Persuasion (1995)

Director: Roger Michell                                  Writer: Nick Dear
Film Score: Jeremy Sams                              Cinematography: John Daly
Starring: Amanda Root, Ciarán Hinds, John Woodvine and Susan Fleetwood

There’s almost nothing to choose from in British productions of Jane Austen novels. In this case the production is by BBC television, but it is arguably the best adaptation of Persuasion whether on television or theatrical release. It was actress Amanda Root debut performance, and it’s a good one. The film was shot chronologically, allowing Root the luxury of her emotional arc as a character following the natural progression of the plot. If there’s a downside to the television production it’s the claustrophobia of the sets due to the lack of money. The initial scenes in the country come out fine and there’s a sense of the openness of the early nineteenth-century English countryside. But once in towns like Bath and Lyme, the film is suddenly confined to very tight and specific locations that actually give a sense of the limitations allowed for television versus a theatrical release. This is ironic, considering that the BBC actually partnered with Public Television station WGBH in Boston in order to finance the filming in Bath and Lyme. That said, however, the story itself and the production design are excellent, which genuinely attempted to replicate the period, from the lived-in look of the clothing to the lower standards of hygiene. Similarly impressive is the solid direction by Roger Michell, who would go on to film Notting Hill a few years later. Nick Dear adapted Austen’s novel for the screenplay, electing to leave out the interior thoughts of Root’s character and have her convey those emotions visually.

Amanda Root plays the Austen heroine Anne Elliot, the oldest daughter of British noble Corin Redgrave who has lost his wife and has spent all of his fortune. His dire financial circumstances have forced him to vacation in Bath so that he can rent his estate to navy admiral John Woodvine who he finds contemptibly beneath him in station. And yet Redgrave is quite demonstrably an ass, who ignores the creditors at his door and indulges his equally snooty oldest daughter Phoebe Nicholls as much as he neglects his younger daughter, Root. After Redgrave and Nicholls head for Bath, leaving Root behind, neighbor Susan Fleetwood reassures Root that she did the right thing in being persuaded to turn down the proposal of a young man who had no fortune several years before, Ciarán Hinds, the brother-in-law of Woodvine. She flees the house to stay with her hypochondriac younger sister, Sophie Thompson, though essentially ignored by everyone else, dismissed as being only fit to become an old maid. So when Hinds comes to visit his sister, Fiona Shaw, and her husband Woodvine, he is immediately accosted by all the eligible young girls in the village while simultaneously ignoring Root in the process. It’s not until a trip to Lyme, to see one of Hinds’ friends, that Hinds begins to really notice her again. At the same time Redgrave’s cousin, Samuel West, accidentally sees Root and becomes quite smitten with her. Unfortunately for West, Root has set her cap on Hinds.

One of the challenges to staging a Jane Austen novel is to cast a woman in the lead who is beautiful but can be made to look frumpy, and Amanda Root certainly fits the bill perfectly. By the same token, the lead male must be handsome but stoic, and Ciarán Hinds is terrific in the role. In fact, all of the actors are remarkably good, from the wicked step-sister-like Phoebe Nicholls and her cluelessly desperate father Corin Redgrave, to the early mother substitute Susan Fleetwood--who tragically died shortly after the production--and what would become Root’s role model in Woodvine’s wife, the lovely Fiona Shaw. The story is an interesting one, though seemingly not as intricate as her more popular works. There is less intrigue and emotional upheaval as the plot simply centers on Root’s character as she tries to figure out how to convey to her former suitor that she made a mistake and wishes him to reconsider--without being able to say a word of it to him directly. Nevertheless, the ending is as satisfying as all of Austen’s novels, even if the getting there is not quite as fun. Screenwriter Nick Dear saw in that distinction that Persuasion was more of an adult novel, necessitating a less animated telling of the story, which did result in significant changes to the underlying themes of Austen’s work. Though shown on television in England, Persuasion was released theatrically in the U.S. and received generally positive reviews. While not the best Austen adaptation overall, it is certainly at the top for this particular work, and a must see for Amanda Root’s performance.