Product Details

• Actors: Amanda Root, Ciarán Hinds, Susan Fleetwood, Corin Redgrave, Fiona Shaw
• Directors: Roger Michell
• Writers: Jane Austen, Nick Dear
• Producers: Fiona Finlay, George Faber, Margot Hayhoe, Rebecca Eaton
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• DVD Release Date: February 1, 2000
• Run Time: 107 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (436 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00003JRCQ
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #348 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #2 in	Movies & TV > Art House & International > British Cinema > Drama
  #2 in	Movies & TV > Drama > Love & Romance > Love Story
  #4 in	Movies & TV > Drama > Love & Romance > Romance

• For more information about "Persuasion" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

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

Product Description
A young couple's stormy romance scandalizes English society in this acclaimed adaptation of Jane Austen's classic love story. Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds of the Royal Shakespeare Company are the star-crossed lovers, Anne and Wentworth, whose passion is thwarted by a scheming socialite. Eight yearslater, when Anne is considered an old maid and her once-rich family is on the verge of bankruptcy, Wentworth returns. Will their second chance at love be ruined by the social conventions that destroyed it once? Or will the heart be persuaded by rules of its own? Adding flirtatious fun to Austen's irresistible romance, PERSUASION takes your breathe away! A dazzling five-star feast.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

470 of 484 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "-Loving Longest When All Hope Is Gone-", April 25, 2003

By	A. Casalino "V^^^^^V" (Downers Grove, IL USA) - See all my reviews

Jane Austen wrote PERSUASION towards the end of her life, while in her final illness. Thus an atmosphere of bending weariness and quiet resignation pervades this tender romance, infused within provincial life in Regency England, swaying against the backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. I could not help but love this BBC film version unconditionally, so deftly are the gentle qualities of the novel brought forth.

As with her earlier novel, MANSFIELD PARK, Austen filled this story with subdued satire - intertwining a comedy of genteel manners with the unassailable decrees of the human heart. This is the story of Anne Elliot (Amanda Root): a single woman in her late 20's who, eight years previous, on the counsel of her patroness and late mother's friend, Lady Russell (Susan Fleetwood-who sadly died of cancer shortly after this film was made), had refused an offer of marriage from her true love, Captain Frederick Wentworth (Ciaran Hinds) on the grounds of his poor financial prospects.

Captain Wentworth returns to Anne's rather confined realm of society when his sister, Mrs. Croft, and her husband, an Admiral in the Navy (John Woodvine, of 1992's WUTHERING HEIGHTS) lease Anne's baronet father's estate, Kellynch Hall. Before she can join her father and elder sister Elizabeth (Phoebe Nicholls) in Bath, she must first spend a few weeks with her hypochondriac younger sister Mary, whose husband Charles' family, the Musgroves - parents Mr. and Mrs. Musgrove, and two younger sisters, Henrietta and Louisa - reside nearby. It is here that Anne becomes re-acquainted with her long-lost love, who's by now an advantageous match for any young woman, having made his prize fortune during the war. Wentworth initially fancies himself "a lost man" to the first attractive young lady who bestows upon him her "compliments to the Navy." To all appearances, Louisa Musgrove is that very lady...

Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds, even though they lack the physical beauty distinctive in other Austen adaptations, express the gamut of suppressed emotions most flawlessly here. Ms. Root conjures all the feelings of empathy and affection with every delicate expression she makes. Mr. Hinds, whom I've seen in a number of other roles -including that of an overwrought Mr. Rochester in a 1997 adaptation of JANE EYRE - gives here what's quite likely the best performance of his career. His Wentworth's subtle yet barely suppressed anger hits Anne like a bombshell. The emotion is slow paced and very flowing - but it's nonetheless quite palpable.

The entire cast, in fact, gives every cause for high praise -- most notably Corin Redgrave (brother of Lynn and Vanessa) as Anne's vain and spendthrift father, Sir Walter Elliot, Sophie Thompson (sister of Emma Thompson) as Anne's self-centered younger sister Mary Musgrove, and Fiona Shaw (Mrs. Reed in 1996's JANE EYRE) as the indomitable Mrs. Croft - each are absolutely perfect in their respective roles.

Many a time, upon a weekend afternoon, I've placed this tape into my VCR and played it while occupied with various household chores. As ever and as always, this film offers up its many beauties, and they never fail to enchant me: the long walks through the pristine and stately New Forest - the excursions with the Navel men striding proudly along jetties of the shores at Lyme - the atmospheric turns about the drizzly sidewalks, the pump rooms, and the concert halls of Bath. Such are the scenes that eternally soothe a spirit ~

256 of 261 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful!, September 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Persuasion [VHS] (VHS Tape)

For my money, this is absolutely the best Jane Austen adaptation ever done. Unlike some other recent adaptations ("Emma") where the aim seems to be to show beautiful people in lovely costumes surrounded by lovely things, this movie actually wants to portray real people with real emotions, whose clothes get dirty and hair gets windblown when they go for long walks.

I loved that the director didn't cast "Hollywood" types. Amanda Root is perfect as Anne Elliot -- at the beginning faded, tired and resigned to her fate as a spinster aunt who is everyone's confidante, but who cannot confess her own feelings to anyone. There is such a wealth of expressions in her eyes and her subtle gestures. And Ciaran Hinds makes a dashing and handsome Captain Wentworth -- no wonder all the ladies are in love with him! The minor characters too are priceless -- especially Sophie Thompson as Anne's hypochondriac sister, Mary, and Corin Redgrave as the monstrously snobbish Sir Walter Elliott, who has some of the funniest lines in the movie.

Highly recommended to all true Jane Austen fans!

91 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As memorable as the book, January 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Persuasion [VHS] (VHS Tape)

As a lifelong fan of the works of Austen I am always leary of film adaptations, for fear they are glorified costume pieces. This film was so remarkably well done, the characterizations complete and fleshed out, it was as "clinging" as the book. It truly stays with you. Cirian Hinds and Amanda Root are wonderful of course, but the rest of the cast is just as ideal. I would recommend it to all but the most cynical non romantics.