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| Persuasion | 
| Director: Adrian Shergold
Actors: Rupert Penry-jones, Sally Hawkins, Alice Krige, Anthony Head, Julia Davis
Studio: BBC Warner
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $13.41
You Save: $6.57 (33%)
New (41) from $13.41
Avg. Customer Rating:  197 reviews
Sales Rank: 877
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Running Time: 93 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.8
MPN: 1000036150
UPC: 883929005475
EAN: 0883929005475
ASIN: B000YIGNKE
Theatrical Release Date: November 2007
Release Date: January 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW, Factory Sealed items direct from the Studios. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Quick International Airmail!
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Product Description
Jane Austen?s romantic masterpiece comes to DVD in a thrilling new production from the BBC and Masterpiece Theatre. Anne Elliot fell deeply in love with the handsome young naval officer Frederick Wentworth at the age of nineteen. But with neither fortune nor rank to recommend him Anne was persuaded to break off her engagement. Eight years later Anne has lived to regret her decision. She never stopped loving Wentworth and when he returns from sea with a fortune and rank she can only watch as every eligible young woman in the district falls at his feet.Running Time: 93 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/BBC UPC: 883929005475 Manufacturer No: 1000036150
Amazon.com
Jane Austen fans will delight in the sumptuous production design and first-rate acting in the 2007 Masterpiece Theatre version of Persuasion. Sally Hawkins is controlled and moving as Anne Elliot, the quietly heartbroken but sensible heroine who was "persuaded" (read: forced) to turn away her true love but still carries an unseen torch for him. Hawkins's performance is genteel yet steely, and the quiet strength of the entire production. Hawkins looks alternately quietly lovely and sadly pinched--as one might expect the long frustrated Anne to look. Other highlights include a post-Buffy Anthony Head, as Anne's clueless, blustery father, Sir Walter. Head gets to turn on his deft comic talent here in ways most American audiences have not yet seen him; he's clearly enjoying himself immensely, blustering about "my shrubberies" and other trivial affairs. The cinematography is lush (several breathtaking tracking shots are used, especially early on), as are the period costumes. The production was filmed exclusively on location, and the reality of the sets enforces the story. Some fans may prefer the 1995 Amanda Root version, for the casting of Ciaran Hinds as Capt. Wentworth, but this later effort is a worthy entry in the Austen film oeuvre--and Rupert Penry-Jones is a dreamboat in his own right. As the wistful Anne says, on behalf of all women, "We do not forget you, so soon as you forget us." --A.T. Hurley
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| Customer Reviews: Read 192 more reviews...
Okay, 3.5 August 16, 2008
I rate this higher than "Becoming Jane" (3.5) just because it's "Persuasion", and the story is just fantastic - though Austen should get credit for it. Overall, it wasn't terrible, it just wasn't fantastic.
Sally Hawkins didn't do horribly, and she conveys the gentleness and patience of Anne Elliot well. When she's happy to see Wentworth, you can tell the difference between her sadder moods, but I don't remember quite feeling Anne's despondency as much. If Amanda Root hadn't gone before her, I doubt we'd all beat up on Hawkins as badly. It's really not a bad performance.
So Rupert Penry-Jones is the finest looking Wentworth I've seen yet, though not the best Wentworth I've seen. Like Hawkins, he's not bad; I loved how Penry-Jones played it when Wentworth sees Lady Russell again for the first time since she separated him and Anne. Unfailingly polite, he does manage to convey the necessary emotions at the necessary parts. His concern and slight panic when he discovers people expect him to offer for Louisa is well done. Again, same problem; he was preceded by Ciaran Hinds, and it's a little bit like Macfayden attempting Darcy after Firth.
No real opinion on the script...again, liked the inclusion of the conversation where Wentworth finds out that people expect him to offer for Louisa. I have mixed feelings about how the writer moved the Benwick-Anne conversation about how men and women love: it fits where it is in the movie, but in the book it's a key factor in Wentworth's offering again for Anne at the end. Anne running the "streets of Bath" marathon - CHEESY AND DUMB.
Really liked Finlay Robertson's Benwick; I found him more memorable than Richard McCable's 1995 version. This Benwick looked truly lovesick at the loss of his fiancee. Alice Krige's Lady Russell was well done as well. How she did the conversation where Lady Russell and Anne discuss Wentworth at the start of the movie was very good. It's easy to believe that Lady Russell is really just looking out for Anne; Krige delivers all the maternal warmth while maintaining a regal bearing. Hard to go wrong with Anthony Head as Sir Walter Elliot.
Go with the 1995 if you only want to watch one, but this is worth watching.
 Don't bother. August 9, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have never before recommended that a fan of Jane Austin and fans of the BBC productions not buy a dvd, but this one is really horrible. I am impressed with the previous review by Merkeet who lists the good and bad points. Much more diplomatic than I am right now. I bought the dvd based on positive reviews that I read at this site, and I'm not sorry that I've seen it - Jane Austin is always good, I just can't understand how this one was allowed to have been produced. The direction is dubious at best, which I can only assume is what caused all the over- acting. There are some wonderful actors who are aren't given a chance in this version. I recommend spending your money on the Amanda Root version which is absolutely beautiful, and while you're at it, look into Elizabeth Gaskill's North and South, which just came out in dvd, and is as close to perfection as a BBC production can be, and that's saying a lot! I love Jane Austin, but unfortunately this production of her Persuasion is surprisingly, and just simply, very badly done.
 Really tugs your heartstrings August 1, 2008
A lovely adaptation of an Austen classic. Poor Ann is portrayed wonderfully and her despair over her lost love will bring tears to your eyes. The scenery is gorgeous and the other cast of characters is perfect. If you liked Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility, you will like this as well.
 Beautiful take on Jane Austen's classic July 29, 2008
Of the six or seven BBC classics I have seen, this one is special on the grounds that it is, independently from the literary original, a extraordinarily well made film. Five stars to the people who created this fabulous film! The film music is also amazing.
Persuaded me... July 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was an amazing adaptation of Persusaion--the best I have ever seen. I am a loyal fan of Masterpiece Theater and was thrilled when they decided to adapt most of Jane Austen's novels. I have to say that I was very glad that they didn't do another version of Pride and Prejudice-nothing will ever top the Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle version (no matter how good Keira Knightley is). Anyway, I actually happened upon this on the second showing and was amazed. Sally Hawkins is a very gifted actress and completely makes you feel the quiet sadness and reoccuring broken heart that is Anne Eliot's. And Rupert Penry-Jones as Captain Wentworth was seductivley unmoving and unfeeling--or so you are taught to believe until the steel wall around his heart begins to evaporate. I find myself catching my breath more than once hoping that Captain Wentworth will forgive and love Anne as he once did before with the fervent urgency as if it was my own love story. I highly recommend it.
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