When it comes to adapting a classic novel to film, there’s a pretty easy formula to follow when it comes to retaining value: it should at least try to understand and hopefully appreciate the soul of what makes it worth adapting in the first place. . In the case of Netflix’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s 1817 classic Persuasion, the film reeks of some executive deciding that women still love that “Austen chick” and that Fleabag woman, so why not pair them with “hot actors” in fancy clothes? Directed by Carrie Cracknell and adapted by screenwriters Ronald Bass and Alice Victoria Winslow, their version of Persuasion has the gorgeous Dakota Johnson transforming the inherently headstrong character of Anne Elliot into a sly, whiny and unabashedly charming spinster who constantly shares her innermost thoughts . the camera as it still searches for the man who got away. Ah, that Jane Austen with us today, I’d pay exorbitant amounts of money to read her notes on this script because the takedown would be delicious. If you’ve never read Austen’s Persuasion, the slow-burn book is about sadness and lost love, seen through the eyes of people who please Anne Elliot. Eight years ago, she is persuaded to leave the man she loves, Captain Frederick Wentworth, because her snobbish mentor and her family don’t think he’s rich enough. Both are inconsolable, so he goes to sea to pamper his ego, while she is stuck in the role of family caretaker, relegated to acting as aunt of anguish to her terrible father and sisters. The film mostly keeps this narrative backbone of the book intact, opening eight years after the breakup, when the still-single Ann and Wentworth reunite. Netflix Spotlight: July 2022 The film carves its own path portraying Anne as the shining star of her family and extended family. She’s beautiful, self-aware, sneaky, and frankly, a catch among women, so how no other suitors have caught her is a huge logical flaw to begin with. And when Wentworth (Cosmo Jarvis) re-enters her orbit, he looks at her like he’s beyond confused. There’s almost a hint of anger in Jarvis’ performance, just heart stares and lots of literal sighs directed right at her. That means there’s nowhere for these characters to go, to grow, or to try to give us a hint of palatable romantic tension. Even Anne’s mentor Lady Russell (Nikki Amuka-Bird), who dissuaded her from the Wentworth engagement, early in this adaptation apologizes for bad advice that effectively removes another obstacle. What is left? Anne breaks the fourth wall as she grills her narcissistic father (Richard E. Grant) and her married younger sister, Mary (Mia McKenna-Bruce), for their selfish behavior. trinkets from her failed relationship. And then there’s a lot of anachronistic dialogue scattered throughout the script, like Anne saying, “It’s a 10. I never trust a 10” to her cousin, Mr. William Elliot (Henry Golding), or Wentworth sharing it when is on the high seas in difficult situations, he often thinks, “What would Anna do?” Curious, I had no idea there were memes in 19th century England. Worse, there are many Anne heroines who turn into Bridget Jones-style rom-com heroines as she guzzles wine straight from the bottle or verbally lashes out with loud, embarrassing, public declarations about past marriage proposals. And Anne talking to the camera means the film relies too much on narration, rather than projection, so we lose a lot of scenes where the characters could be talking to each other. The aforementioned Amuka-Bird and Golding are some of the more interesting casting choices in the film, yet they’re limited to cameos. And in the case of Golding, who is supposed to be the cousin who almost wins her heart, he has given an original story where he admits to Anne that his only goal is to keep his inheritance from her father. It’s an interesting reimagining of their relationship, but it makes any romance between them ridiculous. Anne is too smart to surrender to a young man who just showed her all his cards, so the script cuts out another interesting story, I guess to support the love story between Anne and Wentworth. The only problem is that their chemistry is okay. With none of the characters having to learn anything about what estrangement has done to them or having to fight to be with each other again, their romance feels like watching a friendly walk in the park. It’s very buzzing with the original story unfolding which makes it such a satisfying romance in the book. And oddly enough, this adaptation of Wentworth is arguably the most pared-down version of the character in any translation, as Jarvis is called upon to play him blandly, never showing any of the qualities a quasi-admiral might possess in relation to having loved and lost Anna. . Story wise, it might not even be an adaptation of Persuasion. “ For Austen purists, this version of Persuasion drops the goods only when it comes to English locations and superb costume design. But story-wise, it may very well not even be an adaptation of Persuasion. The directors could have applied all their modern tropes in peace and pissed off their core audience a lot less. And for those who could care less about Austen than all that, this is still a tepid offering that wants to have the aesthetic of a period piece, but rejects everything else that makes a memorable period piece. It’s schizophrenic and deconstructed to the point of being disappointingly hollow.
