Product Description

Amanda Root, Ciaran Hinds. A remarkable film adaptation of Jane Austen's novel about a woman who is persuaded" to reject a poor man's marriage proposal. Years later, he comes back into her life. 1995/color/104 min/NR/widescreen.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1809 in DVD
• Brand: ROOT,AMANDA
• Released on: 2000-02-01
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 107 minutes

Amazon.com
Movie adaptations of Jane Austen's classic novels were all the rage (relatively speaking) in the mid-1990s. Clueless updated Austen's Emma, which was more conventionally adapted in another version (Emma) starring Gwyneth Paltrow. Emma was produced yet again, this time for British television, as were a celebrated miniseries of Pride and Prejudice and this splendid film of Austen's Persuasion. Persuasion is the story of a love that survives eight years of dormancy and the frustrating obstacles of class prejudice in 19th century England. Anne (Amanda Root) is captivated when she meets the dignified naval officer Capt. Wentworth (Ciarán Hinds), but she is advised to discourage his romantic overtures because he has no fortune. They meet again eight years later, but now Capt. Wentworth has become wealthy while Anne's father is in reduced circumstances in the wake of reckless extravagance. A series of circumstances ensue which prevent Anne and Wentworth from expressing their mutual and inevitable love. The film's success depends entirely on the subtle, superb performances of Root and Hinds. The film builds slowly, occasionally leaving you wondering if anything at all is going to happen. When it does, you realize how carefully crafted a film this is, and the final result is grandly rewarding. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker
The young British director Roger Michell has done what always seemed impossible. He has made a Jane Austen movie that is never pretty and only occasionally charming; instead, it is troubled, astringent, and touched with melancholy-not unlike the novel. Amanda Root, almost out-mousing Isabelle Huppert in reticence, plays Anne Elliot, who once turned down Frederick Wentworth (Ciaran Hinds, who has the profile of a Regency miniature) and has regretted it ever since. They come together again-in the country, by the sea, and on the streets of Bath-and you can guess the outcome. But Michell somehow tenses a simple narrative into suspense; the camera catches every glance between the former lovers and probes every scene for signs of hope. Anyone expecting verbal Ping-Pong and unspotted elegance will be disappointed: Anne's dress gets caught in the mud, and her sister, Mary (a fine turn from Sophie Thompson), talks through a mouthful of pie. With Corin Redgrave as Anne's monstrous father, and Fiona Shaw as the worldly wife of an admiral. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker