Persuasion 2007 vs. Persuasion 1995
How can Rupert Penry-Jones possibly compare to Ciaran Hinds? That was the first question that popped into my head when I first found out they were making a new adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion. I had known of RPJ from MI-5 (known as Spooks in the UK) - which by the way, A&E did a horrible job of airing...which it had landed in BBC America's hands in the first place...oh well). He grew on me after I got over losing Matthew Macfadyen from the show.
But seriously...how could he (pictured below with Sally Hawkins as Anne Elliot):
compare with the hotness that is Ciaran Hinds as Wentworth?
It's not even close. While I think RPJ is very attractive, CH is unconventionally so...and therefore is somehow even hotter. It was weird to see him as Julius Caesar in Rome but it was easy to accept because he's such a chameleon (it surprised me to see him in a totally different part in Munich).
I loved Persuasion 1995 - it had come out at the same time as many other Jane Austen adaptations...Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility (which they will also be adapting soon), Gwyneth Paltrow's Emma (which I have mixed feelings about...though I loved Jeremy Northam as Mr. Knightley) and Clueless (it so totally counts!). What was so different about Persuasion from its peers is its "naturalism" - some may not like the shaky camera movement and it was off-putting at first. But then you roll with the punches and it actually isn't so bad. Amanda Root literally shines in this movie...she starts off looking so wan and insignificant and ends up rosy-cheeked and glowing at the end. Ciaran Hinds - he is the perfect Wentworth - there is so much he is able to express without words. I love that one dinner scene at the Harvilles where he glances at Anne as she speaks with Benwick and of course that moment where he hands her into the Crofts' carriage and refuses to make eye contact...it's so powerful. The chemistry between AR and CH is so wonderful...I was totally sold on their shared history and mutual longing and regret. They can adapt this novel dozens of times over and I don't think they can get close to what this movie achieves cinematically in bringing the novel to life. Of course, that's just my opinion.
It's interesting that there is this new surge of interest in Jane Austen...the 200th anniversary of her death is coming in 2017 so it's not for any particular milestone.
As for what I thought of Persuasion 2007,
I was surprised to find it very derivative of Persuasion 1995! And I really tried to give the movie the benefit of the doubt, that these were "coincidences" because they were adapting the same source material. However, there were too many similar scenes, such as the scene with Anne and the servants putting the dustcloths on all the furniture and her retrieving her old love letters for safe-keeping. The one that really bothered me was the concert scene where Anne rushes out after Wentworth. I initially disliked this scene in the 1995 movie because it wasn't in the novel and it seemed uncharacteristic of both characters to make a sort of public spectacle of themselves...but now I see it more as a consequence of heightened emotion ruling out over controlled reason. But in the 2007 movie, it seemed even more disruptive...I have to watch it again, but did the music really stop with their departure? There are many other moments which I won't get into here that were jarring and maybe it's because I've seen the 1995 movie so many times that I was sensitive to it.
What I liked the least was that prolonged marathon that Anne ran at the end of the movie (which, again, was similar to the 1995 movie) - it was kind of painful to see her running herself out of breath like that. In the novel, she happens to run into Wentworth while being escorted by Charles (though it's kind of obvious that he had been wandering the streets for such an accidental encounter..."I hardly know" indeed).
As for Anne, I thought that Sally Hawkins did an okay job though I found her to seem a smidgen too young for the role (though she does transform from being very slight in the beginning to being more confident toward the end of the movie). However, I still think Amanda Root's performance was superior. I really liked seeing Giles...I mean, Anthony Stewart Head as Sir Walter...he nailed the performance even though he didn't have that many scenes. I was disappointed that there were so few scenes with the Crofts...but maybe I'm biased since I really loved Fiona Shaw's Mrs. Croft in the 1995 movie. As for Rupert (not Giles but Penry-Jones :-)!), I liked his Wentworth and he was very charming, but it was hard for me to buy him as a sailor. He just seems more the actor to play high society gentlemen and/or scoundrels (he could have been the perfect Willoughby a few years ago). Ciaran looked like he really did captain a ship of sailors.
I guess I was bound to be disappointed - the 1995 movie set a high standard.
