Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #981 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-11-01
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 102 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
After a slow beginning, in which the complex tangle of relationships is initially confusing, this BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's last novel, Persuasion, develops into an elegant romantic comedy. Austin combines a subtle dissection of the folly of class with a slow-burning, intensely passionate love story. Anne Elliot (Amanda Root) has loved Captain Wentworth (Ciaran Hinds) ever since she was persuaded to reject him years before. Now he has returned from the Napoleonic wars, but will love be allowed to blossom? Especially when Anne is surrounded by the selfish, petty-minded Mary, misguided by Lady Russell, and burdened by a father obsessed with fairness of countenance above all other considerations. Excepting a basic booklet, on-screen character biographies and a Dolby Digital soundtrack, there is nothing to distinguish this DVD from the video version. The picture is very good, but showing some grain, not exceptional, so unless you have a large television there is little advantage over tape. In any format, what makes this adaptation work is the sharp screenplay by Nick Dear and the naturalistic style of director Roger Mitchell (who joined the A-list with Notting Hill, 1999), together eliciting fine performances from the ensemble cast. Less flamboyant than Pride and Prejudice (1995), this is a civilised treat. --Gary S Dalkin

Special Features
14:9
DVD 5
English
Region 2
English

Synopsis
A lavish BBC production of Jane Austen's 1818 love story of an English officer pursuing the woman he loves through youthful rejection, long estrangement, and eventual, glorious reconciliation.

Customer Reviews

Persuasion: Less is More
I have watched this dramatisation of 'Persuasion' over and over again. It is beautifully acted with superb performances from Ciaran Hinds and Amanda Root. The whole things is very understated and subtle but the body language is electric. The later BBC adaption of 'Pride and Prejudice' is more obviously romantic with sexy leads etc but 'Persuasion' is actually far more affecting. The supporting cast are wonderful and I particularly enjoyed Fiona Shaw's performance as Mrs Croft. As with many of the performances you really have to concentrate on what she is saying and she lends the words a thoughtful intensity. If you are a lover of Jane Austen the writer rather than simply adaptions of Jane Austen you will like this version. I much preferred it to Ang Lee's adaption of 'Sense and Sensibility' which took huge liberties with the book or the rather overheated recent version of 'Mansfield Park'. 'Persuasion' is a wonderful example of less being more.

Persuasion
Simply the best Austen adaptation on film. The quality of this production is in the delicacy of small gestures and exposition of character in telling an entertaining story which is nonetheless energetically driven by its carefully drawn yet dramatic plot. The deft direction sucessfully brings out the character of even the supporting roles and, as a result, rewards repeated viewing as the layers become revealed and enjoyed with increasing familiarity. To name just a few: Amanda Root's development from dowdy to radiant; Corin Redgrave's vanity in checking the reflection of his hair in his dinner knife; Simon Russell-Beales perfect interpretation of a country gentleman and the gentle humour of the scene in which all the family confide their concerns with each other to a tactfully diplomatic Ann Eliott notwithstanding the contradictions inherent in the process. If you are an Austen fan you must own this.

The best BBC adaptation of Austen
When I heard that a new version of Persuasion was in the pipeline, my first thought was why bother? This BBC adaptation by director Roger Michell and writer Nick Dear (thankfully, Andrew Davies does not write all the BBC’s literary adaptations) is the best 19th century novel adaptation for television that I have ever seen. Whilst it takes some liberties with the text, these expansions of character and dialogue are not unseemly and mould themselves nicely within the plot parameters of Austen’s novel. The acting is superb with Amanda Root at the forefront and Ciaran Hinds, Fiona Shaw, Samuel West and Corin Redgrave providing extraordinary support. The photography is stunning, completely modern in its roving camera style at times, but never jarring as it was in the BBC’s recent adaptation of Bleak House (an adaptation that could have learnt from the daring, yet restrained style in direction and cinematography of Persuasion). I cannot recommend it highly enough.