

Amanda Root plays Anne quietly and it is in the small gestures that we come to see her depths: a hand to her face when Wentworth's name is first mentioned, holding a old paper boat with great care as she cleans out Kellynch Hall; gripping a chair to hold herself steady the first time she unexpectedly sees Wentworth; and her expression when her sister cruelly repeats that Wentworth "hardly knew her, she was so changed." But we also see her quiet strength when she cares for her constantly complaining sister Mary Musgrove and then nurses her nephew after a fall. Anne is the quiet one that everyone depends upon.

Ciarán Hinds (recently seen as the Russian president in Sum of All Fears) is likewise excellent as the man once scorned by the wealthy Elliots. He is determined in his coldness toward Anne and likable in his warmth toward the Musgroves.

The dinner party scene when the Crofts and Wentworth dine with the Musgroves shines as it exposes each character in turn. When Mrs. Croft describes her adventures sailing with her husband, you can see in Anne's eyes how she yearns for this life that she gave up 10 years earlier. (I finally figured out where I had seen Fiona Shaw, the actress who places Sophie Croft - she also plays Harry Potter's aunt Petunia Dursley. What a great range this actress has!)

The period costumes, location filming, and wonderful music give this movie an authentic feel like other recent Austen films. Unlike the magnificent 6-hour adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, much of the novel's details are missing from this 2-hour film. Nor does Persuasion have the spectacle of Sense & Sensibility. What makes Persuasion wonderful is the quiet drama of this film, the great Austen dialog, and the care given to develop each character from this wonderful novel.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A gem
Review: This movie is not only the best film adaptation of a Jane Austen novel, it's also a wonderful film in its own right. What did I love about it?

1) It isn't stuffy and unnatural. The characters sound human when they speak; you can imagine that this is how people spoke in the 19th century - not like pompous orators, but like real people. The world surrounding the characters isn't overly polished or brightly lit; again, there's a natural, "lived-in" feeling to all the buildings and landscapes; they do not look like they came out of a glossy postcard.

2) The performances. I don't have enough praise for Amanda Root, who plays Anne Elliot, a woman whose marriage prospects are slim to nil, and who has just been thrown into the company of a man whom she rejected years ago. Root can speak volumes just with her eyes, and everything about her fits perfectly with the gentle, wry and intelligent Anne Elliot. As Captain Wentworth, Ciaran Hinds is also great; he disappears into the character. Both actors aren't conventionally beautiful or handsome either; Root in particular blossoms before the viewers eyes - at first she's very faded and quiet, and then we (like Wentworth) see her spirit shine out. In addition to Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds, the rest of the cast also do a wonderful job. Perhaps because there aren't any big name actors, we can get totally immersed in the film.

3) It's true to Austen. There's subtle humor, real human feeling, and a keen understanding of human nature. It's an unforgettable love story.

4) The kiss. One kiss - perfectly timed, perfectly executed... you will melt.

5) The soundtrack. This holds true particularly for the assembly at Bath, and the Italian vocal pieces.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Another Ciaran Hinds Great!
Review: If anyone has seen Jane Eyer, with Ciaran Hinds, you know how "in depth" he can portray a " hell of a man". Strong, yet soft in the heart, this is another love story with a woman, " poorly chosen for the part". The story is lacking some connection between the two, but you won't mind if your a lover of Ciaran.


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