Dakota Johnson in Netflix’s ‘Persuasion’: Film Review

Jane Austen purists will be horrified, but if director Kerry Cracknell’s hilarious adaptation of the author’s latest full-length novel is a hilarious Regency romantic comedy, you might be pleasantly surprised. Freely mixing language drawn from Austen’s prose with distinctly modern words and attitudes: this is a film in which someone is described as “electrified” in the pre-electric age. Warranty Brave enough and consistent enough with his harsh liberties to get away with it. It also helps that the novel’s long-suffering heroine, Ann Elliott, has a defiant spirit and irreverent sense of irony in Dakota Johnson’s fiery performance.

It’s easy to argue that Austen’s darker, more mature novel should never be. Emma, but Johnson, in his lightest role to date, makes us complicit in Anne’s bitter interpretation of early 19th-century customs. This is especially true of her impassive self-consciousness as a free-spirited young woman who is an outsider in her class-conscious and penniless family, not to mention still regretting a rejected love and now approaching an age that makes her almost celibate. by today’s standards. Never mind that no one imagined the radiant Johnson as a spinster outdoing her narcissistic sisters.

Self-awareness and a big, obvious nod to a millennial audience are written in a nimble script by newcomer Alice Victoria Winslow and veteran Ron Bass, who trade off Austen’s subtle conclusions, her carefully planned foreshadowing and her sarcastic anticipation that defies repressions. . times. . Period marks may remain in place, but the prism through which the story is told is very much like a modern woman in a multiracial society, and you either accept it or you don’t.

Still unhappy years after being “convinced” to release Frederick Wentworth (Cosmo Jarvis), a handsome 19-year-old sailor who wanted to get married, the heroine drinks wine from a bottle and cries in the bathroom, insistently stroking her pet rabbit. . You will “thrive”. This is Bridget Jones in a Regency dress. Anna punctuates the film by breaking the fourth wall with direct-to-camera commentary and silent voice acting. flea bag. The immediacy this gives the character will likely appeal to Netflix’s appeal with younger viewers who don’t mind sticking with Austen’s novel.

In its own way, it’s as radical a riff on an Austen classic as island of fireAndrew Ann’s Strange Twist Pride and Prejudice, illustrating that there is still a lot of life in the artistic cinematic treatment of one of English literature’s favorite adaptive sources. It’s little different from the more well-known screen version and even better. WarrantyRoger Michell’s 1995 British TV movie (US theatrical release) starring Amanda Root and Kieran Hinds, which had a much more thoughtful and reflective tone in keeping with the novel.

The circumstances that put Anne and Frederick back on track, eight lonely years after their split, stem from the Elliott family reluctantly tightening their belts.

With debt collectors constantly at the door, Anne’s vain peacock father Sir Walter Elliot (a good-natured Richard E. Grant) and older sister Elizabeth (Yolanda Kettle) are forced to rent the Somerset family home, Kelinch Hall. . , and downgrading to Bath residency. On the bright side, Elizabeth’s friend Mrs. Clay (Lydia Rose Bewley) delivers one of the lines that makes the anachronistic police stand out: “They used to say if you’re a five in London, you’re a ten.” in Bath. “

Annie is forced to stay behind to provide companionship for her married younger sister, Mary Musgrove (Mia McKenna-Bruce), a disgustingly self-dramatic hypochondriac whose FOMO kicks in when someone thinks her medical condition prevents her from leaving.

Kelinch Hall’s new tenants are Wentworth’s older sister and her husband, which means Anne’s ex-boyfriend will be a frequent visitor. The sailor rose to the rank of captain during the Napoleonic Wars and became a valuable man in the process. But he is left without a wife.

The obstacles Austen creates to overcome the inevitable union of these fated lovers are greatly simplified, mainly because the characters are less cautious, less constrained by society’s reservations, and able to speak more freely on each encounter. But Anna and Frederic still don’t want to admit that they never got over each other. “Now we’re worse than strangers, we’re exes,” sighs Annie, in a line that, I admit, made me laugh and laugh.

Another obstacle is Mary’s flighty sister-in-law Louise (Nia Towley), who starts out as a matchmaker but ends up projecting Wentworth herself (“He’s everything!”). Then there’s Anne’s annoying but ghostly distant cousin, Mr. Eliot (Henry Golding), who will be banned from inheriting the family fortune due to the birth of a son to Sir Walter.

Golding has believable charm, but he’s the least satisfyingly written character in this version: too transparent to fool someone as smart as Anna. He freely admits his plan to prevent Sir Walter from remarrying and creating a male heir, even as he hugs Anne. Mr. Eliot is introduced as a mysterious figure with a hidden agenda; Revealing all this undermines its effectiveness in the first place.

To make the story more dynamic and direct, many nuances of Austen are overlooked, especially Ann’s double bind, who doesn’t want to let down family friend and counselor Lady Russell (Nikki Amuka-Bird), who herself feels remorse for Ann. tip. Against Wentworth getting married years ago. The sadness that permeates the novel is significantly diluted.

But any sacrifice in terms of texture is more than offset by the warmth Johnson brings to the central role, bridging the gap between now and then with graceful command. Her intimacy with the camera feels natural enough, which lends itself well to Austen’s fluent indirection, and her English accent is more than acceptable. jarvis (Peaky Blinders, lady macbeth), with its sensual stems and lamb, makes a beautiful Wentworth that melts in the silence and locks its letters. For those who don’t mind straying from romance, romantic confrontation will be immensely enjoyable.

Experienced London theater director Cracknell, in his first role, extracts solid work from the ensemble, displaying a firm grasp of the difficult Regency/Modern balancing act and a pleasant rhythm enhanced by Stuart Earle’s delicate score.

Warranty It lacks the visual grandeur of Wes Anderson from Autumn de Wilde. Emma from 2020, but production design by John Paul Kelly features similar attention to detail in the beautiful pastel-hued interiors, while costumes by Marian Agertoft evoke the period with a more relaxed, minimalist feel in keeping with modern style. . (Sir Walter’s brocade jacket is in the sky.) Cinematographer Joe Anderson’s elegant compositions make the most of the beautiful scenery, especially when the group travels to Lyme Regis on the Dorset coast.

The Guardians of Austenian have been crying from the moment the trailer was released, and it’s sure to upset fans of the novel. But this is a movie that knows exactly what it’s doing, using its source material as a foundation rather than an inflexible design, with a star perfectly cast to navigate its turn-of-the-century play. She is a woman who tends to be assertive, but is ultimately driven by her own sense of agency. Approached as an indie romantic comedy tied only to its origins, the film is a sweet distraction.

[One of the film’s producers, MRC, is a co-owner of The Hollywood Reporter through a joint venture with Penske Media titled PMRC.]