New Persuasion Adaptation -- My Verdict

The new Persuasion adaptation was well done. Good actors, photography, and soundtrack. Up until almost the end it conveyed the book's plot and atmosphere quite well in spite of the perhaps unnecessarily fast pace. It does have some serious problems in my point of view.

I was slightly startled when two key utterances by Anne Elliot:

All the privilege I claim for my own sex . . . is that of loving longest, when ... [all] hope is gone.

and my favorite quote of all Austen* which is cited by various feminist scholars (and which is paraphrased in the TV adaptation):

Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands.

were misplaced and used much earlier in the plot than in the book, in a conversation between Anne and the grieving Captain Benwick at Lyme, instead of at the very end of the book. Captain Wentworth didn't even overhear her saying those things, so they became meaningless utterances instead of the key revelation which gave Wentworth hope that she might still love him. I noticed this change and began to wonder why the screenwriter did that, but it didn't affect the development of the plot, so I kept watching, wondering a bit how the "revelation" of her feelings would take place in the end.

This dislocation was probably used to preserve these famous quotes in the adaptation since the ending was slightly different from the book's. It was too fast paced, literally, with Anne running around in various directions while trying to entertain meaningful conversation and read the most important letter of her life -- very distracting, not to mention that talking and reading while running can hardly be done. Wentworth learned that she was not to marry Eliot (not such a strong suspicion of him in the book) when he came to convey a message of the Admiral that he could vacate the house to her and Elliot. She denies the engagement (the actor's face in this shot was very well done) and the series of interruptions that follow are quite effective in conveying how flustered Anne feels. Their encounter is pretty anti-climatic in the end and a little peeve of mine is that their kiss took too long to happen and ended up looking awkward. This was a little sad because their previous "close encounter" at the shop while raining was very well done.

The actual ending was bizarre to say the least! [SPOILER ALERT] How could he give her Kellynch Hall as a wedding gift when Mr. Elliot remained the rightful heir and would not take possession of it until after Sir Walter died? That was extremely puzzling! I previously thought that the Pride and Prejudice movie ending was a bit far fetched (if enchanting), but Elizabeth did go to live in that wonderful estate whereas all we know of Anne was that she became a Navy wife.** Go figure!

I stay with the previous movie even though the actor who portrayed Wentworth is infinitely more handsome in this TV adaptation, that's for sure! :-)

* I'm even using it as an epigraph in my dissertation.

** The previous Persuasion adaptation emphasizes that by having her in the ship with him at the end, a bit of a stretch, but much more accurate. I loved that movie, BTW, but I was mystified by the carnival parade in the streets of Bath after they finally acknowledge their love to each other and kiss. It was quite strange, but then... oh well, film-makers/ screenwriters who resort to book adaptations may want to insert some things from their own imaginations in the films, I guess!