I have just watched the trailer for the new Netflix adaptation of Persuasion and I'm so disappointed!
Persuasion is one of my favourite novels, a book I have read countless times, so I was incredibly excited when a new adaptation was announced. The fact that Anne was to be played by an American actress didn't thrill me but if Gwyneth Paltrow could be a credible Emma, I was prepared to give Dakota Johnson the benefit of the doubt.
I had not counted on Anne's whole personality being changed. In the trailer, she comes off as a mix between Elizabeth Bennet and Emma, too witty and flirtatious, with maybe a touch of Jo March in there with her flair for theatrics. She banters and laughs like she didn't have a care in the world. Where is her broken heart? Where is her gentleness, her quiet strength, her level-headedness in times of need? Where is all the pining?
Anne is a ìdifficult heroine to bring to the screen. Persuasion is a very introspective novel that doesn't lend itself to easy screenwriting, the same way Emma or P&P do. It takes talent, both in the writing and in the acting, to represent in a movie the compelling emotions of the book. I hoped this production could have met this challenge and at least tried to make a faithful adaptation to the spirit of the novel, if not to its actual plot. Making Anne so out of character was unexpected.
I understand that Elizabeth Bennet or Emma are way more popular and easier for the audience to understand and cheer for. A woman who lets her lover go and pines for him for almost a decade looks pathetic in comparison. And yet, both the previous Persuasion movies have been incredibly riveting, which is evidence that Persuasion can be adapted well without twisting Anne's personality.
I'm still hoping that I somehow misunderstood the trailer, and I am going to watch the movie with the best of intentions. Let's hope my disappointment is temporary and Persuasion will actually live up to some of my expectations.
What do you think of the trailer and the movie?
