Persuasion is not one of my favourite Austen stories, but it's a good story and I enjoyed the 1995 version of the film. This version, however, is absolutely horrible. Many of the more recent (made in the 2000's) BBC adaptations to Austen novels have been more... artsy than previous interpretations of the novels, and to date I've enjoyed them. Sense and Sensibility was really well done, the older version of Emma was better but the 2000 one was still good. But Persuasion is where they drop the ball. This is more of an art film than it is a period piece and was almost painful to sit through. I found myself so bored at some points that I would think back to how the 1995 version did it and compare them just to keep occupied. There are so many over played emotions that are lost to the plot because the cameraman was given too much artistic liberty and you get lost in the angles and lenses instead of the plot and characters, and not in the good way.
All I can say is that, if you have watched this film and haven't seen the version with Amanda Root as Anne, go watch it. She is not as pretty as the actress in this film, but Anne isn't supposed to be a world renown beauty, she's rather plain. It's a much better adaptation than this one.
I haven't read Sense and Sensibility, and I guess I should say I have no intention to, though it is a good story. I have seen the previous sense and sensibility with Kate Winslet though, so while I have something to hold this movie up to, I don't have the original story under my belt and can't compare one to the other. I thought this movie did a great job. The previous movie had a good cast and was well done, but I'd have to say that I think I like this one more. The cinematography really drew you into the story and made the story line so much more realistic and palpable. At the beginning I wasn't too sure about it as there were a lot of weird angles, like they were trying to create one of those weird art movies (which I love.. and that'd actually be a great project) but after the first 5- 10 minutes the story and presentation became less choppy and more, well I guess real. And because of this I think, I felt I knew the sister's better than I did from watching the other movie, even though I've watched that one several times and this one only once. They just got it right. The lighting, the angles... there were some points in the movie where they just got a really pretty shot of one of the actresses and I'd just stop and think, wow she looks really pretty there, and then the story would continue. The scenery was beautiful as well. my favourite shot scenery wise is when Marianne is sitting by the stream reading and there's that little waterfall. I enjoy the people cast for the previous movie and think they're good at what they do, but I think this cast better suits the characters (though Winslet played a really great Marianne). I felt the relationships a bit more, and the situational misfortune a lot more. Both movies are good though, and both should be seen. This one does a lot more for me visually though.
