Skip to content
Dom Robinson reviews
- Cat.no: BBCDVD 1004
- Cert: U
- Running time: 103 minutes
- Year: 1995
- Pressing: 1999
- Region(s): 2, 4 (UK PAL)
- Chapters: 18 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround)
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: English
- Widescreen: 14:9 (1.55:1)
- 16:9-enhanced: No
- Macrovision: No
- Disc Format: DVD 5
- Price: £19.99
- Extras : Scene index, Booklet, Biographies.
Director:
- Roger Michell
(My Night with Reg, Notting Hill, Titanic Town)
Producer:
- Fiona Finlay
Screenplay:
- Nick Dear
Music:
- Peter Howell
Cast:
- Anne Elliot: Amanda Root (The Man Who Cried)
Captain Wentworth: Ciaran Hinds (The Man Who Cried, Oscar and Lucinda, Titanic Town, TV: Ivanhoe, Jane Eyre, Prime Suspect 3, Young Person’s Guide To Becoming a Rock Star)
Lady Russell: Susan Fleetwood (Heat and Dust, The Krays, TV: The Buddha of Suburbia)
Sir Walter Elliot: Corin Redgrave (Four Weddings and a Funeral, TV: The Ice House, Ultraviolet)
Mrs Croft: Fiona Shaw (The Butcher Boy, London Kills Me, Three Men and a Little Lady, Undercover Blues)
The First Doctor (original): William Hartnell (Brighton Rock, Carry On Sergeant, Private’s Progress, The Way Ahead, Will Any Gentlemen?)
Jane Austen’s Persuasionis a love story gone wrong. Over seven years ago it wasn’t her head that ruled the heartof Anne Elliot (Amanda Root), but the heads of others who persuaded her not toaccept the proposal of marriage from Captain Wentworth (Ciaran Hinds).
Now, after all this time, he has returned from his time at sea one of the most eligiblebatchelors around, but it’s up to her to persuade him that they should be together, despiteall the misunderstandings and the etiquette of social arrangements of the era getting inthe way. Of course, you know how it will end because you can see the result on the frontcover, which is different to the original choice seen above.
The picture quality is rather a disappointment. Yes it’s watchable and it’s not theoccasional flecks on the print that are the problem, but it’s one that could have soeasily been resolved: The ratio on the disc is 14:9, but like all major BBC dramas filmedin the last few years, they were shot at the 16:9 widescreen ratio much associated withdigital television but when transferred to video or broadcast on analogue TV, they areoften compromised with this 14:9 halfway-house ratio which is a central crop of the original16:9 ratio. The average bitrate is a fine 5.37Mb/s.
The sound quality is fine. I have no complaints with the surround soundtrack but it’smainly used for ambience and a few directional effects and won’t have the neighboursbanging on the walls.
Extras : Chapters :There are 18 chapters covering the 102-minute film, which covers most scenes but I neversay no to more. Languages & Subtitles :The dialogue comes in English Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround) with subtitles forthe same. Biograhpies :Slightly different to what one normally expects from this section. Instead of biogs aboutthe cast, they’re actually about the characters which makes for a novel departure. Booklet :The enclosed booklet contains four pages of info about Jane Austen and this filmalong with a few pictures. Menu :A static and silent menu, featuring a picture of the two leads and options to togglesubtitles on/off, select a scene, play the film or return to it having come back to themenu partway through.
Overall :To put an anamorphic 16:9 print on video or DVD would have required more expense, includingthat of getting the film re-rated by the BBFC and sorting out an anamorphic version, but itwould’ve looked so much better. As it stands, it is watchable as I said, but the loss ofpicture won’t attract DVD-philes and those who usually buy videos will already have it soit’s difficult to see who will clamour to buy this on DVD.
Jane Austen isn’t usually my cup of tea and whatever your thoughts on her works,Persuasion will not change your mind. Due to the widescreen ratio, this particulardisc is only worth considering if you watch the video so often that it’s wearing out andare in need of a more durable medium.
The other titles now available are Monty Python: Best of Vol.1, The BlackAdder Series 1, Noddy In Toyland, Persuasion and coming in January 2000,The Planets.
Scheduled for Spring next year are :Monty Python: Best of Vol.2, Gormenghast, Walking with Dinosaurs and,of course, Black Adder II.
As for which DVDs I’d like to see from the BBC in future. They include :Red Dwarf (in their original versions, not the remastered form),The Young Ones, Filthy Rich and Catflap, Fawlty Towers and, dependingon whether I could bribe the new DG with enough cash, Eldorado…FILM : **PICTURE QUALITY : ***SOUND QUALITY: ***EXTRAS: *½——————————-OVERALL: **½
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.