Persuasion

So I've just finished watching PBS's adaptation of "Persuasion" and have mixed feelings about it. I cannot deny the pleasure in watching Captain Wentworth's character on the screen ;-) which was quite enjoyable. Wentworth and Anne's love is one I have always admired, after 8 years apart, they are still very much in love. It is very sweet and you can feel the pain and agony they each suffer when they are apart. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I love the fact that you can feel their pain and also feel the relief when they are finally reunited in the end.

What I really did not like about this adaptation are many things. I started the film hoping it would be great, but toward the end I was pretty disappointed. First of all, there were a few things that were taken out and altered. The scene that I was especially upset about was the way Anne receives the letter, it is as though they wanted to throw everything into the last five minutes of the movie... Ms. Smith happens to walk into Anne while she is running desperately looking for Wentworth (very unconvincing) and she tells Anne about Mr. Elliot's 'true character' in about thirty seconds, Anne thanks her and continues to run through Bath looking for Wentworth, she then arrives at his house, receives the letter, reads it, and continues to run through Bath, finds Wentworth's sister and her husband, runs back, is panting uncontrollably until she is finally face to face with her hero.......

Now I don't know what you're thinking... but I found this considerably unconvincing. It is as though the director had only 5 minutes left to conjure up the ending and decided to throw all the important things at the very end. It was rushed, but not only that, the scene in which Anne receives the letter is the most meaningful and important.... and she reads it while running in the streets!!! Talk about killing a beautiful and emotional scene (sigh) And why would Anne run through Bath like that??? (another great sigh)

Other than that, the movie was pretty good. I guess if there was at least twenty or more minutes in the film it would've turned out better.... but in my experience, PBS tends to cut the endings of Austen films, which I find vastly disappointing.....