I love watching adaptations of classic works. And I especially enjoy the recent BBC miniseries adaptations. They are all just wonderful. And one the more recent ones I've seen is the 2007 Persuasion. Which as soon as having seen it, I yearned to watch the the 1995 theatrical version that I also heard featured Captain Wentworth in his naval uniform which was never shown in th 2007 miniseries. Though I didn't quite mind. I thought Rupert Penry-Jones had looked dashing enough in his 18 century costumes.
So I finally saw it a few weeks ago. I thought it had a pretty good cast. All very capable in their roles. And not overly pretty, which I kinda find some of the more recent adaptations are guilty off...casting overly good looking actors who also seemed to contemporary and out off place in 18 century England.
I did find that the movie seemed short. Which is funny since its a few minutes longer than the miniseries. Hence I found that the story in this to seem a bit rushed and that I never really learned much about the characters, that we didn't get to spend much time with them. Now I've never read the book, but I did like how the miniseries showed how Anne was always anxious and we could hear her breathing, gasping almost. It gave more gravitas to Anne's current situation. How she could act on her feelings or losing Wentworth again illustrating the urgency of Anne having to make a decision. All of which miniseries did much better I think. With the movie, events went smoother and things simply fell into place. There wasn't really a moment where you kind of doubt if the leads will end up together...which I didn't like.
I think its pretty clear. I enjoyed the miniseries better. Not that this one not good, just that I prefer the former. The scenes I did like in this movie though were the ones in the Musgroves residence, where it was shown Anne had almost everyones confidence, and the scenes in Bath with Anne's widow friend...which added a little humour with the gossiping.
I LOVE Persuasion story... the tale of second chances. I think it's a stronger story than Pride & Prejudice, for me anyways. Now, I'm with you about Penry-Jones, he's soooo dashing in the BBC miniseries, though I agree he's almost too good looking for the role. But I wish they'd show him with the NAVY uniform, I mean he's a Naval Officer!!
ReplyDeleteYet I feel that the miniseries has a lot of pacing issues and the part where Anne running around silly is just too much for me. Even the kiss at the end was excruciating, it would've been a lot better if they did that part right. In the movie, I do like the fact that the cast look more 'ordinary' though Ciaran Hinds is quite hunky and tall AND he's wearing the Navy uniform! :) But the production/direction leaves much to be desired, though I still think the movie is superior to the miniseries as a whole.
Anyway, I'm actually working on a post that'll mention Persuasion, so it's interesting that I saw you had written about this topic.
Haha I agree that Anne running around was a bit silly, so unlikely for a woman of her status in that era. I wonder if it was in the book though?
ReplyDeleteHave you seen the new "Jane Eyre" with Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska? Yet another adaptation ... I'm not against remakes/adaptations on principal, but I do think they need to seem fresh or offer a new take somehow.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen the new Jane Eyre yet. It will only be released in Singapore on May 18. I'm really looking forward to it though. I love adaptations, and to date I've seen I think 3 Jane Eyre adaptations. Hmm a fresh or new take. That always sounds good but I think that can be a great challenge especially for classics. Not sure how one could do it other than having it stylistically shot.
ReplyDelete