ibmiller: eudaimonium: list of Jane Austen adaptations:↳ 08….
list of Jane Austen adaptations:
↳ 08. Persuasion (1995)This adaptation is so utterly gorgeous. Amanda Root is so powerful as Anne, and Ciaran Hinds is stellar as Wentworth. And Roger Michell’s direction is imaginative and beautiful – much better at grasping “gritty” yet beautiful in a costume drama than Joe Wright, much as I admire Wright’s technical mastery of tracking shots and spatial isolation.
I loved this movie and had rewatched it at least 10 times before I ever read Austen’s book, though now the book is my favorite Austen. But really, what a wonderful adaptation.
Prejudicial confession:
Fast-forward a few years. When I first watched Notting Hill I liked it, but in a guilty-pleasure way. I told at least one person that the writing was wonderful (because I was and am a big fan of Richard Curtis), but that the direction was obviously the work of some ham-fisted director of music videos, and pointed to the scene in the private garden, and specifically the crane shot where William walks away from Anna then back toward her, as my proof.
“Look at it,” I scoffed. “There’s no reason whatsoever for him to walk away and back again like that, except that it matches the raise-and-lower of the camera to make an artful-looking shot. Which really just calls attention to itself and ends up looking really dumb. This director is clearly a clown.”
And time passed, and I found myself watching Notting Hill again, and again, and quite possibly again. And I still scoffed at that one crane shot, but my heart wasn’t in it, because actually, I’d come to love that movie.
And then I finally got around to taking a look at its IMDB page, and giving that ham-fisted director of music videos a closer look. What else had he done?
Oops.
Okay; yes, I’m an idiot, and no one should listen to my opinions about anything.
Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/43731951697.
Tags: persuasion, notting hill, roger michell.
