Thoughts On the Persuasion Trailer

If I were to rank Jane Austen‘s novels, Persuasion would be on the top of my list. This story of second chances is one that over 200 years later still hits readers in the heart and sends a few tears down our cheeks.

The trailer for the newest adaptation of the book was released earlier this week.

The film stars Dakota Johnson as Anne Elliot, Cosmo Jarvis as Captain Frederick Wentworth, and Henry Golding as Mr. Elliot. For those unaware, the plot is as follows: eight years before the book starts Anne Elliott and Frederick Wentworth were young, in love, and newly engaged. She was persuaded to end their relationship due to his lack of status and income. Cut to the present and Anne is still single, still hurting from her decision. Wentworth is back in her life. He is a war hero, wealthy, and considered to be a catch. He is also still bitter from their breakup.

I would love to say that I am jumping for joy, but I have a few reservations. I am going to try to keep my concerns at bay because this is only the trailer. Trailers don’t always match up with the full movie.

1. The dialogue in the scenes that we see so far seems to be loosely taken from the original text. Maybe it’s the Janeite in me, but I would prefer the wording to be as it is in the novel. To paraphrase her brilliant writing (especially in a reboot set in the Regency era) could be seen as a shanda (disgrace).
2. The casting of Dakota Johnson as Anne. I have nothing against Johnson. I have a bias against American actors playing lead characters in Austen adaptations. It goes back to the casting of Gwyneth Paltrow in the 1996 Emma. Her portrayal of the character rubbed me the wrong way. But who knows, maybe Johnson will prove me wrong.
3. Her hair should not be down unless it is either the beginning or the end of the day. Only young girls wore their hair loose. By the time they got to their mid to late teens, their hair was up. On a side note, that was my only beef with Sanditon. Charlotte Heywood’s (Rose Williams) hair should have been up.
4. It comes off a little too rom-com-like. I like a romantic comedy as much as the next person, but Persuasion is not and has never been one. To turn this story into a rom-com is a double shanda and sure to turn off the fanbase.

On the upside, we see the early romance between Anne and Frederick. In previous film versions, the audience is only told about this experience.

That being said, I am willing to have an open mind and not condemn the film before it is released.

Persuasion will drop on Netflix on July 15th.

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Possession-Book And Movie Review

The most thrilling love stories are often the most mysterious and the most dangerous.

A.S. Byatt’s 1991 novel, Possession, is about love that is both mysterious and forbidden.

In Victorian England, Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte are poets who are embarking on an affair. He is married and she has settled into a comfortable life with her longtime companion.  In the late 1980’s, Dr. Maud Bailey and Roland Michell are academics who are separately studying the lives and literature of Ash and LaMotte.  They come together to complete their research and begin to build a relationship, but must protect the research when a rival seeks to claim the information they have discovered for his own.

In 2002, Possession was made into a movie with Jeremy Northam as Ash, Jennifer Ehle as LaMotte, Gwyneth Paltrow as Maud and Aaron Eckhart as Roland.

The book is excellent, through it is tedious at points. The movie, for obvious reasons (if you know me well enough or your a frequent visitor to my blog, you would know why) is enjoyable.

I recommend both.