I was recently ordered (ordered!) by faithful reader Pat to watch the 1995 BBC version of Persuasion, starring Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds.(Naturally, I went and checked it out from the library tout de suite!)
I admit, I had neither read nor seen any edition of Persuasion before checking this one out *hangs head*, and I missed the first run of the new version on PBS, so I have thrown that into my Netflix queue for the future.
Anyway, 1995's Persuasion.
Lovely. :-)
As Pat pointed out, at the beginning you don't really find Anne or Frederick particularly engaging or attractive, but by the end, you are rooting for them to find each other, and find that you have fallen for both through the story.
This was Austen's last written novel before her death, and is markedly shorter than Emma or Mansfield Park, which I felt as I watched this adaptation - it was still lovely, but seemed to be missing the slow build of other Austen novels to me, or the depth and detail that she always built into both her main characters and her secondary characters.
And I really did NOT expect to fall in love with Ciaran Hinds' Frederick - I mean, yes, the man was rad as Caesar on Rome, but a romantic lead? Now, I'm a believer...
Yep. Add this to the canon of BBC period pieces already crowding my house. And now, I just have to wait to compare it to the new version...
Labels: bbc, movies, persuasion
Hmmm. I don't know about this but I could be tempted to check this out. Ciaran Hinds will always sort of be Ceasar to me so I don't know...Of course, I am willing to go out on a limb.
I'm a faithful reader! (blushes).
I'm glad you enjoyed the move (sorry for being bossy, but everyone needs a little Austen in their lives, right?).
Have you read any Dennis Lehane? I just saw "Gone Baby Gone" and realized that it was based on a novel (like Mystic River) by Lehane and that he's also written episodes of The Wire. I'm about half way through one of his books and I'm really enjoying it. Urban and gritty and page turning.
Jaleh...I know, I had reservations too about Caesar as an Austen heart throb, but this WAS filmed 13 years ago, so he looks a bit different, if that helps!
You ARE a faithful reader, Pat, and I don't mind being pushed around by faithful readers. ;-)
I've never read any Lehane, but I usually hear him described as "gritty". I'm not a big grit girl, but maybe one of these days....
I'll admit he made a Frederick, but he will always be in my mind The Worst Mr. Rochester Ever (in the 1997 TV version of Jane Eyre ). Now I always want to throw stuff at him when I see him in a movie, even good one like Persuasion:)
BL - I don't want to watch any other Jane Eyres, since I love the recent one so much, but I have actually been cautioned against that version before due to the ick factor. Thanks for the head's up! :-)
I still think he's Caesar first for me...