A couple of lines for those unfamiliar with its plot: “Persuasion,” published in 1818, is the story of Anne Elliot (Dakota Johnson), the middle sister of a beleaguered family who must leave her luxurious residence at Kellynch Hall and settle down. in a more modest house in the city of Bath. Years before, Anne, on the advice of Lady Russell, her dead mother’s best friend, had rejected the man she loved, a sailor named Frederick Wentworth (Cosmo Jarvis), unworthy of her class. Hence the title: Anne was persuaded to despise that man she never stopped thinking about despite the passing of the years; but fortune always keeps an ace up its sleeve: in the present of the story, Wentworth returns, become an admiral, and rich.
In the first scene, a flashback of Anne and Frederick lying in the meadow while, it is assumed, she is proposing the separation, he has a huge tear run down his nose. First indication of the effect caused by the film: either what we will see will be the height of kitsch, or the director has already begun to make fun of the sentimentality of bad neo-romantic cinema.
You only have to see another couple of scenes to confirm the second hypothesis: Anne, who speaks to the viewer at all times (the resource of breaking the fourth wall also drove the unconditional fans crazy). she has kept Frederick’s memories in a chest: his love letters, a lock of his hair, and another larger lock of Samson…his horse, plus the cowbell the animal wore. The viewer who at that point has not been outraged will already be laughing at her. And then comes the final blow: Lady Russell, the counselor, who in the novel is more British than Queen Victoria, is played by a black Nigerian actress (Nikki Amuka-Bird), and Anne’s brother-in-law is mulatto. Full carton, and there is still much more to go.
However, despite all that has been said, a virtue of this unique version of Cracknell is that at no time does it fall into complete parody, or rudeness, or hyperbole, or narcissism of style, like the insufferable Bazz Luhrman in their versions of “Romeo and Juliet” or “The Great Gatsby”. On the contrary, “Persuasion” is filmed with finesse, and in the same spirit as any other adaptation of a film about the upper classes in the Regency era, only with those bizarre marks that have surely led those who were so uncomfortable so that they still wonder: but was this serious or has he taken us for a ride?
“Persuasion” (Persuasion, UK, USA, 2022). Dir.: C. Cracknell. Int.: D. Johnson, C. Jarvis, S. Waterhouse (Netflix).
Source: Ambito
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