As for Northanger Abbey 2007, hoo boy that's a whole other story for a whole other post later on. But at least I haven't seen the old NA and from what I've heard about it, don't really want to (but maybe someday).
But seriously...how could he (pictured below with Sally Hawkins as Anne Elliot):
compare with the hotness that is Ciaran Hinds as Wentworth?
It's not even close. While I think RPJ is very attractive, CH is unconventionally so...and therefore is somehow even hotter. It was weird to see him as Julius Caesar in Rome but it was easy to accept because he's such a chameleon (it surprised me to see him in a totally different part in Munich).
I loved Persuasion 1995 - it had come out at the same time as many other Jane Austen adaptations...Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility (which they will also be adapting soon), Gwyneth Paltrow's Emma (which I have mixed feelings about...though I loved Jeremy Northam as Mr. Knightley) and Clueless (it so totally counts!). What was so different about Persuasion from its peers is its "naturalism" - some may not like the shaky camera movement and it was off-putting at first. But then you roll with the punches and it actually isn't so bad. Amanda Root literally shines in this movie...she starts off looking so wan and insignificant and ends up rosy-cheeked and glowing at the end. Ciaran Hinds - he is the perfect Wentworth - there is so much he is able to express without words. I love that one dinner scene at the Harvilles where he glances at Anne as she speaks with Benwick and of course that moment where he hands her into the Crofts' carriage and refuses to make eye contact...it's so powerful. The chemistry between AR and CH is so wonderful...I was totally sold on their shared history and mutual longing and regret. They can adapt this novel dozens of times over and I don't think they can get close to what this movie achieves cinematically in bringing the novel to life. Of course, that's just my opinion.
It's interesting that there is this new surge of interest in Jane Austen...the 200th anniversary of her death is coming in 2017 so it's not for any particular milestone.
As for what I thought of Persuasion 2007,
I was surprised to find it very derivative of Persuasion 1995! And I really tried to give the movie the benefit of the doubt, that these were "coincidences" because they were adapting the same source material. However, there were too many similar scenes, such as the scene with Anne and the servants putting the dustcloths on all the furniture and her retrieving her old love letters for safe-keeping. The one that really bothered me was the concert scene where Anne rushes out after Wentworth. I initially disliked this scene in the 1995 movie because it wasn't in the novel and it seemed uncharacteristic of both characters to make a sort of public spectacle of themselves...but now I see it more as a consequence of heightened emotion ruling out over controlled reason. But in the 2007 movie, it seemed even more disruptive...I have to watch it again, but did the music really stop with their departure? There are many other moments which I won't get into here that were jarring and maybe it's because I've seen the 1995 movie so many times that I was sensitive to it.
What I liked the least was that prolonged marathon that Anne ran at the end of the movie (which, again, was similar to the 1995 movie) - it was kind of painful to see her running herself out of breath like that. In the novel, she happens to run into Wentworth while being escorted by Charles (though it's kind of obvious that he had been wandering the streets for such an accidental encounter..."I hardly know" indeed).
As for Anne, I thought that Sally Hawkins did an okay job though I found her to seem a smidgen too young for the role (though she does transform from being very slight in the beginning to being more confident toward the end of the movie). However, I still think Amanda Root's performance was superior. I really liked seeing Giles...I mean, Anthony Stewart Head as Sir Walter...he nailed the performance even though he didn't have that many scenes. I was disappointed that there were so few scenes with the Crofts...but maybe I'm biased since I really loved Fiona Shaw's Mrs. Croft in the 1995 movie. As for Rupert (not Giles but Penry-Jones :-)!), I liked his Wentworth and he was very charming, but it was hard for me to buy him as a sailor. He just seems more the actor to play high society gentlemen and/or scoundrels (he could have been the perfect Willoughby a few years ago). Ciaran looked like he really did captain a ship of sailors.
I guess I was bound to be disappointed - the 1995 movie set a high standard.
As for Northanger Abbey 2007, hoo boy that's a whole other story for a whole other post later on. But at least I haven't seen the old NA and from what I've heard about it, don't really want to (but maybe someday).