P07: What’s the verdict?
As before, post your comments about Persuasion 2007 here, and also please let us know if you are familiar with the novel so that we can compare the reactions of those who have read it and those who have not–we won’t give you a hard time!
There also is a pinned thread for ongoing debate and discussion at the Molland’s Community.
ETA: Yes, we changed the title of the post (got our naming conventions a bit mixed up). And don’t forget, the 1997 adaptation of Emma starring Kate Beckinsale will be broadcast Friday night to finish up Jane Austen Season; but nobody’s that excited about it because we’ve mostly all seen it! La!
The kiss at the end was very strange! Harry Hill made fun of it last night: he said something like ‘isn’t it annoying when you don’t know whether to kiss someone or bite them?’ There WAS something a little vampiric about it, and Captain Wentworth/Rupert Penry Jones seemed very reluctant, considering how he had just revealed the extent of his love for her in the letter…
Some of the casting seemed wrong; Julia Davis was basically playing a watered down version of Jill from ‘Nighty Night’, and in the book Mrs. Clay has freckles and a ‘projecting tooth’; in this version she was very attractive! Also, the whole thing lacked humour. Where was the satire? I felt that Anthony Head, although his acting was very good, was a little too nasty as Sir Walter. In the novel, his thoughtlessness is made more acceptable because he is also ridiculous. On the positive side, Rupert Penry Jones was delicious to look at…
Ok! I am very late, but here are my 2cents.
I liked the cast very well indeed. Mr. William Elliot could have been a tid more charismatic for me, but I was so glad I was forwarned by the reviews I read before.
Got dizzy at the camera.handling in the beginning, had to laugh out loud, when they climbed awkwardly over a trunk instead of walking around the boulder, and at Wentworth and whowasit (can’t remember exactly the turn of the script now) standing in the spray (?) at sea in that awful conditions getting full wet. But I must admit, it may have mirrored all those stormy feelings brewing inside the good captain. LOL!
I do not forgive the skewering of the letter-scene.
My favourite film version will stay the Roots/Hinds version.
Tony A. wrote:
And during the opening scene, was that supposed to be a maid standing in the hallway holding a tray of ink just for Anne to refresh her pen while she was writing what was supposed to be an inventory of the house contents?
LOL, I noticed her, too. If anybody asked me, this person’s job would have been the first to go if I had to retrench.
Yes quite, Franka. Our names must be uncommon enough.
I have mixed feelings about this version of Persuasion. I liked it, but there are a few problems that I can’t just let go. I loved RPJ and Sally Hawkins, but I think the script didn’t make just to the characters like they are described in the book. Anne Elliot seemed to me a little bit too weak, and cries a lot. She never considered marrying Mr. Elliot, because she had a bad feeling about him. And she should have never run through Bath like crazy after Wentworth!! What was that about?! And once again they didn’t put that sweet scene where Wentworth saves Anne from the annoying child, climbing her back! I would mix the too scripts from 97 and 07, and I’m sure it would make the perfect adaptation of Persuasion!!
To Anon. @98:
I completely agree with your comment that Sally Hawkins ‘looked like a fish opening and closing her mouth over and over’! And not just in the kissing scene–she does the same thing when Mr. Elliot proposes to her…and when Wentworth leaves the recital…and the next morning when he shows up at the Elliots’ house to explain his ‘commission’…and generally whenever it seems she is trying to convey emotion. It was soooo annoying and off-putting!!
Tamara;
Its time to come back!
I like Miss Franka’s review of this new version of Persuasion.Did that over-rated Davies do the screenplay on this ITV version?
J.
Nope. No Davies here, thank God.
I agree that Anne looked like a fish when she was reaching up to kiss Wentworth. In fact, I said exactly that to the person I watched the movie with last night.
But, overall, I liked it a lot. I thought RPJ was sufficiently sexy and brooding, and that SH did a better job than I’d expected. I liked Nicholas Farrell and Alice Krige; I just wish they’d given us more of the Musgroves, the Crofts and Lady R. My problem with Sophy is that she looked more like Wentworth’s mother than his sister.
I liked the Musgrove girls (I’m still reeling at the thought that Henrietta Musgrove played Anne de Bourgh in P&P05), but I didn’t like either Mary or Charles (Jr.) Musgrove. I thought that the woman playing Mary was trying too hard to channel Sophie Thompson (simply not possible) and that the man playing Charles just didn’t understand the character. “Good-natured” doesn’t have to mean “twit.
I loved Anthony Head as Sir Walter. Even without Corin Redgrave’s lisping and wardrobe, I thought that Mr. Head did a terrific job with the character. I loved the primping, and am glad they left the mirrors-at-Kellynch scene in this version.
I liked Mr. Elliot, but we don’t really get to see just how horrible a person he is. That’s a shame because the story misses something without the full disclosure.
Is the book’s Mrs. Smith really named Harriet? I can’t remember if it is. All I could think of when I heard the name “Harriet Smith” was “where’s Emma? Where’s Mr. Knightley?”
I didn’t like the way The Letter was handled. How could I focus my attention on RPJ’s lovely voice and those beautiful words while Anne is doing wind sprints around Bath? And, speaking of running, I have to say that I never knew how good a nurse Mrs. Rooke was — she managed to get an invalid to run!
I really didn’t like the scene when Wentworth picks Anne up and puts her on the back seat of the Crofts’ carriage. First, I kept thinking he was treating her like a sack of potatoes, and second, why the heck was she facing backwards? She’s supposed to be sitting with the Crofts, not in back of them.
Yes, I liked it, but I still prefer P95. Hands down.
Julie P.
Persuasion is my favorite book of Austen’s.The film version with Hinds/Root is my favorite.I bought a bbc jane austen collection, so called “masterpiece theater” all filmed in the 1970’s or 80’s? and i did not like them.Adrimal Croft with a beard?
The part of Mr Elliot the younger,cheating Anne’s friend- Mrs.Smith’s husband-is quite clear.What I have never understood was the connection to Mr.Elliot and Mrs Clay,and was Mrs Clay’s father- Mr.Shepherd, Sir Walter’s barrister -(lawyer over here) involved?
If Davies had done this production it probably would have been much better, James!
Great to ’see’ you again, Tamara!
Julie P., no, Mrs Smith is never referred to as Harriet in the book. I was taken aback upon hearing “Harriet,” and was compelled to review the book. In spite of the friendship between her and Anne, the latter only addressed her as “Mrs Smith.” And Mrs Smith, née Miss Hamilton, remained sans a first name throughout the book.
And I wholeheartedly agree with you regarding Charles Musgrove, especially in the last scene. A superlative twit.
I do not even want to think on the Letter, or the (absence of the) “debate” between Anne and Harville before it. It’s like… never mind. I feel my blood pressure rising again.
If Davies had done this production it probably would have been much better
I beg to differ. Persuasion is romantic and sexy on its own. It doesn’t need the Dirty Old Man’s “special touch.”
OK,Young Mr.Elliot does Mr.and mrs.Smith wrong,but how is it he is connected to mrs Clay? Is there some king of conspiracy with Mrs Clay’s father,Mr.Shepherd who is Sir Walters lawyer?
james
I have not seen the ITV version.From what I have read here I do not want to either.
I really liked the Hinds/Root version,even if they had almost all of the Navy things WRONG!
1. An Adrimals boat crew would never be so shabby!Never!
2. The piping aboard of the Adrimal was wrong.and,The Captains of his Fleet would be going to his Ship!
3.The scene in his cabin was wrong as far as the seating of the Officers.
4.No Frigate carried 74 guns,nor was a frigate a second class!
5.Frigates were either 4th or fifth rate.Maximun number of guns was about 54 like as was on the U.S.Navy Constitution class Heavy Frigates,which could blow any two or three Royal Navy frigates out of the water-with experienced crews.
How can anyone top John Woodvine and Fiona Shaw as George and Sophie Croft? They have to be the best married couple that Jane Austen ever wrote about!
James
Hi James,
There is no conspiracy; Mr. Elliot hears the gossip about Mrs. Clay living in the Elliot household and everyone’s assumption that she will try to marry Sir Walter, and he wants to keep that from happening. She was still young, and if she married Sir Walter and bore him a son, Mr. Elliot would not inherit Kellynch. From the novel:
He really did like Anne and wanted to marry her; the keeping-an-eye-on-Sir-Walter bit was gravy. Here’s another bit, from Mrs Smith’s reveal of Mr. Elliot’s perfidy:
P.S. I always thought the Admiral was being rowed out to his flagship after hearing from, say, the port admiral that the war is over…
What a weak production. I wouldnt have enjoyed it if it hasnt been for Tobias Menzies who was wonderful as William Elliot. His first appearance was definitely the best scene of the movie. Mysterious and sexy.
I hated the way his character was explained away at the end. He was charming, elegant and full of charisma throughout the production and suddenly a character rushes up to Anne and calls him rotten. Ann believes her immediately without question! and then rushes about like an idiot trying to find the bland and boring Wentworth. Penry Jones had absolutely no screen presence.
Anne’s character never developed. It was impossible to like her and the actresses mouth gaped open like a guppy fish the whole time. Harry Hill’s humerous swipe at the final kiss was well deserved.
Mags,
In the Hinds/Root version you only see a gig being rowed to a ship.You have no idea where they are.No port,bay or land of any kind is seen.
I cannot believe I missed that in the book!Too bad young Mr.Elliot did not marry Elizabeth!Yet his choice of Anne,was correct in that she is the best of the Elliots!
And of Mrs.Clay,I dont think “Sir Walter”was interested in her other than as a companion for his eldest daughter.
Who would want to marry a fellow like Corin Redgraves character!
I love his reaction and expression when Anne tells him off about going to see Mrs Smith!(instead the Dowager Dalrimple…..
Forget the adaptations. Just read the book. It will put everything in its proper place, I promise.
Sorry if someone has already mentioned this, but I could not help but notice the amount of historical inaccuracies within the production. Light switches, radiators, modern grates, floodlights, a Captain Wentworth with his ear pierced, Anne telling Wentworth there was a concert on at the Pump rooms which turned out to be Assembly Rooms, floodlights in the background whilst Anne was running!!!…could not they see this!
What a waste of a fine cast. I had such high hopes, having seen prior work of so many of the actors. I have no clue what parts most of them were playing — and clearly they didn’t either. Only Anthony Head got it right. I nearly screamed when Anne and Benwick talked of constancy in men and women at Lyme. Wentworth is supposed to hear this conversation — and yet he appears to have written his letter to Anne even before he comes to ask her about the Kellynch lease (do we really have to have BOTH endings?).
I watched it again just to make sure I’d given it a fair chance. Pity me.